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Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: Tempo

Media Credit: dancehere.com

It goes without saying that most, if not all, college-aged women are intimately familiar with the 1980s classic "Dirty Dancing."

It also goes without saying that any college-aged man who has ever attempted to woo a woman has also seen it. Us men have had to put up with "nobody puts baby in the corner," "The Time Of My Life" and countless requests/demands to take dancing classes in order to hopelessly emulate the movie. I was fortunate enough to attend a performance, accompanied by a young lady I was attempting to woo.

"Dirty Dancing" has come to Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in the form of a musical that tries to stay true to the original, but ultimately loses some of the timeless '80s charm that made the original such a classic.

All of her favorite songs will be here, along with a few extra songs.

The Good

Amanda Leigh Cobb plays Frances "Baby" Houseman, the lead role. She will easily live up to the expectations set by Jennifer Grey in the original movie and, at times, easily surpasses her.

The music. Say what you will about the movie itself; the music WAS good. I found myself tapping along and swaying my shoulders more than once through the performance. Maybe not as much as some of the middle aged women who had one too many margaritas.

The dancing. While it definitely was not as 'dirty' as in the original movie, it was pretty breathtaking. Choreographer Kate Champion did a very good job of translating the passion and enthusiasm of the movie onto the stage.

The Cadillac Palace Theatre is an absolutely beautiful venue in a beautiful part of town. There is not a single bad seat in the entire house and generally the sound is very good as well.

The Bad

Josef Brown is NO Patrick Swayze. The Australian native just looks old and awkward next to the petite Amanda Leigh Cobb. While his rippling eight pack might have been enough to distract the legions of swooning women in the audience, I found myself unimpressed with his stiff-as-a-board performance. Maybe he was too busy trying to hide that Australian accent of his.

The play ran probably 20 minutes too long; I found myself looking at my cell phone more than once, wondering how soon the intermission/ending would come. There were a few songs and scenes that added nothing to the plot and could have easily been dropped. A scene set at night around the campfire talking about Freedom Riders and civil rights leaders springs to mind.

I understand that this is a musical angled 100 percent at women but when the commercials say "It will have you out of your seats dancing in the aisle," they really mean it. The show I saw was largely made up of groups of women of all ages. This, combined with a full service bar before the show and during admission, lead to some laughable if not distracting moments.

The Verdict

If you are a woman and/or a fan of the original, you should go see this. If you are a guy looking to score some karma points with your girlfriend or are trying to woo a lady, this musical is a (relatively) cheap path to success.

Dirty Dancing in Chicago runs through January of 2009. Tickets begin at $27.50 and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com.

Three disembodied Patrick Swayze heads up.

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