Dirty Dancing: The Musical is headed to Broadway for a limited engagement at New York’s Lena Horne Theatre, scheduled to run from Feb. 12, 2027 through Sept. 5, 2027. The production arrives as the 1987 film reaches its 40th anniversary year.
The stage show adapts the story of Frances “Baby” Houseman and Johnny Castle, the dance instructor she meets during a 1963 summer holiday in the Catskills. Baby’s connection with Johnny leads her toward love, passion and independence, while the surrounding story deals with the consequences of a relationship that crosses the resort’s social boundaries.
Annalese Starzec will star as Baby, with Blake Zelesnikar playing Johnny. Olivia Cece is set to portray Penny Johnson, while Bryan Fenkart will play Baby’s father, Jake Houseman. The Broadway company also includes Dan Klimko as Neil Kellerman, Lily Kren as Lisa Houseman, Ashley LaLonde as Elizabeth, Gina Lamparella as Marjorie Houseman, Loren Lester as Max Kellerman, Ethan Peterson as Billy Kostecki, and Erick Pinnick as Tito Suarez.
A film story built for a dance-led stage adaptation
The musical retains the Catskills setting and the central relationship that made the film enduringly recognizable. Its theatrical format places particular weight on dance, not simply as decoration between scenes but as part of the characters’ language. Johnny is a dance instructor, Baby is drawn into his world, and the story’s emotional turning points are closely tied to rehearsal, performance and the risks associated with being seen together.
That makes choreography a key storytelling tool rather than an optional add-on. Choreography is the designed movement performed by the cast: it establishes character, advances a scene’s action and gives a production its physical identity. Darrell Grand Moultrie will choreograph the Broadway staging, taking on the task of shaping movement that must support well-known musical moments while functioning in a live theatre environment.
The production description emphasizes the exhilaration of forbidden romance and the courage required to stand by one’s convictions. In practical terms, that places Baby’s growth at the center of the adaptation. The show is not only about the famous dances or the onscreen legacy associated with the property; it follows a young woman whose summer changes the way she understands her family, herself and the world around her.
The score includes the film’s signature songs
The Broadway production will use iconic music associated with the original film, including “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Do You Love Me?” and “She’s Like the Wind.” Those titles carry much of the adaptation’s immediate familiarity, especially for audiences who know the story primarily through the 1987 movie starring Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze.
For a screen-to-stage musical, recognizable songs do more than offer nostalgia. They establish expectation. Audience members may arrive with vivid memories of how a particular number fits into the film, meaning the stage version has to balance recognition with its own pacing and theatrical momentum. A live musical cannot rely on editing, camera framing or retakes; performers, music and dance must land in the room in real time.
That live element is especially relevant to the show’s finale, which the production describes as designed to lift audiences from their seats. The final stretch of Dirty Dancing is inseparable from the story’s dance vocabulary and songbook, so the Broadway version’s ending will be one of its most closely watched elements—not as a recreation of a movie shot, but as a moment built for the scale and immediacy of the theatre.
Music remains a major part of the wider entertainment landscape beyond the Broadway stage. Readers following business developments around performers and labels can also see recent music-industry news involving Thomas Rhett and Hybe Americas’ Blue Highway.
Lonny Price returns to the story in a new role
Lonny Price will direct the Broadway production. Price played Neil Kellerman in the original film, giving this staging a direct connection to the movie while placing him in a very different creative position. As director, Price will guide the overall interpretation: the cast’s performances, the progression of scenes, the relationship between dramatic action and musical material, and the production’s broader tone.
Price is a Tony Award nominee and a two-time Emmy Award winner. His earlier role as Neil is now being taken on by Dan Klimko in the Broadway company. That shift underscores the difference between an adaptation revisiting familiar material and a simple revival of a past performance: the story and characters return, but a new ensemble is responsible for giving them life onstage.
The Broadway move follows a successful North American tour. Touring productions and Broadway engagements have different logistical demands, but a tour provides an opportunity for a show to play for audiences across multiple locations before it reaches a fixed New York venue. The announced Lena Horne Theatre run is limited rather than open-ended, with a defined closing date of Sept. 5, 2027.
The full announced company
In addition to the principal cast, the company will include Emma Jade Branson, Marcus Byers, Jr., Jonas Cohen, Sarah Ellis, Aria Christina Evans, Anthony J. Gasbarre III, Zoe Edan Lemelman, Francesca Mancuso, Brett Rawlings, Jason Richards, Antony Sanchez, Grace Sautter, Neil Starkenberg, Fisher Lane Stewart, John Swapshire and Carmella Taitt.
For a production where dance is integral to the story, the ensemble’s contribution is substantial. Ensemble performers help create the social setting of the resort, fill out group dance sequences and support the transitions that connect intimate character scenes to larger musical numbers. Their work can determine whether the Catskills environment feels like a lived-in summer destination rather than merely a backdrop for Baby and Johnny.
The announced producers are The Path Entertainment Group, Lionsgate and LD Entertainment. Magic Hour Productions, Nederlander Presentations and John Gore Organization are co-producers. The participation of multiple producing organizations reflects the collaborative structure behind a large commercial Broadway engagement, where responsibilities can span financing, theatrical presentation, rights management and the operational work of mounting a run.
What is confirmed for the 2027 engagement
- Venue: Lena Horne Theatre, New York.
- Run: Feb. 12, 2027 to Sept. 5, 2027.
- Baby Houseman: Annalese Starzec.
- Johnny Castle: Blake Zelesnikar.
- Director: Lonny Price, who played Neil Kellerman in the 1987 film.
- Choreographer: Darrell Grand Moultrie.
- Musical touchstones: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Do You Love Me?” and “She’s Like the Wind.”
With its core cast, director, choreographer, venue and engagement dates now identified, the Broadway run positions Dirty Dancing: The Musical as an anniversary-year return for a film whose romance, music and movement remain central to its identity. The creative question for the production is not whether audiences will recognize the title. It is how this company will turn that recognition into an event that works on Broadway’s live stage.
