Strictly Ballroom

The stage musical version of Baz Luhrmann's 1992 film has been anticipated for a long time and it really is a good night out. The singing is good and the dancing is excellent with some really spectacular numbers throughout the show. The whole cast provide high energy performances but I would particularly pick out Jose Agudo (Rico) and Karen Mann (Abuela) as providing really memorable scenes. Needless to say, Kevin Clifton (Scott Hastings) produces some wonderful dancing excellently supported by Maisie Smith as Fran.

At times the words were hard to make out in the group numbers and some of the direction lacked consistency but there was no doubting the sheer entertainment value of the evening - there are no messages or deep insights here, just pure crowd pleasing "fluff" and there is nothing wrong with that, a show that takes us out of ourselves for a couple of hours and just makes us smile and laugh.

Whether you loved the film or, like me, have never seen it, this is a lovely, fun, night out.