On Theater: ‘Dirty Dancing’ is one neat experience
With a show called “Dirty Dancing,” you can bet the choreography will be out of sight, and it certainly is in this energetic revival at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. But what really impresses is the show’s set design.
Rippling waters, pouring rain and some panoramic exteriors all are included in Stephen Brimson Lewis’ all-encompassing technical concept, bolstered by Jon Driscoll’s video and projection design and Bobby Aitken’s booming sound effects. It’s one of the most realistic atmospheric efforts yet witnessed at the center.
With such impressive backdrops, the pressure is doubled on the actors, and they respond splendidly as they turn the clock back to 1963 — before the Beatles, the Vietnam War and the turbulence that marked the upcoming era. Director James Powell and choreographer Michele Lynch firmly push the nostalgia button.
As in the 1987 movie, the scene is an upscale Catskills resort where a doctor and his family (a wife and two teenage girls) are enjoying themselves — especially the younger daughter, fondly referred to as “Baby.”
When the hesitant, awkward Baby — played by Jillian Mueller, a ringer for movie counterpart Jennifer Grey — initially puts her second-best foot forward, playgoers grimace, but they know what’s to come after Baby takes some strenuous dance lessons from instructor Johnny Castle (Samuel Pergande), who needs a partner for the camp’s big talent show.
That partnership segues into romance, which doesn’t set well with Baby’s father, a renowned heart surgeon (Mark Elliot Wilson) who gets the wrong idea about Johnny and his relationship with the camp’s best female hoofer (the gorgeous Jenny Winton), who’s out of action temporarily. This situation clears the way for the unlikely pairing.
As Baby, Mueller smoothly sheds her awkwardness both in dancing and life. Introduced as a socially conscious young woman hoping to join the Freedom Riders and fight for equal rights, Mueller uses that tenacity to pursue her heart and defy her parents. She’s simply terrific.
Pergande is a tall, hunky fellow who clearly knows his way around a dance floor. His Johnny Castle is confident and dominant, but he allows the self-doubt and traces of inferiority to creep in as well, rounding out his character and nudging theatergoers’ memories of his movie alter ego, Patrick Swayze.
Wilson is clearly the best actor in the company, and he gets plenty of chances to prove it. The finest voice is that of Jennlee Shallow, although Doug Carpenter scores highly as well.
As for Emily Rice as Baby’s elder sister, we can only assume her tinny pipes are intentionally awful.
Some movies contain lines of dialogue that identify them firmly, such as “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” “You can’t handle the truth,” “You had me at hello” or “I’ll have what she’s having.” In “Dirty Dancing” it’s “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” and when it’s finally uttered here, it draws instant applause.
You’ll have “the time of your life” at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts when you experience this engaging, high-stepping revival of “Dirty Dancing.” Those who remember the early ‘60s will find it a musical nostalgia trip as well.
TOM TITUS reviews local theater.
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IF YOU GO
What: “Dirty Dancing”
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays until Feb. 15
Cost: Starts at $29
Information: (714) 556-2787 or https://www.scfta.org
