Do you love me?: ‘Dirty Dancing’ struts its way to Manila

Nobody puts a good crowd-pleaser in the corner.

Because just when we thought we saw the last of Dirty Dancing, the 1987 popcorn classic whose acquired goodwill was squandered with a tepid Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights in the early 2000s (a film not even a post-Y Tu Mama Tambien Diego Luna could save), it’s come strutting back these past few years with renewed vigor and killer swagger.

While it’s always been a perennial presence on cable TV and the home movie market—Patrick Swayze forever immortalized as the grinding, thrusting dance instructor with a heart of gold—the movie has gotten renewed interest thanks to some high-profile spots in pop culture. In the clubs, the Black Eyes Peas’ take on the movie’s signature song Time of My Life has been a blockbuster hit, crossing over to strong radio play. And who can forget Crazy, Stupid, Love? In that rom-com, a suave Ryan Gosling performs his moves for a wide-eyed Emma Stone, reenacting the movie’s famous “lift” scene. As late as 2013, Dirty Dancing still holds a funny, cheesy, romantic, seductive power over our idea of kilig, apparently.

It’s never been high art, of course. Baby and Johnny, two independent young people from different words, come together for an unforgettable summer, falling in love and changing their lives along the way. The story is pretty straightforward—girl meets boy, girl disobeys family to be with boy, family objects but eventually sees the light, everyone lives happily ever after. It’s never been high art but it’s always been fun. With a soundtrack running through the best and most primal of the 1950s and 1960s hits—everything from the Phil Spector-assisted Ronettes to the guttural Otis Redding—Dirty Dancing plays like a teenage jukebox brought to life.

In 2004, the story’s boundless appeal was again confirmed when a live musical version of the movie, titled Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage, opened in Sydney, Australia and promptly became a hit. Adapted by Eleanor Bergstein herself, the scriptwriter and co-producer of the movie, the musical plays like a widescreen version of the movie, featuring all your favorite scenes from the movie (including unforgettable sequences like Hungry Eyes), but with the added urgency of the live experience. Since Australia, it’s toured through New Zealand, Germany, Canada, Holland, North America, and many other countries, breaking records along the way. In London, it is the longest running show in the history of the Aldwych Theatre, selling over 500,000 tickets in the United Kingdom alone.

This year, Concertus Manila, in partnership with Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, after bringing blockbuster productions like Cats, The Musical, Stomp, Mamma Mia!, The Phantom of the Opera, and Potted Potter to Manila, is bringing in Dirty Dancing for three weeks in the CCP Main Theater. Starting July 4, the worldwide hit will play in Manila, with a cast of 26 who sing and dance through 49 songs with a live band, performing 73 scenes, lit by 200 moving lights, and 21 costume changes for the Baby character alone. The tickets are on sale now (891-9999 or log on to www.ticketworld.com.ph) and Visa cardholders enjoy priority booking from March 1 to 31. But before the crotch-thrusting musical lands in Manila, get a peek at all the action through a chat with producer James Cundall.

In 1992, Cundall, then a private banker at the highest level in Australia and Asia, founded Lunchbox Theatrical Productions in Hong Kong. After six successful years, the company expanded its reach to Singapore. Today, he makes his way through the room with his trusty Union Jack-emblazoned Jimmy Choos on show. (“How camp,” one of his colleagues comments.) Those shoes might be lucky because from where I’m standing, it looks like he’s sitting on another blockbuster hit.

YOUNG STAR: I was going through your biography the other day and I saw that you used to be in private banking, which is pretty strange for a guy in theater. How did private banking and theater go together?

JAMES CUNDALL: I was very lucky, actually. I went to Hong Kong in ‘88 or ‘89. I was in private banking and one of the things I noticed instantly when I got there, was there was no live entertainment. There were a lot of rock bands coming through but no big international shows. And the time that I got there, it was kind of the time of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Macintosh, the Cats, the Evitas, the Miss Saigons, the Phantoms.

A group of us had the idea to set up an entertainment company. We did this as a hobby to start with. Our first show lost money, our second show lost money, and the third show was Les Miserables, and the fourth was Cirque du Soleil. We’re very lucky because we got in at the start and a lot of it was very different,

(Banking and theater are) actually very similar. It’s about risk management. It’s about marketing brands. We’re just selling different things. I do a lot of currency work—what’s the peso doing against the rand? We do a lot of contract work because obviously, these are big shows. What’s similar is it’s about excellence, the quality of the product… It’s an experience and this is what we’re selling to people at these shows.

Was theater always a passion?

I was very lucky. I was brought up in a musical family. My father, who was a farmer, always played musicals on the gramophone. And you know, we’re all kind of brought up on King and I, Camelot, Carousel, all these things. And I acted a bit in school. Years later, went out with a gorgeous actress and did Cabaret  with her. I did that professionally for a while… When she ditched me for a lover who was 10 years older than her, I said I should be a producer, not an actor.

I’ve always liked the world of entertainment, particularly live entertainment. Live entertainment is so difficult. In theater, there is the immediacy that you don’t get from film. Every show is different. You can watch it 10 times and every time will be different. I love the immediacy of giving the audience a treat.

How did theater take you to Manila?

I’ve been going to Manila since the late ‘80s. I’ve always worked with them but we couldn’t work it out. I’ve always thought that it’s an amazing country and great talent with amazing prospects. It took me until four years ago to work that out and do shows in Manila… It’s a wonderful market and the great thing now is your economy’s doing so well. People speak English better than I do. People love music. People love dance. You could go anywhere in the world and find someone singing (Freddie Aguilar’s) Anak. It’s a great market for us and we’ve got plans to do two shows a year.

What we try and do is bring in brand shows, shows that you can see on Broadway, the West End. We bring the real show. It’s not, “let’s create something and put it on this show.” The exact copy of this show is actually playing on West End at the moment. That is so important to us. For Phantom of Opera, the exact copy. For Mamma Mia, the exact copy.

It’s a different company we’re using in South Africa. South African actors and actresses are good. There are three companies of South Africans going now around the world. There’s Jersey Boys, Phantom, and Dirty Dancing. They’re going around the world and exporting their talent, showing people what they can do. In one company, you’ll find more talent there than in some countries.

You’ve been touring through different countries and I’m sure you’ve encountered your fair share of criticisms.

When we brought it to Singapore, they said local art would suffer because of this. But you know what happened? Local art grew quickly. Now I can’t book a theater in Singapore because it’s always booked. The more times you eat wonderful food, the more you’ll look for it, right?

That’s right. You mentioned the difference between film and theater earlier. Now, Dirty Dancing debuted in 1987, became a play in 2004, and over different generations, has been present through various permutations in pop culture.

Here’s the thing. I bet that you, at 24, even before you knew that we were bringing in Dirty Dancing to Manila, you had heard about the movie. You had heard the songs, the lines, “the lift.” It’s become a trans-generation musical. It goes through granny, daughter, granddaughter—it’s almost like The Sound of Music.

Star Wars for girls.

Yes, exactly. That’s right. I must remember that... It’s become iconic. It’s become a brand name. And (it’s a) cohort musical because you remember what you were doing when you first watched the movie, you watched it with your friend, and so on.

I think the reason the film and this production works is because it resonates. It’s about your first romance and we all remember our first romance. Whether it’s a crush, your first fling, your first time, you really remember — “Wow, it’s the other sex.”

The other reason is it’s about female empowerment. She has a view of her own. She stands up for something she believes in and stands up against her father. Eventually, it all works out. But we all remember that, the first time you tell your father, you know what, “I don’t agree. Maybe your view’s wrong.” It’s something we’ve all done. And the third reason is of course, the incredible dancing. It’s a hot show.

I heard that there are so many scenes in the movie, the only way the production could work is with the technology.

The set is very clever. With the use of video, you can recreate scenes far more readily than you can if you’re just using static scenery.

Absolutely, and you’ll see that (at the show). And we’ve got a great band. We have a lovely live band… And you know, it’s just a happy show. Obviously, it’s about the moral issue of abortion, which we don’t condone but it’s a fact of life. I think it’s dealt with very well here.

And it’s really just a fun piece of entertainment. We’re literally just in Manila for 22 shows. We can’t extend. We’ve only booked the CCP for three weeks. There is no chance of extension. Literally, there are 22 shows times 1,800 seats. If you want to see this show, you’ve got to book this now.

I think our job as producers is really to respect the audience. We’ve got to bring in shows that are worth their time. There are lots of things you can do with your leisure time. There are lots of things you can do with your hard-earned peso. And what I’m gonna do is say, trust me. Trust me as a producer with your peso and I will give you a really good experience.

* * *

The tickets are on sale at TicketWord. Call 891-9999 or log on to www.ticketworld.com.ph. Visa cardholders enjoy priority booking from March 1 to 31.