Strictly Ballroom: The Musical Blackpool Opera House Review

Reviewed by Cath Joyce

Blackpool is certainly the place to be this week if you love dancing! Hot on the tails of Strictly Come Dancing, which was held at the world famous Blackpool Tower ballroom this weekend is Strictly Ballroom:The Musical which waltzed into Blackpool Opera House this week.

Directed and co-choreographed by Strictly’s famous judge, Craig Revel Horwood, Strictly Ballroom:The Musical is based on Baz Luhrmann’s award-winning 1992 film. I haven’t seen the film before so don’t know how true the musical is to the original story, but in a nutshell the story is set in Australia and is about ballroom dancer Scott Hastings. Not liking the rigidity of traditional ballroom dancing, he starts to add his own moves, which doesn’t go down well with his partner, who leaves him for Ken Railings, a rival and the recent winner of the local championships. Local dance judge Barry Fife is also not happy, seeing Scott’s new moves as a challenge to the establishment that he heads. Scott has been dancing since he was six and his Mum, Shirley Hastings, who is also a dance teacher, has her hopes on him winning the Pan Pacific Grand Prix dance competition. Along with Scott’s dance coach Les Kendall she tries to find him a new partner, but no one is willing to dance with him and with only 3 weeks to go to the prestigious competition he is eventually persuaded by dancing novice Fran to dance with her.

Scott is played by the very talented dancer Kevin Clifton who was a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing – he was amazing to watch and not only can he dance, he has a great voice too. Fran is played by Eastender’s star Maisie Smith, who was also Kevin’s partner when she won Strictly Come Dancing for the 2019 Children in Need special. The two have amazing chemistry together, especially when they dance the Paso Doble at a family party – one of my favourite parts of the night. This comes right at the end of the first half of the show and was a real burst of energy in an already vibrant and energetic show.

Jose Agudo playing Fran’s father, Rico deserves a special mention – his solo dance was incredibly well choreographed and it was amazing to watch this incredibly talented dancer.

The set was a simple dance studio, with a huge cast dancing on the stage there wasn’t room for lots of props but the backdrop was very effective at setting the scene.

As you would expect from a dance show there is plenty of music with a good mix of popular songs and new songs written for the show. Classic numbers like Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time and John Paul Young’s Love Is In The Air fit the story well.

With Latin and Ballroom dances, fantastic costumes – think feathers, frills, lots of glamour and glitz along with plenty of comedy and fantastic singing, this is the perfect show to banish those winter blues away.

Strictly Ballroom is at Blackpool Opera House from 21st 26th November and is the perfect location to watch this fantastic show. The large, historic theatre has a fantastic atmosphere and all the staff are really helpful. There is plenty of parking nearby and being in the centre of Blackpool there are plenty of places to eat and drink before the show so you can make a night of it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tickets cost from £20.20 (including £1.50 GBP restoration levy and £2.90 GBP booking fee). for more information or to book tickets visit https://www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk/ or call the box office on 01253 629600