Jennlee Shallow News

Producers Michael Harrison and David Ian announced today cast changes for the national tour of the award-winning smash hit musical THE BODYGUARD.

Producers Michael Harrison and David Ian have announced that Jennlee Shallow and Alexandra Burke will play the role of Rachel Marron in THE BODYGUARD at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre at selected performances from Tuesday 25 June - Saturday 6 July. Please check performance schedule with the Box Office when booking.

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.

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.

'I carried a watermelon!', one of the most memorable lines from the classic love story Dirty Dancing, is brought to life on stage in the wildly fun production currently touring North America. For those who have been living under a rock since 1987 or have somehow deprived themselves from enjoying this beloved film, Dirty Dancing is the coming-of-age story of Frances 'Baby' Houseman told over the course of the summer of 1963. On a family vacation at an extravagant summer resort called Kellerman's in her last summer before attending college and living out her dreams of joining the Peace Corps and changing the world, Baby meets resident bad boy dance instructor Johnny Castle and their whirlwind romance is exciting, inspiring, and unforgettable.

Gillian Abbott recently assumed the iconic role of Frances 'Baby' Houseman in the North American tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage. Check out a first look at Abbott in the production bleow!

DIRTY DANCING, THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE, which is now in production at the Connor Palace transports the audience back to the summer of 1963. As is the custom of many well-to-do Jewish New York City families of that time, the Housemans have escaped for the summer to the Catskill Mountains, home of the Borscht Belt. It's a summer away from the sweltering city. It's a time for fun and games, and summer romances.

Gillian Abbott assumes the iconic role of Frances "Baby" Houseman tonight in the North American tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage. Abbott joins the production as it begins performances at the Connor Palace at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, where it will continue through March 22.

Of the multitude of recent film-to-stage adaptations that have risen from the video dust bin to breathe new life in a different guise, the stage version of DIRTY DANCING---whose first national tour is now gyrating inside Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through February 15---is by far one of the oddest, most peculiar ones of the bunch. Though it's not difficult to believe that this ad-hoc concoction has actually been a hit both in Australia and in the UK (they have the original 1987 film's nostalgia-hungry fans to thank for that, no doubt), it's a bit alarming to think that such an awkward head-scratcher has continued life in its current, somewhat off-putting format: as a show paved with good intentions---but executed poorly. Cool projections, though!

Not since 'Flashdance' has a more ill conceived, and forced 80's movie turned stage show been forced upon the unsuspecting theater goers in Seattle. But unlike 'Flashdance', in 'Dirty Dancing' currently playing at the Paramount there weren't quite as many WTF moments to make it somewhat entertaining (in a train wreck kind of way). So what we were left with, save two stunning performances which we will get to in a minute, was a severe lack of storytelling, choreography and acting making this show not a train wreck but just plain bad.

The Classic Story On Stage, an unprecedented live experience exploding with heart-pounding music, passionate romance and sensational dancing, will play at Sacramento Community Center Theater from December 26, 2014 - January 4, 2015. Based on the tremendously popular classic 1987 film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage is part of the Broadway Sacramento series presented by California Musical Theatre. Performance times vary; for information visit BroadwaySacramento.com.

And if you like 'DIRTY DANCING', the film, this stage version is indeed a 'cinematic' stage production.

DIRTY DANCING made its way to Houston this week. Billed as DIRTY DANCING: The Classic Story On Stage, it is no surprise that it joins the ranks of popular films turned into musicals. Based on the 1987 film that became a cult sensation, DIRTY DANCING is the story of a coming of age.