Book: Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce
Director: Craig Revel Horwood
In 2016 on a wet West Yorkshire evening, Baz Luhrmann’s stage adaptation of his hit film Strictly Ballroom made its UK premiere at The West Yorkshire Playhouse (now The Leeds Playhouse), this premiere production hit all the right notes, cheeky, brash, strong staging and choreography and a cast that gelled together so well the chemistry was electric. This first UK tour, directed by Strictly Come Dancing’s very own Craig Revel Horwood, has turned this once joyous musical into a less-than-fabulous evening.
The show starts off well (if we ignore the fact the show was delayed by 15mins), the costumes designed by Mark Walters shimmer and shine brightly in Richard G Jones’ colourful lighting design. However, one does have to question Walters’ set design – which looks like a burning onion and due to its limitations hinders and hampers the movement of the cast, rending Revel Horwood’s direction limp and pedestrian – A real shame considering how brilliant other productions have been, Horwood’s Hot Mikado will always go down as one of this reviewers favourite stage productions.
For a show titled Strictly Ballroom and it being set in the Australian Amateur dance world, you hope for stunning choreography, and big musical numbers that light the stage ablaze… sadly apart from a rousing flamenco which is performed incredibly by Jose Agudo at the end of act one, the musical numbers are more of a damp squib than a fire blazing spectacle.
There are clear stand-out moments in the show, the Act 1 closer and the performances of Gary Davis as the salacious Barry Fife, Quinn Patrick’s camp Les Kendall and Karen Mann’s warming Abuela to name a few. Headliner Maisie Smith handles her musical theatre debut with confidence shows she is an excellent actor/dancer but clearly struggles with the vocal side of things.
On press night Kevin Clifton is sadly indisposed, so the lead role of Scott Hastings is played by Edwin Ray, a performer of considerable experience, but here, he fails to find the flow and warmth to make the role likeable, there is a real lack of chemistry between Smith and Hastings that is needed to make the central premise of the show hold together.
As evenings of musical theatre go, this current tour of Strictly Ballroom has all the ingredients to work, but in its current form, its woefully under-baked. Instead of a delightful, warm souffle, we are left with a wet puddle that lacks any flavour. If you are fan of the original film save yourself the time, effort and money – grab some snacks, turn the fire on, and the lights down low and stream the film – it will give you a much more pleasurable evening.
Runs until 22 Oct 2022 and then continues on tour.
The Reviews Hub Score
Limp and Pedestrian
