Stars of Strictly Come Dancing have commonly been known to pursue their own tours independent from the show’s national one, with couplings choosing themes or specific dances as the basis of the shows. Usually male-female pairings, ‘old school Strictly’ professionals Vincent Simone and Ian Waite present their Strictly Theatre Company tour of ‘The Ballroom Boys’ - billed as “an evening of Dance, Song and Banter!”, accompanied by singer James Lomas (who was one of the original Billy Elliots in the West End and holds a Guinness World Record for being the youngest recipient of a Sir Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor) - the last person to be auditioned for the boys’ tour after two weeks of searching for the right person with looks, charm, charisma, talent and an ability to sing and dance exceptionally..and he ticks all of the boxes with gusto.
Opening the show, Lomas sang the iconic ‘Let’s Face The Music And Dance’, sporting full white tie and tails,as were the boys, with their respective dance partners for the tour: Ksenia Zsikhotska (with Simone) and Crystal Main (with Waite), before dancing an American Smooth to ‘Stepping Out (With My Baby)’.
Zsikhotska is a Ukrainian dancer and choreographer, best known for her role as a professional dancer on 'Dancing With The Stars' in Ireland. She was the 2016 United Kingdom & British Latin Professional Champions & British Show Dance Champions, with her partner.
Waite and Main then danced to ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’ from the acclaimed film musical A Star Is Born.
Main has previously toured with Strictly stars Anton and Erin and Debbie Reynolds and recently finished a tour with Brandon Cole. The show’s reference to banter is justified by Vincent Simone’s cute but somewhat overbearing self-satisfaction with himself but it is all tongue-in-cheek as both of the boys are exceedingly lovable and we don’t take offence at his remarks, although their jibes at Anton Du Beke may be taken too far [but I am sure they have his permission..?!]. Ian Waite actually strikes a resemblance to Du Beke and the late great Sir Bruce Forsyth, at times.
Along with the dancing (which I feel there should have been much more of and doing away with the unnecessary chatter between each section), there was an unexpected part where two male and two female audience members were chosen to join them on-stage for a fancy dress game. With the help of some props and pieces of costume, they were to embody some pop-rock icons like Elton, Madonna, Freddie and Tina, with the gents taking on the female icons and vice versa. After this - the winner being awarded a signed programme (there were no programmes at all at the interval, just signed photos) - Simone and Zsikhotska danced a Rumba to ‘With You’ from the Patrick Swayze film Ghost, before the other pair Salsa-ed to ‘Vehicle’ by The Ides Of March.
Lomas then returned to perform Dion’s 'Runaround Sue', getting the audience involved during his spotlight spot, in full throttle with a Bruno Mars' medley featuring 'Uptown Funk' and 'Runaway'. This proved, if there was any doubt, his talents and made us love him all the more, despite the odd timings against the piped backing tracks when trying (maybe a bit too hard) to make them his own..
After the interval, we were welcomed back by Lomas with a Bublé-esque ‘It Had Better Be Tonight’ before a Cha Cha (Cha) for ‘Save The Last Dance (For Me)’. ‘Ain't That A Kick In The Head’ followed and was his weakest song performance-wise and it is a difficult song to sing anyway, even by Dean Martin, made worse by his attempt to appear drunk throughout.
The most comical section was a ballet sequence with the inclusion of bit parts for both of the dancing stars, before a poor Q&A session that consisted of around five questions, two asked by those on stage to one another.
Two Latin dances allowed the girls to shine, before rejoined by the boys. The first being a flamenco, before Simone was allowed time for his signature dance, the Argentine Tango. These were broken up by Lomas’ solo of ‘This Is Me’ from the blockbuster spectacle The Greatest Showman, where he again included his own syncopation.
Suggesting that his counterpart had left the building in order for him to show off his vocal skills, Waite joined Lomas for a song, in the form of ‘Bring Me Sunshine’, known as the theme from Morecambe and Wise. Entering half way through as a stage sweeper, Simone got his ‘revenge’ by expressing his inner 'disco diva', with Disco Inferno and a Disco Medley.
A highly amusing and entertaining evening, at St Helens’ Theatre Royal, some parts could be likened to the last show I saw here..a pantomime..but all in good fun and for the benefit of all present. Well done to all involved, especially the lighting, sound and choreography.
Reviewer - John Kristof
on - 28/6/19
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