Dirty Dancing replaces Viva Forever! at Piccadilly from July
It marks a return to the West End for the screen-to-stage musical, which broke box office records when it opened at the West End’s Aldwych Theatre in 2006, with advanced ticket sales of over £15
million. It closed at the Aldwych on 9 July 2011 before commencing its current tour.
The current tour cast is led by Jill Winternitz and Paul-Michael Jones as Baby and Johnny, the roles immortalised on screen by Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. Casting for the Piccadilly run is still to be confirmed.
Set at an upmarket American holiday camp called Kellerman’s in the 1960s, Dirty Dancing centres on the teenaged Baby Houseman who falls in love
with the camp’s working class dance instructor Johnny Castle, whose climactic line, “Nobody puts Baby in the
corner”, has since become a classic.
Dirty Dancing is adapted for the stage
by the film’s screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein, who based the story’s
setting on her own childhood experiences of family holidays in America’s
Catskill Mountains. The musical had its world premiere in Sydney in
2004.
Producer Karl Sydow said of its forthcoming West End return: “We’re delighted to bring the much-loved and iconic Dirty Dancing back to London in an all new exciting production that has thrilled audiences around the country.”
The tour is currently in Woking (until 18 May), moving to the Manchester Palace from 21 May to 15 June 2013. Tickets for the Piccadilly run go on sale on Monday (13 May).
