DIRTY DANCING North American Tour to Celebrate Three Years on the Road; 2016-17 Stops Announced!

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage will launch the third year of its North American tour at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN, September 13 - 18. Following two successful years on the road with many sold out engagements, the stage adaptation of the worldwide smash-hit film will continue on to play over 30 markets in North America including first time engagements in Miami, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, return engagements in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, St. Louis and many more. Additional cities will be announced in the coming months.

The production's book is written by Eleanor Bergstein, who penned the screenplay for the iconic film. The North American tour is directed by James Powell with choreography by Michele Lynch based on the original choreography by Kate Champion.

"As I learned how many people watched the movie over and over and over," said Eleanor Bergstein, screenwriter of the film Dirty Dancing and book writer for the production, "I began to think that what they really wanted was to share more physically in the event, to step through the screen and be there while the story was happening. And if that was true, then its natural form was theatre - live audiences watching live bodies dancing and singing here and now in the present - on the log, on the bridge, on the dance floor and in the staff quarters at Kellerman's. Writing it for the stage, I was also able to add more Baby and Johnny scenes, more about the family, more songs I couldn't afford last time, and, best of all - more dancing. I have added 20 new original scenes, 36 numbers of live music and an eight piece band onstage, to invite the audience to come into Kellerman's and experience the story as a live event as it happens."

"Dirty Dancing is one of our most beloved and timeless properties," said Lionsgate Television COO Sandra Stern. "Its magic has enchanted audiences on film, television, DVD and digital platforms alike, and it remains a perennial best-seller in our film and television library. We're delighted to participate in the latest stage incarnation that will introduce Dirty Dancing to a whole new generation of fans, and we expect the stage play to prove yet again that nobody puts Baby in a corner."

DIRTY DANCING 2016 - 2017 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

Memphis, TN 9/13 - 9/18, 2016 Orpheum Theatre

Charlotte, NC 9/23 - 9/25 Ovens Auditorium

Sioux Falls, SD 9/27 - 9/28 Washington Pavilion

Kalamazoo, MI 9/30 - 10/2 Miller Auditorium

North Charleston, SC 10/4 - 10/5 North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center

Waterbury, CT 10/7 - 10/9 Palace Theater

Thunder Bay, ON 10/31 - 11/1 Community Auditorium

Schenectady, NY 11/8 - 11/13 Proctors

Huntsville, AL 11/18 - 11/20 Von Braun Center

Miami, FL 11/29 - 12/4 Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

West Palm Beach, FL 1/3 - 1/8, 2017 Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts

Sarasota, FL 1/10 - 1/11 Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

Birmingham, AL 1/13 - 1/15 BJCC Concert Hall

Tucson, AZ 1/24 - 1/29 Centennial Hall

Modesto, CA 1/31 - 2/1 Gallo Center for the Arts

Thousand Oaks, CA 2/2 - 2/5 Fred Kavli Theatre

Colorado Springs, CO 2/7 - 2/8 Pikes Peak Center

Phoenix, AZ 2/10 - 2/12 Orpheum Theatre

Santa Barbara, CA 2/14 - 2/15 Granada Theatre

Fresno, CA 2/21 - 2/22 Saroyan Theatre

Reno, NV 2/24 - 2/26 Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts

Eugene, OR 2/28 - 3/2 Hult Center for the Performing Arts

Boise, ID 3/4 - 3/5 Velma V. Morrison Center for the Performing Arts

Fayetteville, AR 3/8 - 3/12 Walton Arts Center

Dayton, OH 3/14 - 3/19 Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

Detroit, MI 3/24 - 3/26 Fox Theatre

New Haven, CT 4/7 - 4/9 Shubert Theatre

Tulsa, OK 4/11 - 4/16 Tulsa Performing Arts Center

Wichita, KS 4/18 - 4/20 Century II Concert Hall

South Bend, IN 4/22 - 4/23 Morris Performing Arts Center

Springfield, MO 4/25 - 4/27 Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts

Wilmington, NC 5/2 - 5/3 Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College

Clearwater, FL 5/5 - 5/7 Ruth Eckerd Hall

Columbia, SC 5/9 - 5/10 Koger Center for the Arts

St. Louis, MO 5/12 - 5/14 The Fabulous Fox Theatre

Pittsburgh, PA 5/23 - 5/28 Heinz Hall

Utica, NY 5/30 - 5/31 Stanley Center for the Arts

Knoxville, TN 6/2 - 6/4 Tennessee Theatre

Grand Rapids, MI 6/6 - 6/11 DeVos Performance Hall

Albuquerque, NM 6/15 - 6/18 Popejoy Hall

Salt Lake City, UT 6/20 - 6/25 Eccles Theater

Additional dates will be announced in the coming months. North American tour booking arrangements are provided by The Road Company.

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage is an unprecedented live experience, exploding with heart-pounding music played live by an eight piece onstage band, passionate romance and sensational dancing. Seen by millions across the globe, this timeless love story features the hit songs "Hungry Eyes," "Hey Baby," "Do You Love Me?" and the heart-stopping "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life." London's Sunday Express says "This crowd-pleasing stage adaptation hits the jackpot!"

It's the summer of 1963, and 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is on vacation in New York's Catskill Mountains with her older sister and parents. Mesmerized by the racy dance moves and pounding rhythms she discovers in the resort's staff quarters, Baby can't wait to be part of the scene, especially when she catches sight of Johnny Castle, the resort's sexy dance instructor. Passions ignite and Baby's life changes forever when she is thrown in to the deep end as Johnny's leading lady, both on-stage and off.

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage began as an eight-week staged workshop in Manhattan in the fall of 2001. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal in Sydney, Australia in November 2004 before embarking upon a hugely successful tour of Australia and New Zealand. A new production opened at the Theater Neue Flora in Hamburg, Germany in March 2006 where it broke records for achieving the highest advance in European history.

The production began performances on London's West End in October 2006 with an £11 million advance and went on to become the longest running show in the history of the Aldwych Theatre. It closed in July 2011 in advance of a two-year UK national tour and then returned to London for a strictly limited season at the Piccadilly Theatre.

The show has gone on to perform across the world in markets as diverse as Utrecht, Holland, Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. Most recently, it has been represented by a new UK tour (which launched March 2014 in Bristol), a German tour (which launched April 2014 in Berlin) and an Italian production (which launched October 2014 in Milan). The show returned to Australia with a new tour that premiered in late 2014 in honor of the stage production's 10th anniversary.