'Dirty Dancing' Takes London by Storm

LONDON, Nov. 14, 2006 — -- There's a large, pink billboard in London's Theatreland that heralds a phenomenon. And it's an unexpected phenomenon: A classic from the screen, from the 1980s -- the classic called "Dirty Dancing."

There were throngs of women, the odd dutiful boyfriend and husband, and bachelorette parties from as far away as Scotland the night we visited.

"We've seen the movie, we all love it," one gushing bride said.

"It's the hottest ticket in town," another shouted above the hullabaloo.

"People who come to see this are fans of the film," said Georgina Rich, who takes the leading role of Baby onstage. "So every line that is in the film is in the show."

There are even some scenes that were cut from the movie that have been restored to the stage show. The purists are pleased, even though there's no Jennifer Grey and no Patrick Swayze.

Swayze, who immortalized the role of dance god Johnny Castle, is in London, but he's strutting his stuff in "Guys and Dolls" just around the corner. In "Dirty Dancing," a guy named Joe Brown fills Swayze's celebrated undershirt.

"But he's not Patrick?" I asked some eager fans. "Patrick's too old and wrinkly now," came the disrespectful reply.

Emma Forbes is a British TV presenter and "Dirty Dancing" obsessive. She danced with Brown as research for an article she was writing about the show. A flimsy excuse to indulge a fantasy.

"You just want to take off your bra and knickers and throw them at him," Forbes said after seeing the show. "And I think some of the women actually did that."

Before "Dirty Dancing" even opened, it had taken in nearly $20 million in advance ticket sales. This is now being hailed as the fastest-selling musical in the history of London's Theatreland. Tickets, which regularly top at about $150, are changing hands on eBay for $350.

Why are those clutching tickets nearly all women? Well, read this line from the movie, uttered by an adoring Baby to a smouldering Johnny Castle: "I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you."