I’m not the type who enerally returns to the movie theatre time and time again to see a film, but as a kid in the 90s I remember doing that with Strictly Ballroom. It was the first time I’d seen a movie more than once on its release, but I ended up going three times: with my school friends, with my parents, and finally with my grandmother. I might have been getting desperate to find someone else who hadn’t seen it at that point. It came at an important part of my life. I was just beginning to get an idea of what love was, and I was a passionate dancer. Perhaps I saw a little of myself in Fran, the not-so-popular girl who could get under the dashing Scott Hastings’ skin. I was also dazzled by the colour and artistry. We hadn’t seen Baz Luhrmann films before, so his vision was something brand new.
For some reason I’d resisted seeing the musical at Star City, or The Star as I believe it’s called now, for a while. Maybe I was content to preserve the memory I have of that film. However, the lure of two-for-one tickets proved too great and I found myself amongst the crowd early this month.
I’m so glad I took a chance on this. In putting the film in stage, Baz has had a chance to play with his first film again. Where songs simply facilitated the dance on the screen, they came to the fore in this new production. New numbers were added and were largely successful, with clever lyrics and arrangements. The set was so clever, effortlessly changing from a dance studio to the back of Fran’s house to the colourful dance competitions. The production steered away from big names, and they performed admirably. Thomas Lacey didn’t have the same raw charisma as Paul Mercurio, but he was likeable enough. When I’d seen the stills of Phoebe Panaretos I thought perhaps she was too beautiful to play Fran, but she was suitably frumped up early which made her transformation even more striking. I was more impressed with the supporting players though. Fernando Riva as Fran’s father had a raspy voice to die for and killer flamenco moves and Rohan Browne as the hilariously sloshed Ken Railings. It didn’t deviate too much from the movie, but there was just enough here to make things feel all brand new.
Strictly Ballroom the Musical wasn’t perfect, but it managed to capture the essence of the film. Above all it was fun, a cacophony of music, tulle, and colour. And there’s nothing wrong with that.