An Evening of Dirty Dancing at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Review

Reviewed by Louise Styles

Dirty Dancing is without doubt my favourite ever film so I was really excited to see that ‘An Evening of Dirty Dancing’ was coming to the Aylesbury Waterside theatre as part of their UK tour last night.

Parking was super easy as the theatre is surrounded by local car parks which are within 5 minutes walk so we managed to get to the theatre well before the curtain call. The bar was packed with people but we were served quickly and efficiently and enjoyed sitting down with a drink before the performance began.

The show itself doesn’t follow a storyline or try to emulate the film or stageshow in any way – it is simply what it says it is – An Evening of Dirty Dancing which celebrates the music from the film and the era. The soundtrack to the original 1987 was a resounding hit and to date has sold over 32 million copies worldwide. The film is the ultimate chick flick with a soundtrack to pair it perfectly making this a great evening’s entertainment.

The cast is made up of four females and four males, all of which get the chance to showcase their singing and dancing abilities throughout the two-part performance. One of the couples act as our ‘hosts’ for the evening and regularly converse with the audience getting them warmed up. There was arm waving from the audience during ‘Hey Baby’ and a wonderful interlude where the cast got members of the audience on stage, while the rest of us stood, getting everyone to cha cha cha with the person next to them and even throwing in some added arm movements. This really added another fun element to the night and we were all laughing and dancing along.

A lovely local element was added in the second half when 15 performers from Spotlight Dance school, based at Queens Park Art Centre, joined the stage during ‘Save the last dance for me’. While I love all the Dirty Dancing songs you cannot beat ‘Time of my life’ and I think the Aylesbury audience agreed with me last night!

A really great sing along evening which I would highly recommend for any Dirty Dancing fan!

Rating: 4/5

For other shows at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury visit www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury.

Waterside Theatre, Exchange Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 1UG | 0844 871 7607