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Dirty Dancing

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Dirty Dancing is not due to play near your location currently - but they are scheduled to play 36 concerts across 1 country in 2024-2025. View all concerts.

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TV & Film

Dirty Dancing The Musical: Meet the real-life Johnny and Baby and how Patrick Swayze inspired them

3 February 2022, 15:36

By Tom Eames

Dirty Dancing has a special place in our hearts, and fans can now enjoy the classic Patrick Swayze film in a fantastic new musical tour.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2022, Dirty Dancing returns this year as Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage - a super-fun stage adaptation of the iconic movie.

Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage features hit songs from the movie including ‘Hungry Eyes’, ‘Hey! Baby’, ‘Do You Love Me?’, 'She's Like the Wind' and of course, ‘(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life’ .

• Dirty Dancing: The truth about Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s complicated relationship
• QUIZ: How well do you remember Dirty Dancing?
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Having originally opened back in 2006, the musical has returned to London's West End at the Dominion Theatre until April 16, before continuing on tour throughout the UK until the end of May.

This year's production sees returning cast members Michael O'Reilly as Johnny Castle ( Patrick Swayze ) and Kira Malou as Frances 'Baby' Houseman (Jennifer Grey).

Michael and Kira are an item in real life, and the couple make their West End debuts in the show, which is a must-see for all fans of the original film.

Smooth Radio's Paul Phear caught up with Michael and Kira about the show, and they revealed that they had very different entry points to the classic movie.

"My mum was a big fan of the film, and I actually remember it being on in our house when I was younger," Kira told us. "And my mum would close my eyes during the more raunchy parts of it.

"But I rediscovered it when I was 17 years old, and I would just watch it, and rewind it, and play it again. So I was pretty obsessed as a teenager. And I’m rediscovering it again by doing the shows.

Michael said: "It wasn’t until I was 21, when I was in the audition room for this. We were doing the scene, and I was trying to get the correct feel. And [the director] goes, 'Michael, for this, we just kind of want to get the atmosphere of the film. It’s really important to get that relationship. Do you understand?'

"And I was like, 'Of course. I know exactly what you’re saying.' And I had never seen it before. So the first time I watched it was that night. After the audition, I ran home. I watched it. I was like, 'Oh, no. I get what he means now!'"

Michael also spoke of his love for Patrick Swayze, saying: "He grew up dancing. He did a lot of ballet in Texas. I think that Patrick is one of those few people that has the ability to make anything look cool. You know, he’s so captivating.

"When you watch him in films or see him on telly – he had an amazing career. Everything he did had so much passion and so much soul."

On what it's like to work so closely together as a couple, Kira said: "Yes, it’s really special. I find it special!"

Michael added: "Yeah, it’s lovely. We met when we did the tour in 2018, and our first kind of experience together was touring, and living together in the day, and doing the shows at night. We were pretty inseparable for those first 12 months.

"And afterwards, we’ve been apart. We’ve worked in different countries. We’ve locked down in different places. So to be back together, doing the show, is really special."

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage plays at London's West End at the Dominion Theatre until April 16, before continuing on tour throughout the UK until the end of May. Full ticket details can be found here .

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DIRTY DANCING – THE CLASSIC STORY ON STAGE North American Tour Launches Tonight

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage officially opens a new production and North American tour at the Harris Center in Folsom, CA, tonight, October 5.

After three successful years on tour boasting numerous sold out engagements, this new adaptation of the worldwide smash-hit film, currently celebrating its 30th Anniversary, will continue to dazzle in more than 50 markets in North America, including New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore and more. Check out the full tour route here !

Producers also announced today new direction by Sarna Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George - Broadway; War Horse - North American tour). Leading a company of 24 are Aaron Patrick Craven as Johnny Castle and Kaleigh Courts as Francis "Baby" Houseman.

They are joined by Anais Blake as Penny Johnson , Erica Lee Cianciulli as Marjorie Houseman, Nickolaus Colon as Billy Kostecki/Singer, Ryan Cupello as Robbie Gould, Buddy Daniels Friedman as Mr. Schumacher, Rick Gross man as Max Kellerman, Demitra Pace as Lisa Houseman, Owen Russell as Neil Kellerman, Christopher Ro Bert Smith as Dr. Jake Houseman and RaMond Thomas as Tito Suarez.

The ensemble is comprised of Alex Caldwell, Ayla Ciccone-Burton, Amanda Clement, J'royce Jata , Hunter Mikles, Honza Pelichovksy, Erica Philpot, Joshua Clifton Powell, Hannah Straney, Jay Stuart , Kesley Walsh and Ai Dan Ziegler -Hansen.

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage features an eight piece band that performs the timeless hits on stage, led by Conductor Alan J. Plado (Keyboard) and Associate Conductor Jonathan Marro (Keyboard). The band also includes Ethan Hack-Chabot (Guitar), Michael Bliss (Reeds), Adam Hradisky (Drums), Ryan McCausland (Percussion), Jared Pasimio (Bass) and Patrick Stouffer (Trumpet).

The production's book is written by Eleanor Bergstein , author of the original script of the film, and the North American tour is choreographed by Michele Lynch based on the original choreography by Kate Champion .

The creative team also includes Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams (Scenic Design), Ken Billington (Lighting Design), Jennifer Irwin (Costume Design), Leon Rothenberg (Sound Design), Bernie Ardia (Hair Design), Conrad Helfrich (Music Supervisor and Orchestrations) and Alan J. Plado (Music Director). Stewart/Whitley is the casting director for this tour.

"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 scenes with Baby and Johnny, more about the family, more about the period in which it was set, more songs I couldn't afford last time, and, best of all - more dancing. We have added 20 new original scenes and 36 numbers of live music played by an eight piece band onstage, which invite the audience to come into Kellerman's and experience the story in a whole new way as a live event as it happens."

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage is an unprecedented live experience, exploding with heart-pounding music, 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 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, having begun performances on London's West End in October 2006 with a record breaking £15 million advance and a complete sell-out for the first six months, 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.

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage continued its success with its commercial premiere in the Western Hemisphere in Toronto at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on November 15, 2007. The engagement ended on March 29, 2009, having performed to over 800,000 people. Shortly before the show closed in Toronto, the production's first North American tour began, making its debut in Chicago on September 2, 2008 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre and continuing on to Boston and Los Angeles. The show returned to Australia with a new smash hit tour that premiered in late 2014 in honor of the stage production's 10th anniversary.

Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage has also been performed across the world in markets as diverse as Hong Kong, Sweden, Utrecht, Holland, Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. The show has been represented in other major markets, including a UK tour (launched March 2014 in Bristol), a German tour (launched April 2014 in Berlin) and an Italian production (launched October 2014 in Milan). Following the Italian tour's premier in Milan, the production sold out the 15,000 seat Roman Arena in Verona and went on to receive critical acclaim for its engagement in the capital city of Rome. With additional sold out engagements in Paris and Vienna, the show continues to tour in France and German speaking territories. The French tour alone has played to over 500,000 people since its launch in January 2015.

Due to an overwhelming demand for tickets in the UK, a new production of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage premiered at Blackpool Opera House on August 11, 2016 and continued on to cities such as Manchester, Dublin, Berkshire, Bradford, Londonderry and many others.

The previous Equity North American tour, having launched in Washington, DC at The National Theatre on August 25, 2014, played over 80 cities including: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis, San Antonio, Austin, New Orleans, Seattle, Costa Mesa, Charlotte, Tampa, San Diego, Las Vegas, Boston, Cleveland and many more.

The North American tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage is produced by Amber Jacobsen , NETworks Presentations LLC and Col Joye in association with Lionsgate and Magic Hour Productions .

For more information and tour dates, visit us.dirtydancingontour.com .

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

AARON PATRICK CRAVEN (Johnny Castle) is proud to be touring with Dirty Dancing! BFA in Dance Performance/Choreography from Wichita State University. Favorite Credits include Billy Elliot (Older Billy), The Rocky Horror Show (Rocky), Mamma Mia! (Pepper), West Side Story (Diesel), and Goodspeed's Oklahoma! Aaron has also appeared as a Principle with Ballet Wichita, and has toured internationally with Wichita Contemporary Dance Theatre. Love and thanks to Mom, Dad, Alex, and Katie! Special thanks to Paul Hardt ! Follow: @aaronpatrickcraven, aaronpatrickcraven.com

KALIEGH COURTS (Frances Houseman). Theatre Credits Include: Maria in West Side Story Suite (Houston Ballet), Swan Lake (Wortham Theatre Center), Sleeping Beauty (Houston Ballet II) Training: Houston Ballet Academy, High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, North Harris Performing Arts.

Anais Blake ( Penny Johnson ) is proud to be making her Broadway touring debut. Previously with the Sarasota Ballet, (2008-2017), she has also toured to the Kennedy Center (Dance Across America), Jacobs Pillow, and New York City Center (Fall for Dance). Collaborations and guest artist with Suzanne Farrell Ballet, American Contemporary Ballet, State Street Ballet and Trinity Irish Dance Company. Asolo Theater's Broadway production of Contact (swing) in collaboration with Sarasota Ballet. She has appeared in numerous print ads, commercials and Kartemquin Films, Life Lessons (2011). Love to Jason, my family and stellar friends for their steadfast support. anaisblake.com , @anaisblake

ERICA LEE CIANCIULLI (Marjorie Houseman) is so excited to be joining the team of the National Tour of Dirty Dancing. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Erica attended Point Park University for her college career. Other national tour credits include Pippin (Fastrada). She would like to thank the cast, creatives, friends, and family for all of the love and support they have given her throughout this journey.

NICKOLAUS COLON (Billy Kostecki) is a recent graduate of UNCSA and is delighted to be joining Dirty Dancing for his first ever National Tour. Favorite Roles include: Guys & Dolls (Nathan Detroit), Learned Ladies (Lepine), Unlimited (Nick), Les Mise?rables (Thenardier). Thanks to the cast/crew for making his first big show out of school a dream come true.

Ryan F. Cupello (Robbie Gould) is thrilled to be part of the company of Dirty Dancing! A native of Rochester, NY, he currently lives in New York City. National Tour: Fiddler on the Roof (Perchik u/s). Regional: Violet (Monty), Les Mise?rables (Marius), James and the Giant Peach (Aunt Spiker), Light in the Piazza (Fabrizio u/s). MFA: ART/Harvard. Thank you to Lisa, Yvan, Mickey, and the entire Price Group team! Love to my parents! ryancupello.com

BUDDY DANIELS FRIEDMAN (Mr. Schumacher) comes to this production for the 1st time. He has been an actor since his 1st film Danger Zone 1986; he brings with him extensive film/TV/Comm./Music Videos/New Media/Reality TV/credits. Just finished up 3 new feature films, Nasty Piece of Work, Merica My Lovely, My Baby Sister is an Alien; worked with Charles Grodin in Taking Care of Business; Snoop Dog in Eastidaz. As for TV Ur Blue Bolin from Star Trek Next Generation. Also has been on Golden Girls & Ali McBeal to also mention recurring role on Passions the soap. Has a Blending award for a Pistachio Comm. You can see Buddy in reruns of Beverly Hills Pawn reality show. As for stage, several theater productions of all kinds & 13 years in an ongoing role playing Experience, The Dungeon Master. Buddy was a Theatre Arts Major @ Temple U. in Phila. Buddy is delighted to be in & share his talent with this wonderful cast. To find out more about Buddy just go to IMDB, & look up his names, also Buddy Daniels & Daniel Friedman. Thanks for coming Enjoy the show.

Rick Gross man (Max Kellerman) is a NY based actor/director who was seen in the national tours of Bullets Over Broadway (1st Nat'l), Man of La Mancha, Enter Laughing, Come Blow Your Horn and Milk & Honey. Off Broadway: The Canary, Harry & Eddie, Awake & Sing, Feldman & Sons, The Manufacturer's Daughter, Damn Yankees (Lincoln Center Outdoors). Regional theatre: Laguna Playhouse , Surflight Theatre, Glove Theatre, Westport Playhouse, Starlight Theatre, Landmark Theatre on Main St. TV/Film: House of Cards, Byte Me (Pilot), College Senior, Demons, Paper Planes, The Pitch, The 30 Year Old Bris (Tribeca FF), Finding Oscar. Studied at NYC HS of Performing Arts, Hofstra University, Pasadena Playhouse and with acting guru Stella Adler . Directed nearly 150 productions; most recently the original musical, The Tiny Mustache at NY's Peter Jay Sharpe Theatre.

DEMITRA PACE (Lisa Houseman) grew up in the Bay Area where she developed her passion for musical theater starting in the 2nd grade. She recently graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, & Television and is thrilled to be making her National Tour debut with this wonderful company! She would like to thank all of the incredible teachers who have greatly inspired her over the years, her incredible team at KMR, and all of her friends and family members or showing endless love and support.

Owen Russell (Neil Kellerman) is very grateful to be here on his first tour! Regional credits include: My Fair Lady (Jamie), Merrily We Roll Along (Tyler), The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (Jason). A graduate of NYU Tisch; BFA Drama ( Playwrights Horizons /New Studio on Broadway). Huge thanks to Rich/Mike, the Dirty Dancing team, and my family/friends for their support and love! Instagram: @owenrussell

CHRISTOPHER Ro Bert Smith (Dr. Jake Houseman). Originally from Michigan. Chris has performed in regional theaters all over the country and in New York and Los Angeles. Favorite recent credits include: Pilate in JCSS and Ned Stark Game of Thrones in LA. TV: Big Bang Theory, Days of Our Lives and Friends with Better Lives. As well as many commercials and fitness magazines. He's very excited to be on this. Thanks to his family back in Michigan and friends in Los Angeles for helping this to happen God Bless :) Chrissmithactor.com. IMDb Christopher Ro Bert Smith

RaMond Thomas (Tito Suarez) favorite roles include Mr. Black in The Wild Party with Ray of Light Theatre, Delray in the National Tour of Memphis The Musical, Keegan Theater's Working as Rex/Utkarsh and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as Mitch Mahoney. The InSeries' production of Love Potion #1 (L'Elisir D'Amore) understudy in TheatreWorks Palo Alto's production of Grey Gardens.

ALEX CALDWELL (Ensemble, u/s Baby, u/s Lisa). Regional credits include: West Side Story (Graziella), Chicago (Velma), Peter Pan (Tiger Lily), and The School at Jacob's Pillow. This is Alex's tour debut! You can check her out at alexcaldwell.net.

AYLA CICCONE-BURTON (ENSEMBLE, u/s Elizabeth) is making her National Tour debut as a part of the ensemble. Just coming back from studying popular music at Goldsmiths, University of London, she's thrilled to be a part of the show!

AMANDA CLEMENT (Swing, Asst. Dance Captain). Rockford Native and U of I Alum, Amanda moved to New York in 2013 and has been perfecting her craft since. She most recently worked for one of the largest cruise lines, but is swapping the boat for the bus on her first national tour. Tremendous thank you's to Lucille, Michael, friends and family. Dad, Mom and Erin- I love you

J'royce Jata (Ensemble, u/s Tito Suarez). Selected credits include, Off Broadway: Endangered! (Tour Guide/Snoop). National Tours: Fame ( Tyrone Jackson ), Memphis (Swing). NYC: BroadwayCon, La Mama, Symphony Space , TV/Film: Royal Pains (Season 6), Babylon Fields (Pilot), City of My Dreams official music video (Mary Komasa). Deep gratitude to Stewart/Whitley, Gregg Baker Management, this magical cast & crew, family, and you for supporting live art. Ashe?! jroycejata.com

HUNTER MIKLES (Ensemble). National Tour debut! Hunter is ecstatic to join the Dirty Dancing family! Favorite credits include Newsies and Big! The Musical at the Fulton Theatre, and Chicago at Park Playhouse. Hunter graduated Magna Cum Laude from Point Park University, earning his BA in Jazz Dance. Endless love and gratitude to my family, friends, and LDC fam. Follow along! @hunter_mikles

HONZA PELICHOVSKY (Swing, Dance Captain, u/s Neil) holds a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College. He has worked for The MET Opera, BARE Dance, Hivewild, and LoudHound Movement. Eternally grateful to God, mom&dad, the Fetch Four, Catherine Cabeen, and Wanda.

ERICA PHILPOT (Ensemble, Elizabeth) is delighted to be making her national tour debut with this wonderful production. She received her BA Degree in Theatre Performance from the University of Maryland, College Park. Performance credits include: Supporting Vocalist for Tsidii Le Loka (from Disney's The Lion King on Broadway), Rent (Mimi), Something Like A Fairytale (Princess Alyse). She thanks God and supporters.

JOSHUA CLIFTON POWELL (Ensemble, Moe Pressman) is originally from Kansas City and now lives and works in New York. He is humbled to be surrounded by this phenomenal group of people for his first national tour. He is blessed and grateful for amazing parents, siblings, grandparents, and 7th Street Family. Always, Peace.

HANNAH STRANEY (Ensemble; Vivian Pressman) is thrilled to join the Dirty Dancing Company! She grew up in Little Falls, NY, and studied dance, singing and acting as a child. She received her BFA in Dance Performance from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, and graduated with honors. While there she studied abroad at Taipei National University of the Arts. She has performed for Aszure Barton , Sidra Bell, and Tom Weinberger.

Jay Stuart (Ensemble, u/s Johnny) is thrilled to join the North American tour of Dirty Dancing. Select NYC: "Ray" in Seeing You (World Premier) dir. Randy Weiner /Ryan Huffington, TAPE (The Wild Project), Regional: Memphis (Cabrillo Music Theater). TV: Derek and Julianne Hough 's "Move Live" (GMA) @_jaystuart

KELSEY WALSH (Ensemble, u/s Penny) National tour debut! Recent: Odyssey Dance Theatre, University of Arizona graduate. Love to my family and MTA for your endless support. @kelsey_walsh

AI Dan Ziegler -HANSEN (Ensemble) is thrilled to make his National Tour debut with Dirty Dancing! Originally from Eugene, OR, Aidan recently graduated from the University of Michigan. Thank you to the entire creative team. Much love to Mom, Dad, and Tanner.

Eleanor Bergstein (Book) is a novelist, screenwriter, producer and director. Her stories have been published in national magazines, ranging from Transatlantic Review to Redbook and Cosmopolitan. Her first novel, Advancing Paul Newman , about women and politics in the 1960s, was published by the Viking Press, and her first movie script was It's My Turn, starring Jill Clayburgh and Michael Douglas . Her second novel, Ex-Lover, about sexual obsession, was published by Random House. She has worked on a variety of film projects, including the final script revision of Sister Act. She then wrote and directed Let It Be Me, which starred Campbell Scott , Jennifer Beals , Leslie Caron and Patrick Stewart . Her most famous project was one of the most successful independent films of all time, Dirty Dancing. It was the unique continuing response to the story over the years that made her decide to reimagine Dirty Dancing as a stage event. The multiple viewings by audiences all over the world made her suspect that what the audiences really wanted was to be more physically involved in the story. This would mean that its ultimate form should be one that combined dance and story and music onstage in a new way. It was also her chance to add new scenes not in the movie, as well as songs she had wanted for the movie and been unable to obtain. Ms. Bergstein, through her company Magic Hour Productions , is at work on a new stage musical set in London in the late 1960s, a new work of fiction, and preparing a film to be shot in Rome as well as a film to be shot in Slovenia.

Sarna Lapine (Director). Sunday in the Park with George (Encores! NY City Center ); Buyer & Cellar ( Bucks County Playhouse ); Tribes (Segal Centre); Other Desert Cities (Theatre Aspen); Hope and Gravity (Creede Rep); Sunday in the Park with George (Short North Stage); Waiting for Lefty and The Year of Magical Thinking ( Intiman Theatre ). National tours: The National Theatre's War Horse (North America & Japan) and Lincoln Center Theater 's South Pacific. Broadway Associate & Assistant Director: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Sondheim on Sondheim, South Pacific, Awake and Sing! and The Light in the Piazza. Concerts & cabaret: Boston Pops, 92Y, 54 Below and Cafe? Carlyle. Upcoming: Mira Nair 's Monsoon Wedding (Berkeley Rep), Sondheim on Sondheim (Boston Pops) and Photograph 51 (Tokyo). MFA Columbia University.

Michele Lynch (Choreographer) is thrilled to be a part of Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage. Most recently Michele worked alongside Sarna Lapine , where she choreographed the Hollywood Bowl's production of Sondheim on Sondheim. She is also received the 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Choreography for the critically acclaimed production of Kiss Me, Kate at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, which is set to make its West Coast debut next year at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre . Favorite Broadway credits include: Everyday Rapture, The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray (assoc. choreo with Jerry Mitchell ), The Full Monty (asst. choreo), Urinetown (asst. choreo). Off- Broadway: Little Miss Sunshine, Everyday Rapture, We The People. Opera: Showboat at the Washington National Opera - Kennedy Center, Chicago Lyric, Houston Grand, and San Francisco Opera. National tours: Little House on the Prairie, Happy Days . Film: Camp, Joyful Noise, The Last Five Years. Concerts: Dolly Parton World Tour 2011.

Kate Champion (Original Choreography) is the Artistic Director and founder of the Sydney based dance-theatre company Force Majeure. She has also worked variously as a director/choreographer/performer for Sydney Theatre Company , DV8 Physical Theatre, Australian Dance Theatre, Opera Australia, Belvoir, Legs on the Wall, NIDA and The English National Opera . In 1996, Kate was awarded the Robert Helpmann Scholarship for Choreographic Excellence enabling her to create her first solo work Face Value which was awarded a Green Room and a MO Award. In 1997 she directed Under the Influence for Legs on the Wall, which premiered in Sydney and toured to the Edinburgh Fringe and Riverside Studios , London. In 2001 she created a new solo show About Face and in 2002 directed Same, Same But Different for Force Majeure. Both these productions won Helpmann Awards. Kate choreographed the world premiere of the stage version of Dirty Dancing, which opened in Sydney November 2004 and has subsequently toured to Europe, UK and USA. Since 2005 Kate has directed Already Elsewhere, Tenebrae 1 and 11, The Age I'm In, Not In A Million Years, Never Did Me Any Harm (a co-production with Sydney Theatre Company ) and Food (a co-production with Belvoir) for Force Majeure. In 2010 Kate choreographed the premier production of Opera Australia's Bliss which subsequently toured to the Edinburgh Festival and Spring Awakening for Sydney Theatre Company . Kate was Associate Director of Opera Australia's 2013 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle.

Amber Jacobsen worked for Jacobsen Entertainment as the head of touring and executive producer from 1997 to 2009 in Australia. She was responsible for the research, procurement and presentation of many concerts for artists including Elton John , Barbra Streisand , Bruce Springsteen , The Bee Gees , Shania Twain , Pearl Jam and Usher as well as being executive producer for theatre and arena productions such as Fame - The Musical, SHOUT!, The Man From Snowy River and Long Way to the Top. Amber was the executive producer for the first production of Dirty Dancing in Australia and has executive produced and subsequently produced all productions thereafter.

NETworks Presentations (Producer), from its inception over 20 years ago, has been an industry leading producer and manager of touring musical theatre productions and remains committed to delivering quality entertainment to audiences worldwide. Having toured over 70 productions internationally, NETworks current touring productions include Cameron Mackintosh 's The Phantom of the Opera, Les Mise?rables, Elf the Musical, Finding Neverland, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Dirty Dancing, The Sound of Music and Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I.

Col Joye is an Australian show business phenomenon and a 'name' that is legendary in the Australian entertainment industry. He was the first Australian pop music artist to have a national number one single with successive number one hits and was the first to appear on the American Billboard music chart. Col recorded 15 Top10 albums and was the first inductee into the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. He has received numerous platinum, gold, and silver albums and hundreds of other industry awards including Australian television's Logie Award for Australia's Most Popular Television Performer. He has toured extensively throughout Australia and his concert performances are guaranteed sell-outs. Col involves himself with sound design and music development of the Jacobsen Group musicals and has produced all the cast recordings including the ARIA winning albums SHOUT! and Long Way to the Top. Col was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for his contribution to music and charity which was presented by the Governor General of Australia on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. Col was chosen to run with the Olympic Torch as part of the Sydney Olympic celebrations and was recently honored by having his own postage stamp.

Lionsgate is a premier next generation global content leader with a diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, international distribution and sales, branded channel platforms, interactive ventures and games, and location-based entertainment. The Company has nearly 80 television shows on 40 different networks spanning its primetime production, distribution and syndication businesses. These include the critically-acclaimed hit series Orange is the New Black, the beloved drama series Nashville, the syndication successes The Wendy Williams Show and Celebrity Name Game (with FremantleMedia), the breakout series The Royals and the Golden Globe-nominated dramedy Casual.

The Company's feature film business spans eight labels and includes the blockbuster Hunger Games franchise, the Now You See Me, Divergent and John Wick series, Sicario, The Age of Adaline, Roadside Attractions' Love & Mercy and Mr. Holmes, Codeblack Films' Addicted and breakout concert film Kevin Hart : Let Me Explain and Pantelion Films' Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S.

Lionsgate's home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world. www.lionsgate.com

Magic Hour Productions was founded by Eleanor Bergstein in 1994 to develop and produce works by herself and others for print, film, and stage. Magic Hour Productions has been involved in the development and production of the stage musical of Dirty Dancing since its inception, including the first staged workshop in New York in 2001. Currently, Magic Hour Productions is working to bring Dirty Dancing to new territories around the world, including Greece and Japan. In addition to Dirty Dancing, Magic Hour Productions is developing a new musical by Ms. Bergstein set in late 1960s London, a film to be shot in Rome, and a romantic comedy film to be shot in Slovenia. Magic Hour's team includes Tomoko Minami, who has worked with Ms. Bergstein since 2001, and Robin Nahas. The company is based in New York City.

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How to see Dirty Dancing live tour

Have the time of your life.

The 1987 movie won Oscars and Grammys for its incredible soundtrack, and now fans can witness the film on the big screen once again.

Next year, Dirty Dancing in Concert will visit 13 cities across the UK, featuring a live band playing along in sync with classics like '(I've Had) The Time of My Life', 'Hungry Eyes' and star Patrick Swayze's own hit 'She's Like the Wind'.

Not only does a live band play along with the film, but audiences will also get an encore where they perform other hits from the soundtrack and score.

Ticketmaster will make pre-sale tickets available on Thursday (November 9) at 10am, with general release following on Friday (November 10) at 10am.

Below is a list of dates for the tour:

• March 13, 2024: Brighton Dome
• March 14, 2024: Poole Lighthouse
• March 15, 2024: Bath Forum
• March 16, 2024: Birmingham Symphony Hall
• March 18, 2024: York Barbican
• March 19, 2024: London Eventim Apollo
• March 20, 2024: Southend Cliffs Pavilion
• March 22, 2024: Manchester Bridgewater Hall
• March 23, 2024: Sheffield City Hall
• March 24, 2024: Newport International Convention Centre
• March 25, 2024: Liverpool Philharmonic
• March 26, 2024: Newcastle City Hall
• March 27, 2024: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
• March 28, 2024: Edinburgh Usher Hall

A sequel to the original Dirty Dancing is currently in the works, but earlier this year, its release was delayed by more than a year to 2025.

Jennifer Grey will return as Frances 'Baby' Houseman for another story set at Kellerman's Mountain House resort, and she's teased more original stars could appear as well.

One thing the sequel won't do is attempt to replace the late Patrick Swayze , as Grey previously told Entertainment Weekly : "There will never be another Johnny. There will never be another Patrick."

Dirty Dancing 2 will be released in the summer of 2025.

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Justin has been with Digital Spy since 2010, and in that time, has covered countless major news events for DS from the US. 

He has worked previously as both a reporter and sub editor for the brand, prior to taking on the position of Night News Editor in 2016. 

Over more than a decade, he has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. As a US contributor to Digital Spy, Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo.

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”Dirty Dancing” unveils 2023 tour cast and dates

Dirty Dancing has announced its casting for the 2023 UK and Ireland tour, following its successful run at the Dominion Theatre in London.

Michael O’Reilly and Kira Malou, who starred as Johnny and Baby, will reprise their roles for the tour. O’Reilly has previously appeared in West Side Story at the Leicester Curve, while Malou has starred in Fame at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.

Producer Karl Sydow said today: “I am thrilled about the success of the second Dominion Theatre season and to be going out on tour for the fifth time since 2011. We have an amazing cast for this new tour.”

The rest of the company includes Georgia Aspinall as Penny Johnson, Jack Loy as Dr Jake Houseman, Taryn Sudding as Marjorie Houseman, Daisy Steere as Lisa Houseman, Danny Colligan as Billy Kostecki, Colin Charles as Tito Suarez, Christian James as Neil Kellerman, Mark McKerracher as Max Kellerman, and Lydia Sterling as Elizabeth.

The show will also feature Mark Faith, Lowri Hamilton, Tyler Lotzof, Jody Zimmerman, Eva Phillips, Callum Fitzgerald, Michael Nelson, Joel Benjamin, Akeem Ellis-Hyman, Jenna Warne, Taylor Bridges, Daisy West, Aaron J Smith, Ayden Morgan, and Thomas Inge.

The production is directed by Federico Bellone and choreographed by Austin Wilks, with costumes designed by Jennifer Irwin, lighting by Valerio Tiberi, sound design by Chris Whybrow, music supervision by Conrad Helfrich, and supervising musical direction by Richard John. The show is written by Eleanor Bergstein and produced by Karl Sydow in association with Lionsgate and Magic Hour Productions.

The tour will kick off on 25 May at the New Wimbledon Theatre in south London. After that it will visit Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, Birmingham, Oxford, Newcastle, Cork, Belfast, Dublin, Derry, Blackpool, Bradford, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Canterbury and Hull.

Dirty Dancing is inspired by the popular 1987 film and features hit songs such as “Hungry Eyes,” “Hey! Baby,” “Do You Love Me?” and “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life.”

Select tour dates are on sale below.

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Johnny, what are you doin'? Touring the Uk!

Tour dates now on sale, past 2023 tour dates.

Dirty Dancing is back on tour following a season at London’s Dominion Theatre. Exploding with heart-pounding music, breath-taking emotion and sensationally sexy dancing.

‘THE BIGGEST LIVE THEATRE SENSATION OF ALL TIME’ – The Observer (UK)

Seen by millions across the globe this worldwide smash hit tells the classic story of Baby and Johnny, two fiercely independent young spirits from different worlds, who come together in what will be the most challenging and triumphant summer of their lives.

See the hit film come to life before your eyes with this fantastic, emotional and triumphant live stage show.

THE STAGE VERSION IS A PHENOMENON’ – Sunday Mirror (UK)

The iconic 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 , and an incredible cast of dancers

BOX OFFICE: 03330 096 690

93 The Broadway, London SW19 1QG

97 Oxford St, Manchester, M1 6FT, UK

Box office: 0113 243 0808.

Leeds Grand Theatre, 46 New Briggate, Leeds LS1 6NU

1 Lime St, Liverpool L1 1JE, UK

Westover Rd, Bournemouth, BH1 2BU

Box office: 0343 310 0041.

New Theatre, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3LN

Piccadilly, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST1 1AP

55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA

Suffolk Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands, B5 4DS

24-26 George St, Oxford OX1 2AG, UK

Box office: 0191 232 7010.

100 Grey Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6BR

Box office: 0353 21 427 0022.

Emmett Pl, Centre, Cork, T12 DW6P, Ireland

Box office: 028 9024 1919.

2 - 4 Great Victoria St, Belfast BT2 7HR

Box office: +353 (0) 1 677 7999.

Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Grand Canal Square, Docklands, Dublin 2, D02 PA03

Box office: 028 7126 4455.

3 Newmarket St, Londonderry, BT48 6EB

Box office: 0844 770 0593.

Winter Gardens Blackpool, Church Street, Blackpool FY1 1HU

The Alhambra Theatre, Morley Street, Bradford, BD7 1AJ

Dirty Dancing returns to His Majesty’s Theatre following a season at London’s Dominion Theatre. Exploding with heart-pounding music, breath-taking emotion and sensationally sexy dancing.

‘THE BIGGEST LIVE THEATRE SENSATION OF ALL TIME’ – The Observer (UK)

THE STAGE VERSION IS A PHENOMENON’ – Sunday Mirror (UK)

The iconic 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 , and an incredible cast of dancers

BOX OFFICE: 01224 641122

Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen, AB25 1GL

297 Bath St, Glasgow G2, UK

Box office: 01227 787787.

The Marlowe Theatre, The Friars, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2AS

Box office: 01482 300 306.

Kingston square, Hull, HU1 3HF

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Dirty Dancing Tour

The  Dirty Dancing tour has now come to an end. Sign up to our Touring Alerts and we'll let you know when the show goes back on the roadd

DIRTY DANCING MUSICAL TOUR

This tour has now concluded.

Official Website: https://www.dirtydancingontour.com

Find out what musicals are coming to a theatre near you

Click the link to  Find A Musical Near You now, and choose your nearest town or city

DIRTY DANCING - THE WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON

Seen by millions across the globe, this worldwide smash hit tells the classic story of Baby and Johnny, two fiercely independent young spirits from different worlds, who come together in what will be the most challenging and triumphant summer of their lives.

Many favourite original masters feature within this stage sensation which blends the movie soundtrack seamlessly with live performances by our cast.

Some of these classic tracks include ‘Cry To Me’ by the larger-than-life rhythm & blues singer Solomon Burke, the No.1 hit single ‘Hey! Baby’ by Bruce Channel and ‘These Arms of Mine’, Otis Redding’s first solo record.

Other artists featured include Gene Chandler, The Chantels, The Drifters, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, Mickey & Sylvia, The Surfaris and Django Reinhardt.

You will have the time of your life at this show. Book your tickets today!

DIRTY DANCING TOUR - CAST & CREATIVE

Casting for the 2023 UK Tour of Dirty Dancing is as follows:

• Michael O'Reilly – Jonny
• Kira Malou – Baby
• Georgia Aspinall – Penny Johnson
• Jack Loy – Dr Jake Houseman
• Taryn Sudding –  Majorie Houseman
• Daisy Steere –  Lisa Houseman
• Danny Colligan – Billy Kostecki
• Colin Charles – Tito Suarez
• Christian James – Neil Kellerman
• Mark McKerracher – Max Kellerman
• Lydia Sterling – Elizabeth

The company includes Mark Faith, Lowri Hamilton, Tyler Lotzof, Jody Zimmerman, Eva Phillips, Callum Fitzgerald, Michael Nelson, Joel Benjamin, Aaron J Smith, Akeem Ellis-Hyman, Thomas Inge, Jenna Warne, Taylor Bridges, Daisy West, and Ayden Morgan.

Writer –  Eleanor Bergstein

Director –  Federico Bellone

Choreographer – Austin Wilks

Producer –  Karl Sydow

DIRTY DANCING ON TOUR TRAILER - WATCH THE VIDEO!

Listen to the dirty dancing cast recording, did you find this useful if so, would you 'like' our facebook page, thank you we are new, and every 'like' goes a long way :).

• Bournemouth
• Derry / Londonderry
• High Wycombe
• Kingston upon Thames
• Milton Keynes
• Newcastle Upon Tyne
• Northampton
• Peterborough
• Southampton
• Southend-on-Sea
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Wolverhampton

Dirty Dancing

Aug 21, 2014, jun 25, 2017, about this production.

• Production Staff
• Opening Night Cast
• Replacements
• Songs Act 1 This Magic Moment (music by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ; lyrics by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ) Merengue (music by Erich Bulling , John D'Andrea and Michael Lloyd ) Time of My Life (Incidental) (music by John DeNicola , Donald Markowitz and Franke Previte ) You Do Something To Me (music by Cole Porter ; lyrics by Cole Porter ) You're The Cream In My Coffee (music by Lew Brown , B.G. DeSylva and Ray Henderson ; lyrics by Lew Brown , B.G. DeSylva and Ray Henderson ) There Will Never Be Another You (music by Harry Warren ; lyrics by Mack Gordon ) Johnny's Mambo (music by Erich Bulling , John D'Andrea and Michael Lloyd ) Do You Love Me? (music by Berry Gordy Jr. ; lyrics by Berry Gordy Jr. ) Love Man (music by Otis Redding ; lyrics by Otis Redding ) Honey Love (music by Clyde McPhatter and Gerald Wexler ; lyrics by Clyde McPhatter and Gerald Wexler ) Infectious Cha Cha (music by John D'Andrea and Michael Lloyd ) An Original Waltz (music by Michael Lloyd ) Penny's Waltz (music by Conrad Helfrich and Chong Lim ) Vive La Quince Brigada (music by Pete Seeger ; lyrics by Pete Seeger ) This Land Is Your Land (music by Woody Guthrie ; lyrics by Woody Guthrie ) We Shall Overcome (music by Guy Carawan , Frank Hamilton , Zilphia Horton and Pete Seeger ; lyrics by Guy Carawan , Frank Hamilton , Zilphia Horton and Pete Seeger ) Stubborn Kind of Fellow (music by Marvin Gaye , George Gordy and William Stevenson ; lyrics by Marvin Gaye , George Gordy and William Stevenson ) De Todo Un Poco (music by Louis A. Lou Perez ; lyrics by Louis A. Lou Perez ) Wipeout (music by Bob Berryhill , Pat Connolly , Jim Fuller and Ron Wilson ) Hungry Eyes (music by John DeNicola and Franke Previte ; lyrics by John DeNicola and Franke Previte ) Overload (music by Mark Zappocosta ; lyrics by Mark Zappocosta ) Hey! Baby! (music by Bruce Channel and Margaret Cobb ; lyrics by Bruce Channel and Margaret Cobb ) Time of My Life (Incidental) (music by John DeNicola , Donald Markowitz and Franke Previte ) Johnny's Tango To The Sheldrake Maybe (music by Richard Barrett ; lyrics by Richard Barrett ) The Way Life Goes (music by Eleanor Bergstein and Conrad Helfrich ; lyrics by Eleanor Bergstein and Conrad Helfrich ) These Arms of Mine (music by Otis Redding ; lyrics by Otis Redding ) Cry to Me (music by Herbert Russell ; lyrics by Herbert Russell ) Act 2 Dawn Interlude (music by Eleanor Bergstein and Conrad Helfrich ; lyrics by Eleanor Bergstein and Conrad Helfrich ) Besame Mucho (music by Consuelo Velázquez ; lyrics by Sunny Skylar and Consuelo Velázquez ) Save The Last Dance For Me (music by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ; lyrics by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman ) If You Were The Only Girl (music by Nat D. Ayer ; lyrics by Clifford Grey ) Magic Hour Serenade (music by Eleanor Bergstein and Conrad Helfrich ; lyrics by Eleanor Bergstein and Conrad Helfrich ) Duke of Earl (music by Eugene Dixon , Earl Edwards and Bernice Williams ; lyrics by Eugene Dixon , Earl Edwards and Bernice Williams ) Love Is Strange (music by Mickey Baker , Ellas McDaniel and Sylvia Robinson ; lyrics by Mickey Baker , Ellas McDaniel and Sylvia Robinson ) You Don't Own Me (music by John Madara and David White ; lyrics by John Madara and David White ) Nunca (music by Guty Cárdenas and Ricardo López Méndez ; lyrics by Guty Cárdenas and Ricardo López Méndez ) Lisa's Hula (music by Jane Brucker and Kenny Ortega ; lyrics by Jane Brucker and Kenny Ortega ) Yes! (music by Neal Cavanaugh , Terry Fryer and Tom Graf ; lyrics by Neal Cavanaugh , Terry Fryer and Tom Graf ) In The Still Of The Night (I'll Remember) (music by Fred Parris ; lyrics by Fred Parris ) Summertime (Incidental) (music by Conrad Helfrich and Chong Lim ) Nocturnado (Fragment) (music by Pablo Cairo ; lyrics by Pablo Cairo ) Someone Like You (music by John DeNicola and Franke Previte ; lyrics by John DeNicola and Franke Previte ) She's Like The Wind (music by Patrick Swayze and Stacy Widelitz ; lyrics by Patrick Swayze and Stacy Widelitz ) Kellerman's Anthem (music by Michael Goldman ; lyrics by Michael Goldman ) (I've Had) The Time of My Life (music by John DeNicola , Donald Markowitz and Franke Previte ; lyrics by John DeNicola , Donald Markowitz and Franke Previte )

Engagement Dates

City and state.

Have the Time of Your Life Reliving 'Dirty Dancing'

Escape to magical spots in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock to see where it all began for Johnny and Baby.

Who can forget the watermelon scene, the sultry dance moves, the coming-of-age love story, the lake lift and, of course, the pivotal final dance when no one put Baby in the corner? Though Dirty Dancing was set in a fictional Catskills resort in the summer of 1963, today, it’s easy to spend a few days exploring some of the original film sites of one of the most endearing love stories to film in North Carolina. 

Day 1: 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa

Start your walk down Dirty Dancing memory lane in the town of Lake Lure , where a handful of scenes were filmed. Check in to the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa , where Patrick Swayze, portraying bad-boy dance instructor Johnny Castle, and Jennifer Grey, the beloved Frances “Baby” Houseman, stayed during filming. Settle into Johnny’s Cabin or Baby’s Bungalow, both spacious Dirty Dancing -themed cabins.

Although none of the film was shot at the Inn, the landscape at nearby Camp Chimney Rock – including its original cabins, dining hall and gymnasium – were used in the film. The cabins doubled for the film’s Kellerman’s staff housing, and the gym was converted into the banquet room where Baby and Johnny performed their epic “Time of My Life” dance routine. Today, the property is a private residential development called Firefly Cove at Lake Lure, where a few remaining ruins of the camp have been incorporated into the planned community.

Grab dinner at the Inn at Veranda Restaurant , where you can enjoy an elegant meal with mountain views.

Day 2: Chimney Rock State Park and Esmeralda Inn

Head a couple of miles west to Chimney Rock State Park and make your way to the top of the 535-million-year-old 315-foot rock outcropping. For the adventurous and bold types, take the nearly 500 steps on the Outcroppings Trail to the top. For those looking for a more leisurely ascent, check to see if the state-of-the-art elevator is running, and then climb the final steps to take in the spectacular views from the top of this peak. If you time it right, enjoy a magical sunset – and channel Johnny and Baby’s mountain romance – along the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Just a bit farther west is The Esmeralda Inn, Restaurant & Spa , where you can walk on the actual floor where Baby and Johnny showed off their legendary dance and lift at the end of the film. Although not originally at this location, the floor was salvaged after the gymnasium where the scene was shot was demolished in the late 1980s; it became part of the lobby floor in the Esmeralda Inn during a renovation in the late '90s. Enjoy a sumptuous dinner in the Esmeralda Restaurant , which takes pride in using local meats and vegetables as often as possible and features an exceptional wine list. (Please note: The Esmeralda is closed for renovations through 2023.)

Day 3: Lake Lure Tours and Bald Mountain Golf

Spend the morning enjoying the charm of the 1927 Lake Lure Inn & Spa. Admire the antiques and artwork of the historic inn, stroll the property and lakeside, or treat yourself to a massage or facial in the Irongate Spa . Wander over to the marina and book a guided Dirty Dancing tour with Lake Lure Tours , where you'll board an open-air pontoon boat for a narrated tour of the lake. Sail past the stairs where Baby carried the watermelon up to the staff cabins and where she practiced her dance moves coming down. See the area of the original camp that served as the staff housing and banquet room in Firefly Cove at Lake Lure. Learn about the history of the area, along with the natural and cultural background of Hickory Nut Gorge.

Come afternoon, take the longer but more scenic route along the lake to Bald Mountain Golf Course , an 18-hole course at Rumbling Bald on Lake Lure . Designed by W.B. Lewis in 1968, the course was featured prominently when Baby interrupted her parents while they were practicing their swings to ask her father for money. The film was shot on the 16th hole, but it was made to look like a practice green.

Bonus Day: Lake Lure Dance Festival

If you plan your visit in mid-September, you can take advantage of a Dirty Dancing highlight: the  Lake Lure Dance Festival , which is celebrating its first iteration in 2023 . The Dirty Dancing Festival was originally founded in 2010, a year after Patrick Swayze’s premature death and 23 years after the film debut, but it's since evolved into a larger celebration of all things dance throughout the years. 

If you still want more Dirty Dancing in your life, head southwest to Hendersonville and Cashiers  (both towns served as backdrops for the 2017 musical reimagination of the film)  and book a stay at the newly  remodeled High Hampton ; it stood in for this version's Kellerman's Resort.

Cele and Lynn Seldon

Cele and Lynn Seldon miss the sunsets and walks on the beach in Oak Island, where they basked in the North Carolina sunshine for 15 years.

Ends: 6/15/2024

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Sweepstakes, relive famous film scenes in north carolina, see the sites where ‘safe haven’ filmed, festivals & tours for film & tv buffs.

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‘Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story On Stage’ Dominion Theatre review

‘Dirty Dancing’ returned to London’s West End on 21st January, and will run until 29th April, at the historic Dominion Theatre.

Produced by Karl Sydow, in association with Lionsgate and Magic Hour, ‘Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage’ is brought to life by a hugely talented creative team and cast.

Over 2000 people packed into the Dominion Theatre, with rapturous applause and vocal celebration from the excited audience, from the opening bars of ‘This Magic Moment’, one of 25 new songs (as well as classic songs from the original motion picture soundtrack) for the stage show, and beautifully performed by Elizabeth (Lydia Sterling).

Just in case you haven’t yet seen the film, ‘Dirty Dancing’ is set in late August 1963 at an exclusive resort in New Paltz in the Catskills mountains of upstate New York, where the Houseman family are holidaying. As youngest daughter Baby summarises in her opening scenes, John F Kennedy is still president, The Beatles haven’t taken over the US and she can’t wait to join the Peace Corps. The stage show differs, for the better, in that further historical detail is added around a camp fire scene, and we hear snippets of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech.

Kira Malou and Michael O’Reilly return in the main roles of teenager Miss Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman and dancer Johnny Castle; the audience was very vocally appreciative each time Johnny appeared on stage  from the sunglasses to the tighty-whitey kecks. Kira’s naive Baby really understands how to connect with that most variable of cast members, the audience; her overreaching dance moves are a perfectly-timed comedic outlet. It must be so difficult for a trained dancer not to execute basic dance moves. And for the rest of the cast not to crack up laughing.

Billy (Danny Colligan) and Tito (Colin Charles) own the stage with their presence, particularly Billy’s outstanding vocals, such as his performance of ‘In The Still Of The Night (I’ll Remember)’. From a film with two soundtracks and a stage show which features over 35 songs, this is my new favourite song (sorry, Otis).

You could have heard a pin drop in the approach to the ‘Hungry Eyes’ rehearsal scene, watching the fluidity of Johnny and Penny (Charlotte Gooch) teaching Baby to dance. Then the legendary song, made even more memorable by being performed live by the musicians.

After the interval, Charles’ Tito Suarez played with Redding’s ‘Love Man’, teasing the audience into a frenzy. His appearance in a later dance studio scene with Johnny, offering advice to work hard as a dance teacher, and not end up a gigolo, incites a failed spin, which we know is perfectly delivered in the final dance scene.   

There were huge, well-deserved cheers at Lisa Houseman (Georgina Castle) singing and dancing in the Kellerman’s talent show rehearsal.

If I had one the-film’s-better observation it’s that the bar dancing scenes don’t appear sexy enough, compared to the more intimate physical moments elsewhere on stage; Johnny and Penny don’t hold back in their 18 rating moves, much to the delight of the audience. The bar dancing is reminiscent of a PG12 rating, when the talent of the dancers suggest they could easily get closer to each other, as close as the dancers in the film (though the medium of theatre lends itself to more space, unlike a camera lens).

I’ve been a fan of the original film since its release to VHS in 1988, though it took years for me to feel comfortable enough to see the stage show (I first saw the production at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens in 2017, starring Kira and Michael, who was in his debut year). Yet Bergstein’s provision of further historical understanding of 1963, as well as providing more insight into the characters of Dr Jake and Marjorie Houseman, as well as Neil Kellerman, ensures this is a must-see live show experience. Night after night the musicians and dancers recreate iconic scenes, and Johnny must catch Baby in that lift. In front of a real live audience of two thousand pairs of eyes.

As the audience roused to provide percussion to ‘(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life’, it was clear we all felt the magical fantasy of one of the best musicals on the West End.

‘Dirty Dancing’ will tour the UK and Ireland from May 2023.

Cast: Kira Malou, Michael O’Reilly, Charlotte Gooch, Lynden Edwards, Jackie Morrison, Georgina Castle, Danny Colligan, Coliin Charles, Alastair Crosswell, Michael Remick, Lydia Sterling, Callum Fitzgerald, Nathan Ryles, Tony Stansfield and Chrissy Brooke Director and Set Design: Federico Bellone Writer: Eleanor Bergstein Theatre: Dominion Theatre Running Time: 145 minutes Performance dates: 21 st January – 29 th April 2023 Book tickets now

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'Dirty Dancing' Cast: Through The Years

Posted: May 13, 2024 | Last updated: May 13, 2024

'Dirty Dancing' Cast

Dirty Dancing was released in 1987 and was actually a real low-budget movie without any big names in the cast. But the romance went on to make over $200 million at the box office and today is still one of the most popular movies of the eighties.

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey

The movie catapulted its two protagonists, Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, to new heights of stardom! But what happened to the stars of the cult classic? We've checked up on all cast members!

In Dirty Dancing (1987), Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey starred as "Johnny" and "Baby" and enchanted a whole generation. Swayze was already known from the successful TV miniseries North and South, but the part of the teenager who falls in love with the handsome dance teacher was the first-ever big role for the young Jennifer Grey. Both actors were nominated for a Golden Globe in 1988.

Patrick Swayze

For Patrick Swayze, Dirty Dancing was the best that could have happened to him career-wise. He went on to star in Ghost together with Demi Moore and films like Point Break and Donnie Darko. But he also had some success as a singer - his most popular song is still probably "She's like the Wind" from the Dirty Dancing original soundtrack. Sadly, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008 and passed away in September of 2009. He was only 57 years old.

Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Grey (now 64 years old) actually struggled after the huge success of 'Dirty Dancing'. She had a nose job in the early nineties and many producers refrained from offering her any more roles, since she didn't match her previous headshots anymore... In recent years, she has sporadically been appearing on TV and won the 2010 season of 'Dancing with the Stars'. She starred in 'Red Oaks' from 2014 until 2017 and had a role in 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'The Conners' in 2019. Grey and her longtime husband Clark Gregg called it quits in 2020, but she also confirmed a return to a 'Dirty Dancing' sequel the same year.

Jerry Orbach

Jerry Orbach played "Baby's" father "Dr. Jake Houseman", who goes up to the "Kellermans'" resort in the Catskill Mountains with his family. Orbach was originally known as a musical performer on Broadway and had his big-screen breakthrough with Dirty Dancing.

During the '90s, Orbach became known for his role in the crime series Law & Order, in which he starred from 1992 to 2004. In 2004, it was announced that Orbach had been suffering from cancer for 10 years already. In December 2004, he eventually succumbed to the illness at the age of 69.

Kelly Bishop

Kelly Bishop played "Baby's" mother "Marjorie Houseman" alongside Jerry Orbach in Dirty Dancing.

She became known as a Broadway actress and today, Kelly (80) is probably only known in her role as "Emily Gilmore" on the hit show 'Gilmore Girls'. She has also repeatedly appeared on other successful shows like 'Law & Order: S.V.U.' and 'The Good Wife', to name just a few. She was -of course - also part of 'Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life'.

Cynthia Rhodes

In Dirty Dancing, Cynthia Rhodes played "Penny Johnson," the first dancing partner of "Johnny Castle" (Patrick Swayze). Cynthia started dance training at the age of three and had her first breakthrough in the hit movie Flashdance in 1983. With her experience and talent, she was a logical choice for the role of "Penny."

At the beginning of the nineties, Cynthia Rhodes withdrew completely from the movie business and took care of her family. Cynthia (now 67) had been married to the singer-songwriter Richard Marx since 1989, having three sons with him, before divorcing in 2014.

Lonny Price

Lonny Price played the character of "Neil Kellerman", who works as a waiter at his family's holiday resort.

Price played his first roles in smaller productions and later on Broadway. After 'Dirty Dancing', he had some roles on shows such as 'The Golden Girls' and 'Law & Order'. These days, the 65-year-old primarily works as a director.

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Is 2024 the year of the theatre kid?

From sabrina carpenter and ariana grande to mike faist, pop culture is currently awash with hard-working, perfectly polished performers.

Have you ever known someone who would’ve committed manslaughter to play the lead in their high school musical? Or someone who turns pub karaoke into their own personal audition to the Juilliard? Theatre kids – commonly referred to as drama kids, drama nerds or theatre geeks – have existed for centuries and have been ridiculed since their genesis (famously, High School Musical ’s Troy Bolton couldn’t bear the thought of his basketball team finding out he was auditioning for the titular school musical, despite having the singing and dancing chops to carry an entire production). However, theatre kids no longer have to hide in wings of what the culture deems cool – in 2024, they’re taking centre stage, as loud and obtrusively as possible.

Theatre kids have historically pulled the short straw of societal acceptance. I’m reluctant to admit this, but I myself have theatre kid traits; a lust for the limelight, a penchant for listening to musical soundtracks at the gym. This is an admission truly so mortifying it makes my coming out post on Facebook in 2017 seem like child’s play. In terms of popular culture, Ryan Murphy’s Glee probably paints the most unflinching portrait of the theatre kid archetype. Protagonist Lea Michele’s Rachel Berry is type-A and a mercilessly cut-throat theatre kid, with a zeal for the art form that compels her to commit ruthless acts, like sending her main competitor to a crack house instead of an audition hall. Despite her relentlessness, she’s also a talented performer with a genuine adoration for the arts. Characters like Rachel have always been ridiculed, as they symbolise a collective aversion to musicals or theatre culture; an easy punching bag.

However, when Glee first debuted in 2009, pop culture was in a very different place. During the late 00s and early 10s, pop music explored sex in a manner that felt exciting, messy and abrasive. Ke$ha was singing about “ holes in the wall that were dirty free-for-alls ”, Lady Gaga had no problem neither confirming nor denying if she had a dick, and Rihanna dedicated an entire song to S&M . Their music videos were weird and explicit; transgressive and powerful. But in 2024, mainstream pop music – led by stars like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande – has become more sanitised. Even Beyoncé , who may have explored her sex appeal on Cowboy Carter, is still meticulously vetted by her PR machine. Obviously, it’s worth noting that female pop stars have always had an unfair expectation to perform whatever level of sexual revelation society deems as equal amounts exciting yet respectable. However, it feels as though mainstream pop culture over the last few years has begun to lean more towards Puritanism, prioritising the sheen and character of theatre, as opposed to sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. There are, of course, outliers: Troye Sivan or Charli XCX may provide a reprieve from this sanitisation, but they’re still not culture’s major bestsellers.

Ariana Grande released eternal sunshine last month, a gorgeous divorce album which traded the aesthetics of her previously mastered ‘yuh’-era ponytail for Wicked -friendly blonde curls. One particular variant of the album’s vinyl cover looks like she’s taken snapshots of her different poses during an improv game. It’s a return to her roots: Grande started her career on Broadway at 13 and played Penny Pingleton in NBC’s live taping of Hairspray in 2019. On the taping’s red carpet, she proclaimed: “I started doing theatre when I was younger, I have always been a huge theatre nerd… And a lot of people don’t actually know that this is, like, my soul. It’s like my heart.”

Ari is the theatre kid, and in the lead-up for 2024’s theatre kid finale (the release of the Wicked movie) we’re seeing her at her most unabashedly theatrical. Last week, she sang Stephen Sondheim’s ballad “ When You Believe ” with Cynthia Erivo at the Met Gala, where she started her performance asleep in a flowerbed, being carried to the stage by her dancers. Of course, Grande hasn’t shied away from embracing her sexuality in the past, with songs like “Side To Side” exploring how too much sex can affect one’s ability to walk, or in “34+35” where she sings about the classic numerical sex position. But during this particular album cycle, you can see she’s prepping for the press tour that needs to see her as a Broadway starlet, as opposed to a suggestive pop star. Glinda the Good Witch would never talk about getting dicked-down, so neither can Ariana.

Another figure who is flying the theatre kid flag high is Reneé Rapp. The lesbian pop star/ new wave Regina George won a Jimmy Award in 2018 (the US High School Musical Awards) before starring as the Mean Girls character on Broadway and its film adaptation. In a TikTok interview with Time magazine , Rapp describes herself as a type of theatre kid who’s “matcha (drinking), sweatpants, and never off-book” (off-book refers to knowing your lines without a script).

Sabrina Carpenter also played Regina George briefly on Broadway, and is an alumna of the Disney machine. Carpenter has just achieved her first No. 1 single with earworm song-of-the-summer “Espresso”, and has now moved through the lanes of niche pop girl to household name. The music video looks like a Disney Channel original Teen Beach Movie, directed by Michael Bay. The song is great, if a little too familiar, but Carpenter’s rise to fame, and subsequent positioning as a public figure, is beginning to feel like she’s a character pulled straight out of Grease , or Betty Boop with a Marc Jacobs bag.

There are also the male theatre kids, whose sex appeal fits snugly into our collective desire for ‘babygirl’ boys. At the end of Luca Guadagnino ’s new film Challengers , Mike Faist jumps above the tennis net to serve his final racket swing. He leaps convincingly in slow-motion like a tennis player, but thanks to his illustrious career in musical theatre, you can feel the melodrama of his last leap, akin to a danseur – almost like it had to have been learnt within the halls of a performing arts high school.

@time #reneerapp discusses her #theaterkid tendencies #offbook #broadwaytok #callforline ♬ original sound - Time Magazine

After Challengers’ release, Faist has sparked a white-boy-of-the-month Twitter fascination, unearthing footage of his roles in Newsies on Broadway or Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story . His emergence into the Loewe boy coven and A-lister circles is justified; he’s a true triple threat. But the internet’s reaction to footage of his step-ball-changes or jètes is just another example of our inclination towards theatrical leading men. On the topic, Timothée Chalamet ’s turn in Wonka late last year saw him singing and dancing as he built his chocolate empire. The film contained some of the most jauntily deranged scenes of his career, but it was such a success it led to the actor signing a multi-year, multi-picture first-look deal with Warner Bros as both an actor and producer. Leading men no longer have to throw themselves off moving cars or have glistening 24-packs to be seen as stars – they just need jazz hands. 

It might seem I’m painting a picture of theatre kids being solely at fault for this era of sexual reservedness. But really, they are simply striking while the iron is not hot. When Gen Z are perhaps unfairly being lauded as a sexless generation, the masses do seem to find comfort in a type of star that’s hard-working, classically Hollywood, and with an inoffensive, unthreatening sex appeal. But what happens when the closest we’re getting to something truly shocking is a pop star rhyming “Told that boy go faster, now I'm all sore” during Sabrina Carpenter’s live performance of “Nonsense”? Where’s the drama? The mess? The dirt? I just hope that, in time, the show won’t go on, and the unpredictability, explicitness and fun of our previous cultural icons will get their chance back in the spotlight. 

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She Wrote the First Great Perimenopause Novel

Miranda July is experimenting again — on the page and in her life.

Credit... Dana Scruggs for The New York Times

Supported by

By Marie Solis

Reporting from Los Angeles

• May 5, 2024

It was not exactly urgent to get the rug, but the larger question the rug had to answer was urgent enough. That’s why, on a bright afternoon at the end of March, Miranda July and I were driving toward Irvine, Calif., where she planned to meet a man about a listing on Facebook Marketplace.

She had recently moved out of the large home she shared with her husband and child in Silver Lake and into a small two-bedroom house behind her writing studio in Echo Park. It meant she needed new things for a new place. A toilet, for example. A coral one, ideally, to match the tub and sink. Flooring for the kitchen. A refrigerator. And an antique carpet for the walk-in closet she was fixing up in her studio space. In this new life, would it all fit together?

Ms. July, a writer, filmmaker and artist whose work plays with the boundaries of intimacy, was wearing round tortoiseshell sunglasses, and her hair was pulled back in a velvet bow. We were just getting acquainted as she carefully merged on and off a series of highways in her blue Toyota Prius. Irvine was more than an hour away. There was going to be traffic — of course there would be traffic — and it began to dawn on us that this was going to be a long drive.

In such close quarters, Ms. July suggested we might define the terms of our relationship more clearly.

“What if you just said what the premise was of each thing you were entering into, and both people said their take on it?” she said. “Like even today, in the car. It could be like: ‘What’s your sense of this? Do you think we’re going to get hungry? What are our bodily concerns? Is there something you need to get back to?’

“There are a lot of basic things we could’ve discussed that actually may have made everything easier and clearer, you know?” she added, laughing. “We have yet to see what anxieties are to come!”

I felt my stomach flip, but she had a point. I was unbearably thirsty, for one. Suddenly, it seemed absurd we had left these things unsaid, and a relief someone had brought them up. Now we could really talk.

The characters in Ms. July’s films and books are often hoping for some kind of breakthrough. They go about their daily routines, longing for someone to say that unspoken thing. Maybe they’re on the brink of being truly understood.

In her new novel, “All Fours,” the unnamed female narrator — a 45-year-old “semifamous” artist who shares some biographical details with Ms. July — considers that a cross-country road trip from Los Angeles to New York could be a turning point in her life.

She doesn’t get very far. About 30 minutes in, she checks into a motel and spends the next two and a half weeks redecorating her room, taking up with a younger, married man and contemplating a totally different way of living. When she returns home to her family, she realizes she can’t quite reacclimate to the old domestic rhythms.

As she confronts what seems like the imminent death of pleasure, foretold by a graph about hormonal changes she finds online, she sees no choice but to strike out into new territory. Masturbation, fantasies of sex and plenty of actual sex help propel her onward.

The heroine of “All Fours” is not a woman in a midlife crisis, but — in the epic, Dante-esque sense — a woman in the “middle of her life,” Ms. July said. She found that little else had been written about this phase, particularly about perimenopause, the transitional time before full-fledged menopause.

The existential quandaries raised in the book — Can the world accommodate the idea of an ever-changing self? How do you reconcile your desires (sexual, creative and otherwise) with your circumstances? — are ones the author has been tangling with in her own life.

In an Instagram post a few summers ago, Ms. July announced that she and her husband, the filmmaker Mike Mills , were no longer in a romantic relationship, although they were still living together most of the time to parent their child, Hopper, who was 10 at the time.

“We feel good about this twisteroo in our long story and await further twists and turns over the course of our lives,” she wrote beneath a photo of her standing barefoot in front of three pairs of shoes. The next slide is a video of her dancing in her underwear to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Got Your Money.”

The post, Ms. July said, had been “carefully worded.”

“Mike and I are public enough — just barely recognizable enough, to some very small sliver of the population — that one of us out with our girlfriends in New York could, to some people’s eyes, look like we’re cheating or something,” she said in the car.

Ms. July, who recently turned 50, is aware that readers may conflate the protagonist in “All Fours” with herself. The notion that her work is autobiographical has followed her since she wrote, directed and starred in “ Me and You and Everyone We Know ,” which won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2005, when she was 31. And she sometimes inflects her characters with her own habits or ailments — like the passing throat condition she embellished and gave to the protagonist of her last novel, “ The First Bad Man .” But she says she never intended them to be her avatars.

In the new book, she has borrowed a bit more from life. “The only way I can put it really is ‘closer to the bone,’” she said. “But it is still fiction.”

“All Fours” grew out of a story Ms. July published in The New Yorker in 2017, “ The Metal Bowl .” It continued to take shape when she spoke to other women about how they were dealing with this stage in their lives.

“I remember driving and talking to Miranda about marriage, talking to her about sex,” said the writer Sheila Heti , a close friend of Ms. July’s who read an early draft of “All Fours.” “I remember feeling that she was trying to map the world through her conversations with people; she was interested in hidden desires, in the desires we can’t quite articulate to ourselves or are afraid to.”

Ms. July had similar conversations early in the pandemic with the sculptor Isabelle Albuquerque — to whom the novel is dedicated — sometimes on long walks, sometimes while they sat 10 feet apart in Ms. July’s backyard, “yelling across the void,” as Ms. Albuquerque put it.

“Sometimes it felt like we were trying to create a new society,” she said. “We were talking about the ideas but also trying to live them. Trying to make adjustments to our lives that would allow us to have a kind of freedom we both really crave.”

They conducted various experiments together. Living by their infradian rhythms, including their menstrual cycles. Spending one night a week at their studios, away from their partners. Ms. July kept that up for years. She had Wednesdays.

The challenge wasn’t to blow up your life. It was to set off tiny bombs all the time. Maybe no one even noticed but you. It could be as small as clenching your fist.

The entire world should probably be reorganized in a more feminist way, Ms. July said, but “the micro, everyday version is like, What can we do right now?”

Ms. July pulled into a parking lot of an affluent residential complex. In search of the rug merchant, we wandered past tennis courts and a pool.

Just as she called him on her phone, the man appeared. He introduced himself as Gino Gucciano and pointed down the street, toward a house around the corner.

He strode off, and we went back to the Prius.

“Are you ready for things to be maximum weird?” Ms. July said.

After the short drive from the parking lot to Mr. Gucciano’s house, we found that the garage door was open, revealing a vast collection of carpets. Standing beside a stack, Ms. July vetoed the one she had come to see, which was listed for $600. “Too brown.”

“If there are ones that had pinks. …” Ms. July said, taking a closer look.

Mr. Gucciano and a business partner, Sam Hossaini, unfurled several more on the floor of the garage. Some were too big, though Ms. July discovered she had not written down the measurements for the room in her studio where the rug would end up.

At last, they rolled out a deep rose Persian rug, laying it across the lawn in the sun. It was 150 years old, they said. The price was $2,600.

“So if I just Venmoed you $1,000 right now, that’s not going to cut it?” Ms. July asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Mr. Gucciano said. “We paid more for it than that. It’s hard to get them that old.”

“At the thousand level for me, that’s — I have a whole home to figure out,” Ms. July said. “You know, I just got divorced. I have to quickly make a home.”

“Yeah, I went through that five years ago,” Mr. Gucciano said. “I lost a lot, and my home. But I have my kids, so I’m happy.”

“Oh, OK, yeah.”

“I want to make you happy, Miranda,” Mr. Gucciano said. “But we paid a little more than a thousand for it.”

Ms. July offered to tag them on Instagram, where she has been sporadically chronicling her sometimes comical efforts at home improvement in a highlight reel she calls “ MJHGTV .”

Mr. Gucciano and Mr. Hossaini deliberated. They had just started an Instagram page for their business that very day. They knocked down the price to $1,300.

Ms. July began recording on her phone. She reviewed the pros and cons of the different rugs, until she turned to the pink one, the winner. The two men hauled it into the trunk of Prius.

“We have a lot to debrief,” Ms. July said, once she was behind the wheel again.

On the ride back to Echo Park, she admitted that she hadn’t meant to blurt out that she was divorced. It wasn’t quite true — she was in the middle of mediation.

“It’s a big piece of information, given how little information I’m giving about us,” she said. “And I actually think every divorce is different, and the reasons for doing it are very specific.”

In “All Fours,” the protagonist and her husband try out a new arrangement, which evolves throughout the novel. He is only one of the people she has sex with; and she never does consummate her emotional fling with the young man who sets off her quest.

Whether the marriage survives these evolutions is ambiguous. At the end of the book, the narrator is walking by herself, now awed rather than panicked by life’s curveballs.

“I really love where the book ends, because it’s fairly open-ended, and I actually still have that open-ended feeling,” Ms. July said. “And so I guess I hate to sort of take away from it.”

A Studio of Her Own

The next day, I visited Ms. July at her studio, which, together with her new home directly behind it, forms a sort of “compound,” she likes to say.

Her artist friend Nico B. Young was working in the garage, sawing a countertop and some shelving for Ms. July’s kitchen that he had designed himself. Almost every surface had been covered in a light yellow mixture of epoxy resin and pigment, making each cabinet resemble a perfect stick of butter.

A pair of 20-pound dumbbells lay just outside on the concrete, where Ms. July exercises with a trainer twice a week, beneath an orange tree in blossom.

She nimbly lifted the rug out of the car and into her studio, which is cluttered with hundreds of books, along with ephemera from her movies and other projects. In the main room is the long table where she writes, sitting on a hard wooden chair. Often when she works, she locks her phone in a box and unplugs the Wi-Fi. During breaks, she sometimes dances.

Down a hall is a bedroom where she now keeps much of her wardrobe of mainly vintage and thrifted clothes. She thought this might be the right place for the rug, giving the space a Parisian feel, maybe. But it was too big. It curled up against the wall, ever so slightly.

We tried sliding it around.

“Maybe if I got a rug pad, it would sort of rest on the edge,” Ms. July said.

We left the rug to settle and sat across from each other at her writing table.

Throughout “All Fours,” the protagonist is often grounded by her best friend, a sculptor named Jordi who, toward the end of the book, unveils a sculpture of a headless woman on her hands and knees. “Everyone thinks doggy style is so vulnerable,” Jordi says. But, she explains, the position is actually quite stable: “It’s hard to be knocked down when you’re on all fours.”

Ms. July told me she was excited to have women over to her new place for a party after her book tour, when things calm down. She wanted to spool a string of lights connecting the home she shares with Hopper and her work studio. The guests would float between the two.

“I’m kind of just looking forward to having time to just enjoy the world that I’ve made for myself,” she said. “A lot of steps along the way were hard and scary, and so it’s not that everything to come is going to be easy.”

“But now I’m not the person who has to write that book,” she said. “I’m the person who wrote it.”

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