Cultural Highlights: Strictly Ballroom in Leeds

Strictly Ballroom: The Musical

With all the glistening lametta, prawn cocktail starters and Only Fools and Horses re-runs of Christmas, there’s arguably no better time of year to embrace your inner kitsch. And it’ll be precisely that that’s on the menu at West Yorkshire Playhouse, where things are going all-out spangle with the UK premiere of Strictly Ballroom: The Musical, based on Baz Luhrmann’s iconic madcap film that first inspired the world to dance back in 1992.

Following a championship ballroom dancer as he rejects the rules that have bound him since childhood, Strictly Ballroom: The Musical is an uplifting lesson in following your heart, directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie (In the Heights, Hairspray) and co-produced by West Yorkshire Playhouse and theatre and entertainment group Global Creatures.

Featuring much-loved musical numbers from the original film along with contemporary songs from the likes of Sia, David Foster and Eddie Perfect, this energetic and eccentric show will no doubt please those for whom ballroom dancing reigns supreme on Saturday night TV – and prove the heartwarming antidote for the cold days and dark nights of winter.

Strictly Ballroom: The Musical, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 30 Nov-21 Jan

wyp.org.uk/events/strictly-ballroom-musical