'Must see': I was blown away by Dirty Dancing at Blackpool's Winter Gardens

A dazzling combination of music, dance and romance, the Winter Gardens’ Dirty Dancing is a must see for all musical theatre lovers across the Fylde coast.

The hit show is in Blackpool until September 19, playing every night at the Winter Gardens’ legendary Opera House.

I went to Tuesday’s opening night of the show- which is on tour until June 2027- having never watched the iconic 80s film.

I left the Opera House with a skip in my step and a new-found love for Baby, Johnny and co and found myself loading up Netflix to watch the movie as soon as I got home, transfixed by the adaptation I had just watched.

Now, after watching both the stage version and the film, I can say that the show is incredibly true to the original story and follows the storyline with exceptional skill and nuance.

Joel Benjamin stars as the charismatic Johnny Castle, Charlie Varlet plays Frances “Baby” Houseman and Ellie Fergusson is Penny Johnson- although Fergusson was replaced by the fabulous Ellie Cutler when I watched the performance.

As one might expect from a performance of Dirty Dancing, the choreography was always going to be good. I can say with confidence, however, that the dancing on show in the Winter Gardens’ performance was better than good- it was outstanding.

Cutler and Benjamin stole the show as Penny and Johnny, with the pair sharing a tangible chemistry which would get even the coldest of hearts racing.

Charlie Varlet’s performance as Baby was also very strong, with the relative newcomer to high-level performing looking natural and at ease on stage.

My favourite element of the show, surprisingly, was the cleverly-done music. Instead of having an in-theatre band performing down near the audience, director Federico Bellone opted to use an onstage house band who adapted to the storyline and performed in most scenes.

While the main cast did not sing very often, Robert Grose as Tito Suarez and Asher Forth as Billy Kostecki both had strong voices and sang well when required.

The second act was certainly better than the first, which took a while to get going, and the final 10 minutes of the show had most audience members on their feet dancing and singing along.

Overall, the Dirty Dancing UK Tour- which is in Blackpool for another 10 days- is a clever, fun and enthralling adaptation of a much-loved classic, and is a must-see for any theatre lovers on the Fylde coast. I give the show 4/5. A very strong adaptation which shouldn’t be missed.