Jill Winternitz, Nicky Griffiths Join DIRTY DANCING National Tour

The producers of the smash hit musical Dirty Dancing have just announced new casting for the phenomenally successful First Ever National Tour. The new company will have their first performance at Birmingham Hippodrome on Wednesday 4 July (American Independence Day) and will run until Saturday 25 August. Since the UK tour opened in Bristol on 1 September 2011, demand for tickets has been sensational, smashing box office records across the country and playing to packed houses.

American actress Jill Winternitz will star as idealistic ‘Baby Houseman’, the role taken by Jennifer Grey in the film, who discovers love and life in the summer she will never forget. Jill trained at RADA and her theatre credits include ‘Ophelia’ in Hamlet and ‘The Prioress’ in The Canterbury Tales (Queen Mary 2); Wounded (Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble); ‘Nina’ in The Seagull (MXAT) and Sunday in the Park with George (Interlochen Center for the Arts).

Nicky Griffiths will take on the role of ‘Penny Johnson’, having been a member of the Dirty Dancing touring company since the show opened in Bristol. Her other credits include ‘Lisa’ in Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales); ‘Lou-Anne’ and understudy ‘Amber Von-Tussle’ in the original London cast of Hairspray (Shaftesbury); the original London cast of Wicked (Apollo Victoria) and Grease (UK tour).

Paul-Michael Jones, who has attracted huge critical and public acclaim on the tour so far, will continue to star as ‘Johnny Castle’, one of the most iconic roles in popular culture, made famous around the world by Patrick Swayze in the 1987 smash hit movie. Paul-Michael trained at Laine Theatre Arts, graduating in 2007. His theatre credits include ‘Eddie’ in Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales); understudying and performing the roles of ‘Jake’ and ‘Adrian’ in Never Forget (UK tour); ‘Jack’ in Jack & The Beanstalk (Victoria Theatre, Halifax); We Will Rock You (Cologne) and dance captain in Fame – the Musical (European tour). He has also represented England as a Latin American and Ballroom Dancer, as one of the top two English couples, at The World Championships in Singapore.

James Coombes will appear as ‘Dr. Jake Houseman’, Julia Nagle as ‘Marjorie Houseman’, EmiLia Williams as ‘Lisa Houseman’, Wayne Smith as ‘Billy Kostecki’, Michael Remick as ‘Max Kellerman’, Stefan Menaul as ‘Neil Kellerman’, Colin Charles as ‘Tito Suarez’ and Tony Stansfield as ‘Mr Schumacher’. Other members of the new company include: Lizzie Stavrou, Tara Verloop, Kate-Emma Portlock, Rosa O’Reilly, Lewis Davies, Callum Nicol, Adam Philpott, Will Tyler, Jenny Wickham, Rebecca Hodge, Vanessa Campbell, Faisal Khodabukus, Philip Marriott, Ben Harris and Jonathan Cordin.

Tickets for Dirty Dancing are priced from £20-£55 and are available on 0844 338 5000 or you can choose and book tickets online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com. (calls vary from 5p per minute, 5% transaction charge). Perf times eves: Mon-Thurs 7.30pm; to 21 July Fri 5.30pm; & 8.30pm; from 23rd July Wed mat 2pm & Fri 7.30pm; Sat mat 2.30pm.