Strictly Ballroom - WYP / Piccadilly / Tour

I brought my year's theatregoing to a close with a trip across the Pennines to see yesterday's matinee performance. With Sam Lips injured the previous day, with Dale White being required to step in part way through the evening show, it was Dale who would be performing from the outset for this particular performance and, according to the ushers, perhaps for the next fortnight or so. It would be his first time performing the leading role in its entirety. 

For the first five minutes, it was pretty much exactly the show I was expecting, as the manic compere JJ Silvers, played by Richard Dempsey, hammed it up and introduced us to the various waltzing couples taking to the stage, one of which was the central character Scott and his partner Liz. From this opening scene, it's established that Scott wants to rail against the system and add his own steps to those permitted in competitive ballroom dancing - that's pretty much all we get in terms of his character development throughout the entire show. Several confrontations between Scott and his parents later, it's essentially still the same discussion about the same dance steps and whether it's the winning or following your heart that really matters. Scott's parents are rather cliched, thinly sketched characters - the over-zealous and fearlessly competitive mother, determined for her son to succeed on her terms, and the browbeaten, quietly spoken father who you just know will eventually find his voice. It was a nicely pitched performance from Stephen Matthews as Scott's dad but for me it isn't Scott or his family where the real heart of this production lies. 

It's with the introduction of Gemma Sutton's Fran to the stage that by far the most engaging aspects of Strictly Ballroom begin to emerge. All the glitz and glamour of the opening scene are juxtaposed as we meet the bespectacled Fran cleaning the dance hall. The parallels with Cinderella continue throughout the piece but it's here that the comparison is most apparent. Although Gemma undoubtedly has more to work with as Fran, she invests her with such heart, warmth and fragile spirit that it's impossible not to be rooting for Fran to fulfil her dream of dancing with Scott. Gemma highlights once again what a truly wonderful, versatile actress she is, watching her on stage is an absolute joy. There's terrific performances alongside her from Fernando Mira and Eve Polycarpou as Fran's parents who command the stage whenever they appear. While much of what is happening around them is knowingly ridiculous, the trio of Gemma, Fernando and Eve's performances shine out, providing depth and characterisation lacking elsewhere that enables the musical as a whole to go beyond feel-good, dispensable fun.

It's no surprise that Drew McOnie's choreography presents a series of wonderful spectacles to behold, with dazzling sequins aplenty, an equally glamorous set, and a camp-o-meter set to off the scale. There's no weak link in the hardworking ensemble, with Lauren Stroud catching the eye, particularly in the early scenes as the hilariously demanding Liz Holt, and Charlotte Gooch twinkling as brightly as any character named Tina Sparkle really should. When the dance sequences and the more interesting characters combine, as they do in the finale to Act One, as Rico and Abuela teach Scott the paso doble, the result is an all-out epic assault on the senses that's breathtaking to behold. 

On the whole, Dale White was impressive as Scott. He had a believable chemistry with Gemma Sutton and conveyed the conflicting emotions of his character particularly well in the second act. The most obvious moment to shine, however, as Scott practices alone, felt somewhat underwhelming and undercooked, but that aside Dale otherwise did a great job.

As for the score, it's a strange hybrid of jukebox and original music that works reasonably well but the end result is predictably inconsistent in terms of quality - the new songs certainly don't come close to eclipsing Time After Time, Love Is In The Air, or Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. The opening number, When You're Strictly Ballroom, is easily the strongest of the music written by Eddie Perfect.

Overall then, for a show that earned mixed reviews on its debut in Sydney in 2014, it feels like this new incarnation must have taken a fair-sized leap in the right direction and undoubtedly now makes the best of the source material. It's certainly not subtle in ramming home its message about following your heart and the book is clearly not without its issues but as the confetti rained down for the finale and the entire audience rose to their feet to give the cast a standing ovation at the conclusion of Love Is In Air, it did feel like this is a potential hit musical in the making. With five star production values, the sense of spectacle and entertainment never really lets up from the outset. There's plenty of laugh out loud humour ("Pam Short's broken both her legs and I wanna dance with you") and while the production never takes itself too seriously, the characters of Fran, Rico and Abuela lend the story the heart, soul and warmth it needs to truly triumph. I don't mind admitting I was genuinely pretty taken aback to feel quite so moved by it all. 

If you want to discover for yourself whether you can dance any steps you like, there's a nice moment of audience participation for a couple of unsuspecting people on the front row. Nice if you're sat safely tucked away with no chance of being plucked from the third row anyway! Other than avoiding the front row if you don't want to risk a brief cameo on the stage, the show is well worth catching if you can make it to Leeds before 21st January. I'd love to see it cha-chaing its way back to this side of the Atlantic after its run in Toronto. It was the perfect way to end 2016.

If it doesn't make it to the WE I reckon it would do well on a UK tour. It's much better than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Well what a good start to my theatre going for 2017 that was! Fully recommend for anyone suffering from the January Blues, you won't be disappointed!

I saw this on 7 January 2017 matinee and it was delightful. And funny.

It wasn't until the interval that a friend said it was the understudy playing Scott - I would never have guessed.

This deserves a long life beyond Leeds.

I've just come back from seeing this tonight and it's one of the most fun, entertaining and joyous nights I've had at the theatre in a long time!

The entire cast were fantastic, the songs were good, and the dancing was just brilliant. I laughed a lot, smiled a lot and clapped a lot.

And I just love the West Yorkshire Playhouse so much. The way it's laid out is brilliant and we were only three rows from the front so felt so much a part of the action. I think even if you were sat further back you would still feel like this.

I would love this to well and go to the West End or tour as it deserves to be seen and the audience seemed to love it.

Absolutely loved the final performance of this last night, and even got taken up on stage to dance with the ladies. It's beautifully staged, and flows, with a handsome, sexy cast. Very slick, and just the right side of caricature. The ending is distinctly rushed though, and not the climatic moment it should be. But a total joy. Let's hope when the show comes back from Canada that there is room for it in London.

Just wondering if there were any plans or rumours for this coming into London as I would love to see it?

Yes! Not til the late autumn though.

The show is in Toronto until the end of June. Any gossip or rumours that it will be returning to the UK?

So now we've had the announcement of Jamie transferring, does that mean that Strictly Ballroom is not now coming into London as Tamsin Carroll has been included in that cast list when she is currently playing Shirley in SB?
MrBarnaby, you seemed to think this was heading to the Phoenix, has that fallen through?

...Jamie is selling until April. When is Strictly Ballroom supposed to open?

And what is going into the Aldwych?