Review: “Dirty Dancing” heats up stage

Courtesy Jeremy Daniel

Kaleigh Courts (left) and Aaron Patrick Craven star in the national touring production of “Dirty Dancing”.

Clinton Nguyen, O'Bryant High School
June 14, 2018

As the spring days dip into summer nights, the rising temperatures evoke a passion to bask in the summer sun and enjoy the longer days. While our desire to ditch the desktop grows, Eleanor Bergstein’s classic work “Dirty Dancing” comes to life after entering our lives as a film three decades before.

For many, this coming-of-age tale would evoke senses of nostalgia. For the younger generations, they are in for a treat. The show is at the Shubert Theatre in Boston through June 17.

Following the story of Baby (Kaleigh Courts), she explores her last summer with her parents in a Catskills resort set in the 1960s before leaving for college. Unexpectedly she falls for the resort’s dance teacher, Johnny (Aaron Patrick Craven), who takes her out of her comfort zone and to a place where she is truly appreciated.

In a summer heated with turmoil, self-discovery and budding romances this is surely a Broadway show to catch before you indulge in the summer activities that you have planned for yourself. Besides the brilliant cast and storytelling, this masterpiece would not have fallen seamlessly together without the amazing stage crew that ran everything backstage from the lighting to the backdrops. The swift placement of props certainly makes you forget you are watching a theatrical performance, but rather you are watching from within the resort, eyeing in on the character’s escapades.

This Broadway show sure had big shoes to fill as the original stands as a notable classic for generations to enjoy. Considering the amount of ecstatic applause and standing ovations within the 7 p.m. showing at Boston’s Shubert Theater, I assume it is safe to say this version has done the film justice.

With a cast that immaculately takes on the role of these classic characters, paired with the prime retelling of a premodern story, you would regret not catching this Broadway show that is having an incredibly short run in Boston.

(For more information about the national tour of “Dirty Dancing” or to buy tickets, go http://us.dirtydancingontour.com/.)

–June 14, 2018–