Jenny Winton

'Tis the season for the popular Christmas-themed ballet THE NUTCRACKER to fill stages around the world offering families the chance to experience the emotionally engaging story of Clara and the dreamlike journey she takes to the Land of Sweets with the Nutcracker as her guide. During the December 7 and 8 weekend, The Soraya's resident dance company, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, perhaps best known for edgy programs featuring the most notable contemporary choreography, kicked off the troupe's fifth Soraya season at Cal State Northridge with something different: the most traditional of story ballets. With Tchaikovsky's original music, this storybook production, choreographed by ASFB executive director Jean-Phillippe Malaty and artistic director Tom Mossbrucker, set THE NUTCRACKER in the Victorian era, beginning with the resplendent holiday party and concluding with the fantastical scenes in the second act centered around a bright and colorful carousel.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's bold vision - top global choreographers, distinctive groundbreaking repertoire, and virtuoso dancers - has fostered a jewel of a dance company in the American West.  Now, ASFB celebrates the fourth year of its residency at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) with a program of works that celebrates the company's commitment to creating new contemporary dance on Saturday, January 19 at 8:00pm. ASFB will perform Tuplet by Alexander Ekman, Dream Play by Fernando Melo, and 1st Flash from world-renowned Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo.

The fun musical hits its final stage this season and you don't want to miss it

On June 1st, I saw DIRTY DANCING LIVE at Place des Arts in Montreal, Quebec. From being a fan of the movie at fourteen, I was thrilled when I heard of the live stage show. After checking tour dates constantly for years, I finally discovered I would be in Montreal the same time as the show!

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts welcomes the Fort Lauderdale premiere of DIRTY DANCING - THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE. The staged musical of this worldwide smash-hit film will play tonight, April 12, through April 24, 2016. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in action below!

Since the dawn of the genre, stage shows have been adapted from various sources; books, other plays, poems, historical events, and, increasingly over the past two decades, movies. The best projects based on movies take what is special from the source material and use that as inspiration to form a fresh stage adaptation. However, the DIRTY DANCING National Tour, playing at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday, April 3rd, focuses so intently on recreating the minutia of the film, that it completely misses what made it so captivating in the first place; authentic, compelling characters and an intimate, passionate story.

Though there are obvious similarities, the life of a professional ballet dancer and the life of a musical theatre actor are quite different. From the physical demands to the number of performances, transitioning from one to the other is no small feat.  Just ask Jennifer Winton, who plays Johnny Castle's original dance partner, Penny Johnson, in the DIRTY DANCING musical that opens its week-long run at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts tonight. 

 Casting has been announced for DIRTY DANCING - THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE, coming to The Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a limited two week engagement.  Christopher Tierney and Rachel Boone will star as Johnny Castle and Frances "Baby" Houseman in the Fort Lauderdale premiere of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage.

Rachel Boone joins Christopher Tierney as Frances "Baby" Houseman and Johnny Castle as Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage continues its North American tour.  BroadwayWorld has a first look at the new cast in action below!

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts announced that individual tickets for the Fort Lauderdale premiere of DIRTY DANCING - THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE will go on sale Friday, January 15 at 10:00a.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in action below!

Fun for the audience, but not on the level of the film

I know everyone will expect this review to begin with, "I've Had the Time of My Life," but I will skip that well-known song that serves as the finale to DIRTY DANCING and go back to the opening number which defines it so well as "This Magic Moment."

Prepare to be wowed by a fun, energetic jukebox musical, "DIRTY DANCING" now on stage at the beautiful Fisher Theatre in Detroit. This show is a live adaptation of the 1987 film, and was written by the same playwright Eleanor Bergstein; it focuses on civil rights, Vietnam, and class conflict. However, I believe this production promotes form over substance: let's hear it for the killer dancing, killer singing, killer songs and killer acting. It's hard to feel sorry for the economic disparity of a young man from the wrong side of the tracks when he takes off his clothes and he is a 100% ripped stud.

To begin at the end: the stage production of Dirty Dancing brought cheers and screams from the opening night audience of the Broadway in Louisville at Johnny's iconic line about Baby and at the even more iconic dance number following that flooded the stage. Gillian Abbott and Christopher Tierney, respectively, inhabit these roles with enough of a nod to the originals (Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze) that audiences are swept back to the 1987 movie.

You don't have to be an aficionado of Dirty Dancing, the 1987 film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey as a mismatched romantic duo brought together by some sexy dance moves at a Catskills resort, to find yourself loving every moment of Dirty Dancing, The Classic Story On Stage, now ensconced at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday.

Christopher Tierney recently assumed the iconic role of Johnny Castle tonight in the North American tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage in Chicago, where it ran through August 30. This marks the launch of the second year of the hugely successful national tour which will go on to play markets including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Nashville, Des Moines and Denver this season. A list of full tour dates can be found here. Check out a first look at Tierney in the role below!

Christopher Tierney assumes the iconic role of Johnny Castle tonight in the North American tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage as it opens tonight at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, where it will continue through August 30. This marks the launch of the second year of the hugely successful national tour which will go on to play markets including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Nashville, Des Moines and Denver this season. A list of full tour dates can be found here.

Dirty Dancing is essentially a stage tribute to the film from which its based, which is evident from the dialogue as it's taken almost verbatim from the movie. As are the iconic songs - even though only a fraction of the performers actually sing. Those actors that do sing are not main characters, which is even more of a shame since so many of the performers (Gillian Abbott and Samuel Pergande as Baby and Johnny respectively) have backgrounds in voice. The fact that the main characters do not even utter a single note is baffling to anyone who is familiar with musical theatre.

The Smith Center announced today that individual tickets for the Las Vegas premiere of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage will go on sale today, May 22 at 10 a.m. Tickets are available at The Smith Center Box Office, located at 361 Symphony Park Avenue, by phone at 702-749-2000 or 808-326-6868 (TTY) and online at www.TheSmithCenter.com. For preferred seating and special rates for groups of 10 or more, contact 702-749-2348. The staged musical of this worldwide smash-hit film will play Reynolds Hall July 14-19, 2015.

The Smith Center announced today that individual tickets for the Las Vegas premiere of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage will go on sale Friday, May 22 at 10 a.m. Tickets are available at The Smith Center Box Office, located at 361 Symphony Park Avenue, by phone at 702-749-2000 or 808-326-6868 (TTY) and online at www.TheSmithCenter.com. For preferred seating and special rates for groups of 10 or more, contact 702-749-2348. The staged musical of this worldwide smash-hit film will play Reynolds Hall July 14-19, 2015.