Select a region
Jersey dancer and actor, Jonny Labey, is being hailed by leading theatre critics for his role in the West End’s newest show.
Filled with big smiles, vibrant colours and lots of sequins, the London debut of the musical theatre version of ‘Strictly Ballroom’ was always going to be a dazzling one. But it seems it’s the fancy footwork and strong moves of Jonny Labey and his co-star which have grabbed the attention of critics for all the right reasons.
Labey plays ‘Scott Hastings’ in the musical version of the 1992 Australian 'rom-com', a character whose rebellious nature sees him lose his dancing partner ahead of the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship because of his overwhelming need to dance his own style.
Luckily Hastings manages to get to the Ballroom championship by teaming up with a rather plain and clumsy beginner dancer called Fran, played by Zizi Strallen, but their path there involves lots of lessons - not just dancing ones - and humour.
It seems the unlikely pair certainly impressed critics on the opening weekend of the show at London’s Piccadilly Theatre.
Broadway World said the Jersey star: “Wrings plenty of humour out of Scott's privileged pomposity, while also demonstrating his genuine artistic yearning. He's at his best opposite Zizi Strallen's awkward but warmly forthright Fran, whose chipper certainty in her own creative path offsets the (groan) rom-com beauty hidden behind glasses. McOnie (chorographer) also parallels them via exploratory, contemporary-edged solos, adding depth to their endearing connection.
“Beautifully effective, too, is the 'Time After Time' practice montage, in which the tireless ensemble seem extensions of the pair and a set change grows out of their whirling grace.”
The critic adds that watching Labey and Strallen “gradually find - and trust - their own rhythm is a fab-u-lous, feel-good pleasure.”
The Financial Times review read: “Jonny Labey’s chiselled, athletic Scott drives passion, pride and pain into his rippling lunges while Zizi Strallen brings sweet, gentle comedy to her rapid evolution from blundering beginner to supple star. Their rumba is sublime.”
"terrific and wholly believable leads who can both dance up a storm. @jonnylabey is broody and petulant one minute, then reveals a nice feel for comedy when given a lesson in how to dance a pasa doble in one of the shows’s standout scenes" @RadioTimes @strictlystage pic.twitter.com/BLPYoOfnqf
— InterTalent (Actors & Creatives) (@InterActors) April 25, 2018
The Radio Times commented on Labey’s performance in one of the most popular scenes in the show: “It benefits from two terrific and wholly believable leads who can both dance up a storm. Jonny Labey is broody and petulant one minute, then reveals a nice feel for comedy when given a lesson in how to dance a pasa doble by Fran’s Spanish father Rico (Fernando Mira) in one of the show’s standout scenes.”
The critic from the London Theatre wrote: London Theatre.com: “Imagine the two leading characters in a musical singing less than a verse between them. If that strikes you as odd, it’s precisely what happens in the West End version of Strictly Ballroom The Musical, a show that has undergone several reworking’s since its inaugural run in Sydney in 2014. Scott Hastings (Jonny Labey) and Fran (Zizi Strallen) are highly talented and could do well to demonstrate so-called ‘triple threat’ skills if only they were given the opportunity.”
As #StrictlyBallroom's eventual dance partners (& freedom fighters?!) Scott & Fran, @jonnylabey & @ZiziStrallen also endear - & make me wish I didn't have two left feet!
— Terri Paddock (@TerriPaddock) April 26, 2018
Not just for #StrictlyComeDancing fans, though they'll LOVE it. @StageFaves > https://t.co/T2JsyWTb9s pic.twitter.com/naRP0O2ojN
British Theatre.com described this change by saying: “What we now have is something that isn’t quite a musical, has the structure and musical soundtrack underscoring of a film and as a result just feels a bit offwhack, and that’s really the only word I can find to describe it.”
Labey is starring in Strictly Ballroom the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre in London until 20 October 2018.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.