AS the snake-hipped Johnny Castle swaggered through the auditorium and leapt onto the stage to deliver the classic line, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner”, excitement reached fever pitch.

Security has had to be tightened at The Mayflower for the Dirty Dancing stage show following reports from other theatres of unruly hen parties! (Everyone was stopped and bags searched on arrival).

An entire generation has grown up with the iconic 1987 film, and while fans will appreciate the faithfulness to the original script, the stage version includes a few extra elements too. Some scenes were funnier that the film and the standard of dancing is breath-taking at times.

Although it’s impossible to recreate the chemistry that sizzled between the original duo (Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze), both Paul-Michael Jones as Johnny Castle and Emily Holt as Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman made the roles their own.

Their performance was enhanced by a superb live score and digital special effects as well as some outstanding cast members (Charlotte Gooch as Penny Johnson was stunning).

People weren’t dancing in the aisles at the end – but they’d clearly had the time of their lives.

+ Dirty Dancing at The Mayflower runs until Saturday April 28.