
dirty_dancing_set_and_costumes.docx | |
File Size: | 129 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Dirty Dancing
Most of the audience will know the story of Dirty Dancing, and the great new pleasure this show gives them is the sense that what they know and love is still in front of them, but because they are attending a live performance they are experiencing more of it, in a more intense and personal way. We want our audience to feel that they are guests at Kellerman’s, living inside the story and involved in the action. Music is used as people use it in real life, with people singing their hearts out around a campfire, at a piano or in a a talent show. This is a dramatic love story that draws its audience in with moving bodies, music and dance. Music and dance are always part of the physical reality at Kellerman’s, like the gold carts that cross the stage, the staff waiting on the guests and the magical lake where baby learns lifts.
Dirty Dancing is set in America in the summer of 1963. The action takes place at Kellerman’s holiday resort, in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The resort is populated by a variety of guests, both young and old, and a large staff who organise the many activities arranged to keep the visitors entertained.
The Set
There are a number of different locations in Dirty Dancing, as far as possible replicating the different scenes in the film but even with a few additional ones.
The story opens in Baby’s room in New York. Baby is sitting on a suitcase and all around her is dim, so we see no features of the room.
Lights come up on Kellerman’s resort, revealing a large stone building with 2 levels. There are 4sets of double doors on the ground floor, with above and behind the first storye appears another building with 5 smaller windows on the second storey, and a tall chimney to the right. Further to the right is a red roof atop another stone building. Trees border the building to right and left front and suspended coloured baubles, which can also be lights, hang down on the left with a blue sky and mountains in the distance on the left.
This building slides forward and swivels to reveal the interior at Kellermann’s. It’s sometimes a dining room and sometimes a ball room. Centre back are 4 full-length French windows and with a place for the band, 2 music stands and a piano, in front of them and a floor microphone centred in front of the windows. Round tables are dressed with long white table cloths and white chairs are set around the tables. A swing door on the left gives access to the kitchen and red curtains are looped up on either side of the French windows.
Sometimes the exterior buildings are supplemented with a flight of steps on the far right. These lead up to a brown wooden door and rotate to reveal a balcony on the interior of the wooden staff house, shown with high wooden walls and steps down from the balcony into the inside of the house.
On other occasions the main building turns side on to reveal a small kitchen area, the other side of the swing door. There’s an alcove to the left of a large American refrigerator. It rotates further to take over the centre of the stage, but does not get any larger.
The Sheldrake Hotel is represented by 2 closed curtains in the centre of the stage, which draw apart to reveal the entertainers and Johnny and Baby.
The Houseman’s chalet is a small white building to the right of the main stone complex. It comes forward from behind the trees whenever anyone goes into it or comes out. Sometimes the window in the door is lit. Sometimes the cabin opens up to reveal a bedroom, which might be Lisa’s, the Baby’s or their parents’ room. It is painted white and has pictures on the walls and a small double bed with a satin champagne-coloured bedspread.
Johnny’s room is very basic. It contains a narrow single bed with duvet, a venetian blind behind the bed, a chair and a record player. The cabin is located on the left of the stage.
Penny’s room is also on the left of the stage, but higher up, at the top of the steps that lead to the staff house. It comprises a narrow bed, perched on a platform, with a wooden screen behind it.
We also have a very brief glimpse of Robbie’s room and the bed within.
There are several outdoor locations. The golf course is the area in front of the main building. The camp is surrounded by trees and with a small camp fire centre, and logs for seats, around it. The thunderstorm brings a tree crashing down, suspended over a creek and is good for practising balancing. There’s also footage of a lake, projected onto a screen at the back of the stage with Johnny and Baby, in the lake practising lifts. Another outdoor feature is the swimming pool, but this is just the edge of the stage, with the actors miming being about to dive down from it, into the audience.
The Cast
JOHNNY CASTLE
Johnny, played by Lewis Griffiths is tall, street handsome, with a beautifully honed and muscled physique. He moves across the room like a Prince of the city. He wears tight, black trousers and a tight black T Shirt when working. When performing he wears a black dancer's tuxedo, with a short jacket reminiscent of a matador. He also wears a white tuxedo in the evenings. Throughout the musical he appears in the same black high heeled shoes. Johnny's thick black hair is swept back in a quiff from his face.
BABY
Baby is of medium height, slim and dainty, with light brown, very curly, chin length hair which frames her face. She is small featured and pretty. Baby's everyday wear consists of knee length denim shorts, a white sleeveless loose blouse to her waist and white laced-up sport shoes. Later she dons a wine coloured sweater over this outfit and from time to time she varies it with a knee-length blue flowery sun dress. When she performs at The Sheldrake Hotel Baby sports a spectacular pink, glittering costume with a halter neck. Later, when she performs again publicly, her white dress is knee length, bare shouldered and flounced out with tulle petticoats. Katie Harland plays this part
LISA
Lisa, Baby's sister, is played by Lizzie Ottley. She’s tall, slim with shoulder length dark hair adorned with a white hair band. Her sundress is patterned with orange, black and grey splashes of colour on a white background. She wears kitten heels. Later her evening dress is pale blue puffed out with lots and lots of tulle petticoats.
MARJORIE
Marjorie, the sisters' mother, is in her forties, tall and slim with brown wavy hair. She appears in tight fitting calf length trousers, a white T-shirt and an elbow-length white cardigan. When it rains she covers up with a three quarter length beige trench coat. Simone Craddock takes on this role.
JAKE
Jake, the sisters' father, played by Julian Harries, is a fine figure of a man. He is also in the mid forties. His short dark hair is touched with grey. In relaxed mode he wears a navy T-shirt with a collar, grey trousers and tanned shoes, but he also wears a smart dark suit for evenings.
PENNY
Penny is blonde, tall, slim and very pretty. She wears various spectacular dresses for dancing, like a bright scarlet strappy number with a wide floaty ballerina-length skirt. An orange dress with wide flared skirt is her day wear and she also has a bare shouldered dress is calf length and flouncy. The dress is brown with a wide band of orange towards the hem. This outfit is teamed with cream high heels.
TITO
Tito, played by Jo Servi, is bald on top, but he has black, short hair at each side of his face and at the back. For performing he wears a white tuxedo jacket. In less formal situations his white, open necked shirt is rolled up at the sleeves. His trousers are beige while his shoes are brown. He is middle aged and a close friend to Max.
MAX
Max, the owner of Kellerman's Resort, and grandfather of Neill, is relatively tall and well built. He is dressed affluently in a well fitting black suit, white shirt and a black dickey bow. He is in his early sixties and walks with the air of a powerful man.
NEILL
Neil, is in his twenties, has beige trousers, and a blue and white short sleeved checked shirt teamed with white sports shoes. In the evenings he sports a smart suit. He is five feet and eight inches tall and fairly scrawny.
VIVIEN
Vivien’s part is taken by Camilla Rowland. She is tall and attractive with a fabulous, well-cared for body and long, luxurious curly red hair. She wears a very slinky figure hugging dress, glittering with sequins and also a white and red strapless dress which stands out as it has large black glittering diamond shapes embroidered all over it. When she swirls her petticoats are black as are her high heeled court shoes.
ELIZABETH
Elizabeth, played by Daniella Pobega, and the other staff girls have a uniform consisting of a short sleeved white T-shirts tucked into wine-coloured miniskirts teamed with white shoes. Elizabeth is in her early twenties. She is of medium height, is of slim build and is dark and sultry looking.
BILLY
Billy, who is the same age as Neill, wears a white T-shirt with grey trousers and white shoes. He has dark, short hair, is five feet tall and is a staff boy. His part is taken by Michael Kent.
ROBBIE
Robbie, played by Robert Colvin, like all the other waiters, dresses in black and white. When off duty he wears a black sweater over a checked opened shirt and grey jeans. He is in his twenties, a Yale student, dark haired, handsome and the same height as Johnny.
Mr SCHUMACHER
Mr Schumacher has white, thinning hair and a short beard. He is sixtyish. His suit is beige and his shirt is open necked. Later he wears a beige jacked zipped half way up. Tony Stansfield plays the part of Mr. Schumacher.
FEMALE GUESTS
Female guests wear bare shouldered dresses with calf-length circular skirts which are flounced out by layers of petticoats underneath. Their gowns are in various colours - peach, orange and pale green.
CITY GIRLS/BOYS (DIRTY DANCERS)
The City Girls wear teeny weeny shorts, flat shoes, sleeveless blouses and have their midriffs bare. The boys wear tight denim jeans.
Dirty Dancing was directed by Federico Bellini, choreographed by Gillian Bruce and Richard John was the musical director.
This evenings performance is described by Kate Ingram and Ann Maynes and is brought to you by NI Sightlines in conjunction with The Grand Opera House, Belfast. There will be one twenty minute interval.
Most of the audience will know the story of Dirty Dancing, and the great new pleasure this show gives them is the sense that what they know and love is still in front of them, but because they are attending a live performance they are experiencing more of it, in a more intense and personal way. We want our audience to feel that they are guests at Kellerman’s, living inside the story and involved in the action. Music is used as people use it in real life, with people singing their hearts out around a campfire, at a piano or in a a talent show. This is a dramatic love story that draws its audience in with moving bodies, music and dance. Music and dance are always part of the physical reality at Kellerman’s, like the gold carts that cross the stage, the staff waiting on the guests and the magical lake where baby learns lifts.
Dirty Dancing is set in America in the summer of 1963. The action takes place at Kellerman’s holiday resort, in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The resort is populated by a variety of guests, both young and old, and a large staff who organise the many activities arranged to keep the visitors entertained.
The Set
There are a number of different locations in Dirty Dancing, as far as possible replicating the different scenes in the film but even with a few additional ones.
The story opens in Baby’s room in New York. Baby is sitting on a suitcase and all around her is dim, so we see no features of the room.
Lights come up on Kellerman’s resort, revealing a large stone building with 2 levels. There are 4sets of double doors on the ground floor, with above and behind the first storye appears another building with 5 smaller windows on the second storey, and a tall chimney to the right. Further to the right is a red roof atop another stone building. Trees border the building to right and left front and suspended coloured baubles, which can also be lights, hang down on the left with a blue sky and mountains in the distance on the left.
This building slides forward and swivels to reveal the interior at Kellermann’s. It’s sometimes a dining room and sometimes a ball room. Centre back are 4 full-length French windows and with a place for the band, 2 music stands and a piano, in front of them and a floor microphone centred in front of the windows. Round tables are dressed with long white table cloths and white chairs are set around the tables. A swing door on the left gives access to the kitchen and red curtains are looped up on either side of the French windows.
Sometimes the exterior buildings are supplemented with a flight of steps on the far right. These lead up to a brown wooden door and rotate to reveal a balcony on the interior of the wooden staff house, shown with high wooden walls and steps down from the balcony into the inside of the house.
On other occasions the main building turns side on to reveal a small kitchen area, the other side of the swing door. There’s an alcove to the left of a large American refrigerator. It rotates further to take over the centre of the stage, but does not get any larger.
The Sheldrake Hotel is represented by 2 closed curtains in the centre of the stage, which draw apart to reveal the entertainers and Johnny and Baby.
The Houseman’s chalet is a small white building to the right of the main stone complex. It comes forward from behind the trees whenever anyone goes into it or comes out. Sometimes the window in the door is lit. Sometimes the cabin opens up to reveal a bedroom, which might be Lisa’s, the Baby’s or their parents’ room. It is painted white and has pictures on the walls and a small double bed with a satin champagne-coloured bedspread.
Johnny’s room is very basic. It contains a narrow single bed with duvet, a venetian blind behind the bed, a chair and a record player. The cabin is located on the left of the stage.
Penny’s room is also on the left of the stage, but higher up, at the top of the steps that lead to the staff house. It comprises a narrow bed, perched on a platform, with a wooden screen behind it.
We also have a very brief glimpse of Robbie’s room and the bed within.
There are several outdoor locations. The golf course is the area in front of the main building. The camp is surrounded by trees and with a small camp fire centre, and logs for seats, around it. The thunderstorm brings a tree crashing down, suspended over a creek and is good for practising balancing. There’s also footage of a lake, projected onto a screen at the back of the stage with Johnny and Baby, in the lake practising lifts. Another outdoor feature is the swimming pool, but this is just the edge of the stage, with the actors miming being about to dive down from it, into the audience.
The Cast
JOHNNY CASTLE
Johnny, played by Lewis Griffiths is tall, street handsome, with a beautifully honed and muscled physique. He moves across the room like a Prince of the city. He wears tight, black trousers and a tight black T Shirt when working. When performing he wears a black dancer's tuxedo, with a short jacket reminiscent of a matador. He also wears a white tuxedo in the evenings. Throughout the musical he appears in the same black high heeled shoes. Johnny's thick black hair is swept back in a quiff from his face.
BABY
Baby is of medium height, slim and dainty, with light brown, very curly, chin length hair which frames her face. She is small featured and pretty. Baby's everyday wear consists of knee length denim shorts, a white sleeveless loose blouse to her waist and white laced-up sport shoes. Later she dons a wine coloured sweater over this outfit and from time to time she varies it with a knee-length blue flowery sun dress. When she performs at The Sheldrake Hotel Baby sports a spectacular pink, glittering costume with a halter neck. Later, when she performs again publicly, her white dress is knee length, bare shouldered and flounced out with tulle petticoats. Katie Harland plays this part
LISA
Lisa, Baby's sister, is played by Lizzie Ottley. She’s tall, slim with shoulder length dark hair adorned with a white hair band. Her sundress is patterned with orange, black and grey splashes of colour on a white background. She wears kitten heels. Later her evening dress is pale blue puffed out with lots and lots of tulle petticoats.
MARJORIE
Marjorie, the sisters' mother, is in her forties, tall and slim with brown wavy hair. She appears in tight fitting calf length trousers, a white T-shirt and an elbow-length white cardigan. When it rains she covers up with a three quarter length beige trench coat. Simone Craddock takes on this role.
JAKE
Jake, the sisters' father, played by Julian Harries, is a fine figure of a man. He is also in the mid forties. His short dark hair is touched with grey. In relaxed mode he wears a navy T-shirt with a collar, grey trousers and tanned shoes, but he also wears a smart dark suit for evenings.
PENNY
Penny is blonde, tall, slim and very pretty. She wears various spectacular dresses for dancing, like a bright scarlet strappy number with a wide floaty ballerina-length skirt. An orange dress with wide flared skirt is her day wear and she also has a bare shouldered dress is calf length and flouncy. The dress is brown with a wide band of orange towards the hem. This outfit is teamed with cream high heels.
TITO
Tito, played by Jo Servi, is bald on top, but he has black, short hair at each side of his face and at the back. For performing he wears a white tuxedo jacket. In less formal situations his white, open necked shirt is rolled up at the sleeves. His trousers are beige while his shoes are brown. He is middle aged and a close friend to Max.
MAX
Max, the owner of Kellerman's Resort, and grandfather of Neill, is relatively tall and well built. He is dressed affluently in a well fitting black suit, white shirt and a black dickey bow. He is in his early sixties and walks with the air of a powerful man.
NEILL
Neil, is in his twenties, has beige trousers, and a blue and white short sleeved checked shirt teamed with white sports shoes. In the evenings he sports a smart suit. He is five feet and eight inches tall and fairly scrawny.
VIVIEN
Vivien’s part is taken by Camilla Rowland. She is tall and attractive with a fabulous, well-cared for body and long, luxurious curly red hair. She wears a very slinky figure hugging dress, glittering with sequins and also a white and red strapless dress which stands out as it has large black glittering diamond shapes embroidered all over it. When she swirls her petticoats are black as are her high heeled court shoes.
ELIZABETH
Elizabeth, played by Daniella Pobega, and the other staff girls have a uniform consisting of a short sleeved white T-shirts tucked into wine-coloured miniskirts teamed with white shoes. Elizabeth is in her early twenties. She is of medium height, is of slim build and is dark and sultry looking.
BILLY
Billy, who is the same age as Neill, wears a white T-shirt with grey trousers and white shoes. He has dark, short hair, is five feet tall and is a staff boy. His part is taken by Michael Kent.
ROBBIE
Robbie, played by Robert Colvin, like all the other waiters, dresses in black and white. When off duty he wears a black sweater over a checked opened shirt and grey jeans. He is in his twenties, a Yale student, dark haired, handsome and the same height as Johnny.
Mr SCHUMACHER
Mr Schumacher has white, thinning hair and a short beard. He is sixtyish. His suit is beige and his shirt is open necked. Later he wears a beige jacked zipped half way up. Tony Stansfield plays the part of Mr. Schumacher.
FEMALE GUESTS
Female guests wear bare shouldered dresses with calf-length circular skirts which are flounced out by layers of petticoats underneath. Their gowns are in various colours - peach, orange and pale green.
CITY GIRLS/BOYS (DIRTY DANCERS)
The City Girls wear teeny weeny shorts, flat shoes, sleeveless blouses and have their midriffs bare. The boys wear tight denim jeans.
Dirty Dancing was directed by Federico Bellini, choreographed by Gillian Bruce and Richard John was the musical director.
This evenings performance is described by Kate Ingram and Ann Maynes and is brought to you by NI Sightlines in conjunction with The Grand Opera House, Belfast. There will be one twenty minute interval.