The screen-to-stage transition of Dirty Dancing that opens at London’s Aldwych Theatre in October has announced its two leads. The role of Johnny Castle, originally played by Patrick Swayze in the 1987 film, will be taken by Australian-born dancer Josef Brown, and the role of Frances "Baby" Houseman will be played by British actress Georgina Rich.
Josef Brown
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Brown comes to the London production directly from having created the role in the original Australian production of the stage adaptation. He revealed to Theatre.com that though he played the role for a year and a half there, he still had to audition. “I’m a British citizen,” Brown tells Theatre.com. “I have dual citizenship because my father is British, and I’ve always wanted to work in the West End.I had to audition like everyone else—quite a few Australians from the cast came over wanting to audition—and we didn’t all get it.”
Dirty Dancing was Brown’s first theatrical role. He is a former principal dancer with the Australian Ballet, though he says that theatre was always a passion. “I started off wanting to be an actor way back, but I just fell into dance and got so addicted to it.”
By contrast, RADA-trained actress Rich (who graduated only last year) has been more concerned with more serious acting. Earlier this year, she made her
Georgina Rich
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West End debut in
Honour at Wyndham’s Theatre, opposite Diana Rigg and Martin Jarvis. “I did quite a lot of dance training when I was younger,” she reveals “and I fell in love with it. But I always knew that acting was where I was headed.” For their final audition, the two were paired together. “They wanted to see how we worked together, acted together, danced together, and looked together physically,” explains Rich.
The stage version of Dirty Dancing was written by Eleanor Bergstein, who also wrote the original screenplay. The musical will feature direction by James Powell, choreography by Kate Champion and designs by Stephen Brimson-Lewis. It will begin previews at the Aldwych Theatre on 29 September. The official opening will take place on 24 October.