One of the hottest couples of the 1980s will be lighting up Broadway next year when Dirty Dancing: The Musical brings Baby and Johnny to the Lena Horne Theatre to mark the 40th anniversary of the wildly popular movie, with its electrifying soundtrack and pulsating dance numbers. Tony nominee and two-time Emmy winner Lonny Price, who played Neil Kellerman in the film, will direct.
Annalese Starzec (in photo) has the unenviable challenge of taking over the role of Frances “Baby” Houseman from the movie’s Jennifer Grey who made the character, a 1963 teenager bored at the thought of spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her parents and older sister, a believable young girl awakening to a thrilling first love with the resort’s sexy dancing instructor, Johnny Castle, played —and awe-inspiringly danced — by Patrick Swayze. Blake Zekesnikar (in photo) will be taking on that challenge.
The show promises to reenact many of the film’s popular scenes, songs and “dirty” dancing, under choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie. Original screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein is writing the libretto.
The show will run from Feb. 12 through Sept. 5 before resuming its national tour.
