Dirty Dancing at the Cadillac Palace Theatre

Written By: Alissa Norby (for ShowBizQ)

It's time to break out the hoop skirts and Bermuda shorts, Chicago, because despite the cold weather outside, the temperature inside the Cadillac Palace Theatre is smoldering. "Dirty Dancing", one of the most illustrious films of the 80s dance-training-montage genre is making its much exalted pre-Broadway debut downtown, adding to the joie de vivre of most everyone above the age of fifteen. But be forewarned: theatre aficionados looking for the next great, disarmingly poignant American musical should turn back now. For one, this isn't even a musical, despite the ambiguous ad campaign currently usurping the CTA buses. And second, this is "Dirty Dancing" after all, that familiar story about Johnny and Baby's summer love, socioeconomic class rifts, and childhood independence. But what it lacks in thematic poignancy it more than makes up for in body heat. And with the current economy's stability ominously wavering, this show lends the perfect hand to pull us all out of our own little corners.

Waltzing its way over the boarders and across the ponds where it found unprecedented commercial success in Australia, New Zealand, England, and Canada, "Dirty Dancing" is now engulfing the Windy City with its sticky green-billed heat wave. But there's no surprise there; with a straight-stage translation of the indefatigable steamfest film made iconic by 80s heartthrobs Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, to think this baby wouldn't cha-cha its way to the banks would be gravely ill-informed. Or maybe you just haven't experienced the privilege of being in a room of hormonal adolescent girls while this sulphurous legend airs during its seemingly monthly cable spot.

Based on her celebrated 1987 film of the same name, screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein has hatched a tight-ended adaptation of "Dirty Dancing" for the Broadway stage. For dedicated fans of the film, the unrivaled opportunity to quite literally be transported to the Kellerman's Resort in the Catskill mountains for that transformative summer experienced by Frances "Baby" Houseman is sure to be toe-tapping bliss. The skillfully ingenious production value of this piece, lead by the design team of Stephen Lewis, Tim Mitchell, and Jon Driscoll, physically enwraps you in the three-dimensional world of the film. Dexterous execution of projection drops, turntables, and collapsible fly pieces seamlessly escort the audience throughout all 106 of the pelvis-gyrating scenes.

Every immortal scene spoofed by "Saturday Night Live" and recited by pubescents comes to life before the adoring fans' hungry eyes; Johnny and Baby splash about while practicing that epic lift, the broken swamp log that they mambo on falls in front of you, and Johnny's engine growls ferociously as he drives Baby back from the Sheldrake. But the issue that "Dirty Dancing" encounters, which to be fair is a botheration that befalls almost all of the movie-turned-stage-musicals, is that the audience's adoration manifests in the mere excited anticipation of a familiar scene, rather than as a result of the scene itself.

But for the rest of us hoping for a stand-on-its-merits theatre piece instead of a line-by-line reenactment of our favorite pop movie, Bergstein and clan deliver a mixed bag. The movie worked formidably well because its structure adroitly reflected that of an actual dance. The action built and climaxed at all of the right moments, weaving us through heart-racing, sensual discoveries. The stage production, however, dispersedly halts its momentum due to the disruptive insertion of superfluous, and often ludicrous, comedic scenes that centered on the sub-supporting characters. These steps backward surely account for the unjustifiable two and a half-hour running time. A story like "Dirty Dancing", which has the power to make its audience perspire with just the synchronized movement of two bodies together, should not use scenes of flat comedy to act as a catalyst for its much awaited-for boiling point.

Yet Bergstein has clearly re-envisioned and revolutionized the more simplistic "Romeo & Juliet" plot structure upon which her writing was originally contingent. Although the general skeleton of the piece remains, Bergstein has fleshed out the characters and story arc in such a way as to explore the more prevalent issue as the transformation of the American family against the backdrop of the transformation of our country's political culture. Amanda Leigh Cobb is simply intoxicating as the empathetic "Baby" Houseman; Cobb is admirably unafraid to examine and depict the truly fallible nature of any 17 year old experiencing the first loss of innocence, both physical and emotional, during a time when the nation was losing its own. Hers is a star talent that is here to stay, whether or not she decides to venture into rhinoplasty.

The Joffrey's Britta Lazenga offers a rare, emotionally drenched performance as the distraught dance instructor Penny Johnson. Together with Josef Brown (as bad boy Johnny Castle), Lazenga delivers some sizzling fancy footwork that is sure to defrost even the coldest of Chicago hearts. But it would behoove James Powell's direction to shine a brighter spotlight on these dancers' breathtaking and often exquisitely lyrical movement. Powell directs fragments of the production in such over-blown, impassioned ways that the scenes and transitions often beg for outbursts of song. Yet none erupt, and the wrenching emotions of the characters are often left hanging in the air. We don't need Baby to burst into a ballad of teen angst a-la "Les Miserables" or "Spring Awakening", but her character journey needs to be more accessible for a live theatre audience. Kate Champion and Craig Wilson's choreography is so mesmerizingly explosive that it speaks a language all its own, a dialect that surely suited to develop more fully-breasted scenes before this bundle makes the trek to the Great White Way.

Whether or not "Dirty Dancing" will declare a timeless stake in the theatre as it did the world of film is yet to be determined, but I can assure you that it does provide its audience with a much-appreciated lift.

"Dirty Dancing" runs through January 17, 2008 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St. Running time is 2 hours, 30 minutes. For tickets or more information call 312-902-1400 or visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Photo Credit: David Scheinmann