A Night of Dirty Dancing
The Ultimate Tribute Show
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
29th March 2016
The Ultimate Tribute Show
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
29th March 2016
The producer and director of A Night of Dirty Dancing, Phil Hawkins, proudly tells me that this is officially the biggest one night only UK tour, boasting a whopping 108 performances!
I meet up with Darius J James and Eloise-Jane who are playing Johnny and Baby, the roles that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey made famous in the film, Dirty Dancing,
I meet up with Darius J James and Eloise-Jane who are playing Johnny and Baby, the roles that Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey made famous in the film, Dirty Dancing,
Eloise, Producer Phil Hawkins & Darius
Check out the video below, where Darius and Eloise, who both previously played the same roles in the last tour, tell me all about being involved in the show, their favourite parts and of course - that iconic lift!
(All Photographs are credited to and copyrighted by Stephen Hawke)
I also catch up with the cast in the second week of their rehearsals and find out how it's all going.
Alexia Collard plays Lisa Houseman in the show, who is Baby's older sister and tells me she is having a lot of fun performing in what will be her first UK touring production. She tells me, "This show is a really great introductory showpiece of Dirty Dancing."
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Leo Sene has just returned from performing in Loserville in the West End and can't wait to get on stage playing the pivotal role of Max who, he tells me, is a bit of a goofball character. He is also looking forward to getting some lucky members of the audience involved with the show! "Some people may find themselves up on stage at certain parts of the evening!" he smiles. |
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Hayley-Marie Baker, a former Master's pupil, will be playing Johnny's dance partner, the sassy Penny in what will also be her first UK tour.
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Connor Byrne has the role of lothario waiter, Robbie who he admits, "Is a bit of a flirt in the show." He also assures me, "If you're a fan of Dirty Dancing, you will absolutely love the show,' then adds, 'actually, if you've never seen the film before, this show will probably make you want to see it." |
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I also chat to Alex Rose, the choreographer of the show and ask her how she's feeling with less than a week to go now. "This is only the second professional show that I've choreographed, the first one I did was 'You Win Again' last September. It's going really well - I'm really pleased with everything - I've just got a few tweaks to make and we're pretty much there." she smiles. She tells me she has watched the film "a lot" and would be silly not to take some of the dance moves from it.
"There are lots of iconic dance movements in the film that audiences will expect to see in our show, so we've kept them in," she explains. Alex is also performing in the show, which will be touring until July this year, and then she will be going straight into choreographing 'The Celine Dion Show' which Eloise-Jane will also be starring in; after that she is setting her sights on America as she will be travelling to California, having recently acquired a 'green card'.
Director - Phil & Choreographer - Alex
If you would like to see Darius, Eloise and the fabulous cast of A Night of Dirty Dancing go online to www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135