Dirty Dancing: Newcastle Theatre Royal

IN a break with tradition for this show, many of the audience on opening night were entering the auditorium sober. Sure there was a cackle early on with the line "Before the Beatles Came" and mass whooping for man-flesh throughout but...standard.

This show is massive, slavishly faithful to the original. Those are the biggest watermelons I’ve ever seen. The first half is pretty much perfect. Katie Hartland is lovely as Frances "Baby" Houseman and Lewis Griffiths is unbelievably hot as Johnny – I could have sworn the thermostat in the Grand Circle was faulty. The dancing is utterly superb, particularly from Carlie Milner, as Penny, and the choreography perfectly encapsulates the love story and the dramatic tensions within it.

The set is a dizzying, hyperactive affair, which is great in the sense that it moves the pace along and the lake scene is rather tongue-in-cheek in its aspirations to achieve the impossible onstage. There were some major problems with sightlines into the backstage area in the second half plus visible techies poking stuff with sticks.

There is a wild clutching about for a genre in Act Two – it turns all musical (but not convincingly enough) and there is a bizarre, solitary attempt at audience participation. I respect the urge to improve the show, but this isn’t the answer, but countless satisfied fans might disagree. They showed their appreciation by leaping to their feet having clearly had the time of their lives.

* Runs until Saturday, January 28. Box Office: 08448-112121 or theatreroyal.co.uk

Sarah Scott