Cheesy grins all round as Baby comes out of the corner (From Swindon Advertiser)

Cheesy grins all round as Baby comes out of the corner

DIRTY DANCING

Cheesy grins all round as Baby comes out of the corner

Bristol Hippodrome,

until October 8.

Tickets from £19.50 on 0844 847 2325.

IT’S been 24 years (yes, 24) since Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey mamboed on to our screens in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and there can’t be many women who haven’t settled down with a bottle of pink fizz and a bag of Maltesers to sigh, cry and cheer as Baby is dragged out of her corner.

So the pressure was certainly on for the cast of the stage show as they launched their national tour at the Bristol Hippodrome last night - the gaggles of giggling women settling into their seats were expecting big things.

And they got them - big kicks, big voices, big, downright filthy hip thrusts, and, of course, that big, big finish, which had every member of the audience whooping and (ladies next to me) punching the air in sheer joy.

The actors had a lot to live up to. The film, starring the late Patrick Swayze, has enjoyed phenomenal success, while the West End production broke all box office records and has played to more than a million people in the five years of its run.

A leather-clad Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle is a tough act to follow, but Paul-Michael Jones stepped into his shoes admirably. The former Latin American dance champ may not have been the strongest actor on the stage, but man, can he move. Women across the auditorium swooned en masse as he gyrated into Baby’s affections, and when he burst back on stage for that finale he virtually had to shake the ladies off his legs.

Talking of Baby, Emily Holt was faultless as the wide-eyed Baby - her mannerisms, accent and entire demeanor chanelling Jennifer Grey to a tee. Dancing badly has to be a challenge for someone as talented as she obviously is, but she can be proud that her clumsy steps and awkwardness conveyed the necessary naivety as Baby learned to dance.

One final word for Charlotte Gooch as professional dancer Penny...WOW! With a body to die for and legs that ended somewhere in the rafters, she stole her scenes with some spectacular dancing. The women may have had their eyes trained on Johnny Castle, but the guys in the audience were no doubt watching those oh-so-long legs high-kicking to impossible heights.

Cheesy? Well, of course it is. Dirty Dancing has never claimed to be high-brow. But you’ll leave with a big, cheesy grin on your face and you can’t ask better than that.

Just don’t forget to take along that big bag of Maltesters.

- MICHELLE TOMPKINS