Dirty Dancing - Hamburg - September 24th 2006 (evening)

This was my second time of seeing the Dirty Dancing live on stage. I really wasn’t fond of the show when I saw it for the first time back in April 2006. But I wanted to see it again to see if it had improved. And, of course, there are certain people I just like to see on stage no matter if I love the show or not. ;)

Basically my opinion hasn’t changed after seeing the show for the second time. I still think they could have done a much better job in transferring the movie to the stage. Doing a stage version that is exactly like the movie – scene after scene after scene – just doesn’t work. It leaves you with scenes that only last 30 seconds and (which is even worse) it leaves you with awkward little gaps in the show where nothing is happening at all.
And WHY do they only sing very few songs live? I do understand why they don’t let the main characters sing…. Johnny standing there and singing “I’ve had the time of my life”… please, no! It would never work. But they could use the featured singers for several other songs instead of just using taped versions of the songs.
I really like the set design! They definitely did a great job creating it. And I also like the costumes. But in the end I can’t say “This is a good show” just because it has a great set and nice costumes.
Dirty Dancing is a great movie… at least that’s what I and several million other people think. ;) And Dirty Dancing could be a great stage show… if it was different.

Anyway, here’s my opinion about several of the people I saw on stage this evening.

Johnny Castle: Martin van Bentem
He’s a great dancer – there’s no doubt in that – BUT he’s a latin dancer. And Johnny is no latin dancer…. He never was and he never will be! I’ve seen Martin in Miami Nights and Saturday Night Fever. And when watching him in Dirty Dancing I always think he will start to do Salsation (Dance Contest song in SNF) any minute. It’s weird and it makes Johnny less believable for me. Plus I just can’t stand his acting… or better: The lack of it. This might sound harsh but it’s my opinion: Martin is no actor. Actually he has improved since last time I saw him. His pronunciation is way better than is used to be. But still he doesn’t manage to make the character believable for me. And he is certainly trying too hard to look cool on stage. Yes, Johnny is a cool guy. But when playing Johnny you shouldn’t concentrate on looking cool all the time. Being cool should be part of your interpretation of the character but not your main activity on stage.

Baby Houseman: Ina Trabesinger
When I saw the show in April Ina wasn’t on. So it was nice to see her this time. And I have to say she suits the part. Now and then she was overacting in my eyes making Baby look rather foolish. But during most parts of the show I enjoyed her performance.

Penny: Rachel Marshall
This was her last time playing Penny in Dirty Dancing in Hamburg. I always enjoy the little gags throughout the show when someone is playing his/her last show. And there were several little things that didn’t really belong into the usual show, for example Rachel appearing on stage with a funny wig, a weird dress and some even weirder shoes in one scene. ;) I have always liked to see Rachel on stage… she’s a great dancer, an amazing singer and she always looks so beautiful. She was my favourite Jessica Diamond in Miami Nights and I really enjoyed her performance as Bombalurina in Cats. And I think she fits the part of Penny perfectly. I know some people think she’s got a strong English accent when speaking German. The only thing I can say is: It doesn’t bother me. In my eyes she did a great job in this show and I’m looking forward to seeing her on stage again in some other production in the future!

Lisa Houseman: Franziska Lessing
I love this character and I love the way Franziska plays it! She’s funny, she’s convincing and she’s got one of the best songs in the show: That little song Lisa learns for the last evening at Kellerman’s hotel. “Und ich wackel wie’n Dackel und ich hula mich um den Verstand.“ ;))

Jake Houseman: Nikolas Gerdell
It was good to see him in a bigger part again. I remember seeing him as Billy Flin in Chicago and I always liked him in that show. He was great as Jake Houseman – very convincing in playing a concerned father.

Robbie: Ronny Rindler
It’s such a small part – and it’s no likeable part. But Ronny did the best possible with this role… he showed Robbie’s arrogance and managed to make me dislike the character. ;)

Billy: Thomas Klotz
Ralf Schaedler played his last show on Thursday so I was wondering who I’d see as Billy. It was nice to discover that Thomas would be on as I really liked him as Alfred in Tanz der Vampire. Unfortunately Billy is such a small and ungrateful character with almost nothing to do. But he did great with his few small scenes. Very funny and likeable on stage.

Neil Kellerman: Jörg Neubauer
I’m not impressed with the way he plays this character. He is turning everything Neil does into a slapstick act. Yes, Neil is a bit awkward but Neil is not a clown and Jörg makes him look like one.

Vivian Pressman: Tanja Roll
Liked her on stage. I don’t like the character but that’s not her fault. She did really well in the part.

Ensemble:
I don’t remember everyone so I will only pick out a few that caught my eye (and ear.. hehe).
First or all there’s Marc Seitz who is one of the featured singers. It’s such a shame he doesn’t get the chance to stand out in more scenes. His “In the still of the night” is beautiful…. Why is that song so short, by the way? ;)
He definitely makes the best of his part. And you could tell he was enjoying this particular show. ;)
Sabrina Weckerlin is the featured singer – beside Marc – who really stood out in this show. I really like her voice and she looks very comfortable singing her songs.
Adrian Hochstrasser – I didn’t even knew he was in the cast so that was quite a surprise. Saw him on stage in Saturday Night Fever lately. I enjoyed to see him in this show. Once again he was the stage clown… very funny to watch!
Peter Horemans is someone I always recognise in this show…. Might have to do with the fact that he is rather tall compared to the other guys on stage. I’d like to see him as Johnny once. I think he looks the part but I’ve never seen him in a bigger role before so can’t tell if he’d be any good.

So, to sum it all up: Yes, I will watch the show again and yes, it will be enjoyable. This is mainly due to some great people in the cast. The show itself lacks a lot of things. Someone has tried to be perfect with transferring a hit movie to the stage... and has failed.