Interview: A chat with DIRTY DANCING'S Kurt Phelan, Kirby Burgess and Nadia Coote

Friday 28th November 2014, Sydney Lyric Theatre, Pyrmont NSW

In the lead up to the international hit musical DIRTY DANCING returning to Sydney, 10 years after the world premiere in Sydney, I had the opportunity to chat to the lead performers Kurt Phelan (Johnny Castle), Kirby Burgess (Frances "Baby" Houseman) and Nadia Coote (Penny Johnson) along with getting a preview of the new, reworked show from producer John Frost.

For Phelan and Burgess, DIRTY DANCING marks their first leading roles following already impressive resumes and both admitted that the announcement that they had the roles as being the most memorable moment in the lead up to the performances. Both talked of the outpouring of support from friends, family and the industry and their own excitement with Phelan recounting that he boarded a plane just after the announcement and seeing another passenger reading an article on the announcement and both being inundated with multimedia congratulations.

For Coote, she is getting the opportunity to reprise the role of Penny, 10 years after she held the role in the World Premiere and also in the West End production. This time around, whilst Coote describes her emotions as nervous and excited, she feels she can connect to the character of Penny better now that she is a similar age to the character, having first filled the role at 21. Coote is taking on this role following her role as Tina Sparkle in STRICTLY BALLROOM, a role she will return to, so feels she is at the "top of her game" which is giving her more confidence and her own maturity and the character development in this version allows her to give Penny more depth and better understand her as the "darker element" of the story.

Whilst Phelan and Burgess both connected to the movie at a young age, Burgess sneakily watching the video when her parents were out and Phelan first denying that he liked the movie as a "young boy in country town trying to be tough" but watching bits as his sister kept replaying it and eventually becoming a fan of Patrick Swayze's modern dance style, they stressed that they want audiences to see more of Johnny and Baby's personal story than the previous stage show with director James Powell wanting an intimate, conversational "truth". It is interesting to note that Baby and Johnny do not sing in this performance so Phelan and Burgess are approaching this more as a play and the usual "showiness" associated with the musical theatre genre doesn't hide their character's journey whilst the other characters provide the musical theatre pastiche that the audience will still want. As Phelan points out, the original movie was never expected to be a hit, but the story resonated with people so deeply that it became a cult classic and it's that realness that they want people to reconnect to.

It was interesting to hear that Burgess is usually cast as the bad girl or the sexy girl, recently playing Rizzo in GREASE, not the sweet and innocent characters but related to Baby as an individual finding love and discovering this "naughty world" but didn't see herself as Baby as she felt she was so different to her. Burgess now feels she is more like Baby than she first realised and Phelan notes the similarity in that they both "get everything right". Coote however always saw herself as Penny since she first saw the movie at the age of 7, connecting to the dancing in the role, having started ballet lessons at the age of 5.

When asked about their favourite moment of the performance it is interesting to hear that Kirby's (apart from getting to say "I carried a watermelon") is when Baby first steps in to cover for Penny and she has the challenge of disguising her dancing training and her confidence and presenting as a beginner dancer with stage fright whilst Phelan finds the scene challenging as he has to ensure he doesn't succumb to Baby's awkwardness and fear and maintain Johnny's professional dancer role. Phelan's favourite moment of a long dialogue between Johnny and Baby in a playful and intimate discussion, allowing the two to "just act" ties in with their desire for the characters to seen as real.

As Burgess describes it, DIRTY DANCING is about the rediscovering growth as an individual as Baby develops into an adult, having her first kiss, her first rebellious experience and Johnny develops out of his set ways and the two learn that it is better to be open and willing to see how "the other half live", all experiences that people can relate to.

Whilst some audiences may have seen the original show 10 years ago, Coote describes this as a new production with a new set, "bigger, better choreography" and improved flow and pace. The preview gave a glimpse of the set which utilises new technology to create scenes and the dance numbers have more energy and are more provocative than I remember the 2004 version being and the music is powerful. From the little taste, this is a must see for anyone. For fans of the movie, this is a chance to relive that excitement of the story. For those that saw the 2004 version or touring version, this is different to what went before. For those that have not seen either the movie or previous versions, this is a chance to discover this iconic story.

DIRTY DANCING

Sydney:

Venue: Sydney Lyric Theatre

Season: From 28 November 2014

Performance Times: Wed - Sat 8pm, matinees Wed at 1pm and Sat at 2pm, Sunday 1pm and 6pm

Price: Tickets from $59.90 *

Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 795 267

Groups 8+ call 1300 889 278

Melbourne:

Venue: Princess Theatre

Season: From 1 March 2015

Performance Times: Wed - Sat 8pm, matinees Wed at 1pm and Sat at 2pm, Sunday 1pm and 6pm

Price: Tickets from $59.90 *

Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or phone 1300 111 011

Groups 8+ call 1300 889 278

Brisbane:

Venue: Lyric Theatre, QPAC

Season: From 27 May 2015

Performance Times: Wed - Sat 8pm, matinees Wed at 1pm and Sat at 2pm, Sunday 1pm and 6pm

Price: Tickets from $59.90 *

Bookings: qpac.com.au or phone 136 246

Groups 8+ call 07 3840 7466

Perth:

Venue: Crown Theatre, Burswood

Season: from 2 August 2015

Performance Times: Wed - Sat 8pm, matinees Wed at 1pm and Sat at 2pm, Sunday 1pm and 6pm

Price: Tickets from $59.90 *

Bookings: ticketek.com.au or phone 132 849

Groups 8+ call 1300 364 001

*an additional transaction fee and/or a credit/debit payment processing fee may apply.