Dirty Dancing - a perfect nostalgic treat

The musical broke records when it opened at the Aldwych Theatre in 2006, selling out for the first six months after opening night and taking £11 million in theatre ticket advanced bookings. 

However, the Dirty Dancing phenomenon is showing no signs of abating thanks to fans of the film eager to take in the live action musical version.

This is a spectacular achievement for a 'chick flick' dismissed as lightweight when it first came out in 1987. In fact, even the late Patrick Swayze almost didn't take on the role of Johnny, commenting in his autobiography that he thought it was a "fluffy summer camp movie" when he first read the script.   

What's the story behind the Dirty Dancing phenomenon? 

Luckily, he did though and the rest is history. For anyone who is not familiar with the story, it centres on Frances 'Baby' Houseman, who is on holiday with her family in the Catskill Mountains in 1963. 

Her break gets a lot more exciting when she spots hunky dance teacher Johnny and becomes his leading lady, both in the camp's dance show and behind the scenes. 

Fans of the movie will be pleased to know that classic lines like 'Nobody puts Baby in a corner' and 'I carried a watermelon' have made the transition to the musical, as have hit tracks like (I've Had) The Time of my Life - as creator Eleanor Bergstein explained on the show's website, this was an important part in adapting it. 

"Most of the audience will know the story well, often by heart, and the great new pleasure we can give them is the sense that what they know and love is still in front of them, but … they are experiencing more of it in a more intense and personal way," she said.

More than five million people have now seen Dirty Dancing since it opened in London - but they are not necessarily all women who were teenagers when the film first came out.  

In fact, children in their early teens may love watching the musical with their mum who knows the storyline for the first time around. 

Clearly it's fun for all the family, so why not treat a loved one to Dirty Dancing tickets soon?