"Strictly Ballroom: The Musical"

Nottingham Theatre Royal

I vaguely remember seeing the 1992 Baz Luhrman film of "Strictly Ballroom", but didn't make a great impression on me, although I love films centred around dance. This theatre show though is different.

Starring Kevin Clifton of Strictly Come Dancing fame, as well as Faye Brookes, a former Dancing On Ice contestant and late star of Coronation Street where she played Kate Connor.

The musical follows arrogant, rebellious young ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings (Kevin Clifton). When his radical and daring dance style sees him fall out of favour with Australian Federation, he must dance with beginner, Fran (Faye Brookes). Together they find the courage to defy tradition and discover that to win, your steps don’t need to be strictly ballroom!

As I've seen Kevin Clifton perform on stage before, I knew that he could act and knew that he had a good voice as well. It goes without saying that the man can dance; that's his job. In "Rock Of Ages" he was playing a part of a rock star. In this he plays the part of a dancer. ergo the part is made for him.

There is a section where he has to impress Fran's family and friends and that section where he is taught how to Paso Doble by Fran's father is explosive. You see dancers on Strictly and they look amazing. Seeing a fiery dance like the Paso, right before your very eyes, is electric. It's nice to see Kevin act a wider range of emotions than in some of his other stage roles, bringing a human side to the role as opposed to just a character on stage.

Faye Brookes, as with Kevin, didn't really produce any surprises. We all knew that she could dance, because we've seen her on "Dancing On Ice"; her main job is as an actor, and I've seen Faye in "Chicago" so knew that she could sing. What did pleasantly surprise me though was the range and strength of her singing ability. When she sings a ballad, she sings with such feeling; not only can you hear it, but you can see the emotion in her face. I absolutely loved the whole transformation with Fran; from an awkward, shy girl to the confident, fiery and sexy dancer she becomes later in the musical. That awkwardness is also matched by Clifton as the two characters discover that they are slowly falling for each other. Was love in the air?

But these two were not the only ones who stole the limelight in this musical....

Nikki Belsher was wonderful as Shirley Hastings, Scott's pushy mother and iron willed co-owner of Kendall's dance Studio. They say opposites attract, and that is right because Shirley's husband and Scott's father, Doug Hastings, played by Mark Sangster is quiet, unassuming and happy to stay out of the limelight kind of person. We see another side of Doug though in Act Two. Brilliant pairing.

Barry File, President of the Dance Federation. The most powerful man in Ballroom Dancing and is played by Gary Davis.

Quinn Patrick plays Les Kendall, the co-owner of the dance studios with Shirley, and Scott's dance teacher. Another wonderful comic role with a big dollop of campness for good measure.

The MC at the ceremonies and festivals is JJ Silver, played by Oliver Brooks.

Fran's dad, Rico, is played with real fire by Jose Agudo. Very protective of his little girl and the head of the Spanish family. Jose is a wonderful dancer and it's he who takes the lead in the Paso section, burning up the stage with his passionate and intense dance routine.

Fran's Grandmother, Abuela, is played by Karen Mann. It's one of those roles and actors you can instantly warm to. She is kind and supportive of her granddaughter and can also walk the walk as well as talk the Spanish talk.

Danielle Cato plays the part of Tina Sparkle, the current Pan pacific champion and the dancer they all want Scott to pair up with. Like all of these women dancers, she is beautiful with legs any woman would die for.

Agnes Pure plays Liz, who is Scott's partner at the start of the show, but due to a disagreement over Scott's radical moves, she quits just a few weeks before the big competition. You can see why Shirley hastings and Liz get along as they are cut from the same sequinned cloth.

An incredibly strong ensemble; well let's face it, when you are in a show starring Kevin Clifton and being directed by Craig Revel-Horwood, you all have to be very strong on the dance front, and they do not disappoint.

Directed by Craig Revel-Horwood, as just stated, who also co choreographed the show with Jason Gilkison. I also noticed that one of the characters got to perform the signature Craig Revel-Horwood routine when he is introduced on Strictly on TV. The musical is well paced; the dancing is fast and furious and as hot as a Spanish jalapeno, but there are several slower and tender moments to bring out the shyness and awkward moments as Fran and Scott get to know each other.

It also shows just how bitchy and back biting the world of ballroom and Latin dancing can be.

The Set Design, as well as the costumes, are by Mark Walters. The set made really good use of a video style backdrop to change the scenes, and with side inserts of scenery, the sets were changed as effortlessly as an American Smooth.

The costumes were brilliantly flashy and colourful, as you'd imagine, and as we headed towards the finale, the sequin count rose. I loved the wigs, many of which caused comedy by themselves as they were so obvious!

Richard G Jones' Lighting Design brought the magic of the dance alive while the Sound Design by Rory Madden, at times was just a bit loud, created the excitement of the rhythms, especially during that amazing Paso Doble section.

There were three singles released from the soundtrack back in 1992, "Love Is In the Air", "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" and "Time After Time", all of which are included in the stage production as well as other songs written especially for the live theatre tour, which I personally thought were well matched with the storyline. The Spanish version of "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" oozed sex as Scott and Fran rhumba'd.

The film may not have set me aflame, but this stage production definitely heated the theatre up - thankfully we were all cooled by the gorgeous air conditioning, but the dancers all raised the temperature by several degrees, and I felt the heat from the stage, so much so I had to get an ice cream in the interval to cool me off!

This show is NOT a dance disarster dahling; it's FAB U LOUS with two incredibly hot stars and a cast to match. An explosion of colour.

"Strictly Ballroom: The Musical" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 24 June. Don't let this show paso you by!