i carried a watermelon

[carlyinrome]

I saw the traveling Broadway production of Dirty Dancing on Saturday, and it was a delight. Very true to the movie, and no one spontaneously bursting into song, which I loathe. (Tbh, I don't like musicals, but this was mostly dance with some live singing from people not in the middle of the action.) The dancing was even more incredible live; the actress who played Baby was adorable, and the guy playing Johnny sounded Just. Like Patrick Swayze. They did some cool stuff with staging and multimedia to show the different locations (they even had the scene where they practice jumps in the water!) It was impressive without being distracting or overbearing. There were a few added scenes exploring why Baby's father reacted so harshly to Johnny, and they added a few scenes of B plot about MLK and the Freedom Riders, which I quite liked. It was a glimpse of what was going on outside the tucked away world of the resort, and an example of real problems that need fixing that didn't come as a throwaway line from Baby or at her expense. It also helped the show not be as lily white as the film (Tito also got a bigger role, which was cool.) It was a really fun show to watch, especially if you're a fan of the movie; I highly recommend seeing it if you're able.