When Kevin Clifton was 10 years old, he watched the film Strictly Ballroom and immediately knew that he wanted to play the lead character of Scott Hastings when he grew up. Three decades later, Kevin’s dream has come true. The former Strictly Come Dancing star is this spring headlining the UK & Ireland tour of Strictly Ballroom The Musical.

“It’s an iconic story that everyone knows and can quote lines from,” says Kevin. “And on stage it’s a massively glitzy and glamorous spectacle. It’s a lot of fun - a romantic comedy with lots of great dancing.”
His co-star in the show, Maisie Smith, with whom he danced on the Children In Need Strictly Come Dancing special in 2019, is just as excited to be playing fledgling hoofer Fran. “It combines all my favourite things: singing, dancing, acting, sequins, and a bit of glitz & glamour,” says the former EastEnders actress and Strictly Come Dancing finalist, who is making her musical theatre debut. “It’s such an amazing role to play in my first-ever musical. It’s such a feelgood show, and everyone will come out of the theatre feeling the love and the excitement. And it’s got such great dancing and music in it - Latin flavours, modern tracks and some real classics.”

Adapted from the film by creators Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce - and on this occasion directed and co-choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood - Strictly Ballroom The Musical revolves around rebellious Australian dancer Scott, who causes a commotion with his radical moves and raises eyebrows when he opts to dance with absolute beginner Fran. 

Kevin well understands Scott’s desire to dance his own way rather than follow the rulebook: “I’m not sure whether it was something in me or whether it was totally inspired by the movie, but I always felt the same way. I was always more obsessed with entertaining an audience than winning a competition. My coaches used to go nuts when I was competing because I would say to them ‘I would rather energise the crowd, make sure they have a great time and me come fifth in the competition, than win whilst being a bit boring.’
“Even on Strictly Come Dancing, I would always chase an audience reaction instead of a 10 from the judges. I’ve always had that in me.” 

Strictly Ballroom began life as a short stage play that Baz Luhrmann devised with his classmates in 1984, when he was studying at Sydney’s National Institute of the Dramatic Arts. After being expanded into a longer version, it caught the eye of Australian music executive Ted Albert, who offered to turn it into a film. Luhrmann insisted that he helm the movie himself - he was already an established theatre director - and Strictly Ballroom was released in 1992, going on to become one of the most successful Australian films of all time. Earning a Golden Globe nomination for best picture, it also bagged three BAFTA awards for its costumes, production design and music score. 

In 2014, Luhrmann and co-writer Craig Pearce developed a full-blown stage musical version.
The show’s first-ever UK & Ireland tour boasts a cast of more than 20 hugely talented performers and includes such familiar songs as Love Is In The Air and Time After Time. New music from Sia, David Foster and Eddie Perfect, among others, also features. 

Too young to have seen the film when it first came out, Maisie Smith later caught it on TV and loved it. “The first time, I was just watching the dancing, so I’ve watched it again to prepare for the tour and it feels like the perfect fit for me,” says the 20-year-old stage school graduate, who was just six when she first played Tiffany Butcher in EastEnders. 

Maisie can very much relate to her character of Fran: “She’s young and rebellious. She’s also ambitious and cheeky, so it’s the perfect role for me to play, although she’s probably a little more confident than I am.”

Maisie is happy to be reunited with her Children In Need dancing partner, four years after she and Kevin bagged the Glitterball trophy. “We got on so well. It’s so nice to be dancing together again, and this time we’ve got a whole tour rather than just a week.”

Kevin concurs: “We worked really well together, even though it was only for that one week, so it’s great to be reunited. I can’t wait for people to see what Maisie can do. We’ve seen her dancing and acting, but she’s also a really good singer. 

“As for the show itself, I know the people who come to see it are going to have an amazing time, and that’s what everyone needs right now. It’s as good as musical theatre gets, with great singing, great dancing and a love story at its heart.”

Strictly Ballroom shows at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Mon 13 - Sat 18 February

on Wed, 01 Feb 2023

No stranger to the spotlight himself, Craig Revel Horwood now goes behind the scenes to direct a brand-new stage show based on Baz Luhrmann’s hit 1992 movie, Strictly Ballroom. Starring Kevin Clifton and Maisie Smith in the lead roles, the production this month embarks on a UK tour, stopping off at two Midlands venues along the way. What’s On recently caught up with Craig to find out more...   

Professional dancers may look amazing as they trip the light fantastic in shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, but it takes them years of hard graft to reach the top of their trade. So says Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood, who is directing and co-choreographing Strictly Ballroom, a brand-new stage production about the challenges of making it big in the dance world.

Based on the hit 1992 Baz Luhrmann film of the same name and coming to Birmingham Hippodrome in October and the Wolverhampton Grand next February, the show tells the tale of Scott Hastings, a rebellious young competitor who defies the judges and is forced to dance with beginner Fran. The tour stars Strictly professional Kevin Clifton as Scott and EastEnders actress and Strictly finalist Maisie Smith as Fran.

“This show introduces people to the backstage world,” says Craig. “Everyone who watches Strictly Come Dancing is seeing the glossy side of it, but Strictly Ballroom delves into the hearts and minds of the people doing the dance - the trials and tribulations they have to go through in order to get to that competition standard. It’s about the fight and struggle, and all the animosity that’s involved in it to win the day and become a gold medallist. It's about dancing with your heart rather than just dancing the steps.

“It’s an age-old story, with really dark and sinister characters, that culminates in high comedy. It tells the story of true-to-life Latin and ballroom dancing, where you’ve got the pushy parents and the amateurs having to spend all their money on costumes and fake tans. And they’re in a very insular world - the circle of people where winning the competition is a matter of life and death.” 

It has been a battle to bring the Strictly Ballroom tour to life, with Covid scuppering plans for the last two years. Craig is delighted that the show is finally taking to the road.

“It’s been quite a long time in the making -  about three-and-a-half years. I secured Kevin Clifton for the show two-and-a-half years ago and was delighted. He left Strictly in order to do this particular musical because it was his lifelong dream to play the role of Scott Hastings. 

“Then of course Covid struck, and that put us back two years. Having to wait, like everyone did, during Covid was horrific, but it did give us time to think about it, and to develop the set and the script. I feel relieved that audiences are finally going to get to see it, and see my vision of it as well as Kevin’s and Maisie’s.

“It’s Kevin’s life, and he’s been wanting to do this for the last 25 years. Scott is a huge role and a fantastic one. Kevin can show off not only his dancing skills but also his acting - and his Australian accent, which he’s very proud of! And of course we have Maisie, who’s a fantastic actor, a brilliant singer and a brilliant dancer, as we already know because we saw Kevin and Maisie dance in the Children In Need special back in 2019, which they went on to win. Then she did the full show of Strictly, became a finalist in that, and people fell in love with her all over again.”

Craig may be best known to audiences for his role as the grumpy judge in Strictly Come Dancing, but he also has an impressive CV as a choreographer, director, actor and writer, working on countless West End shows and national tours, including Spend Spend Spend, My One And Only, Chess and Sister Act. And he knows only too well the obstacles young male dancers can sometimes face.

“Like Baz Luhrmann, I’m Australian. I left Australia in 1988, and when the movie of Strictly Ballroom came out, I saw my life flashing before my eyes on the screen. Dance has been a passion all my life, and dancing was at the forefront of Strictly Ballroom, long before Strictly Come Dancing. 

“The motto of Strictly Ballroom, which resonated with me, is what Fran says to Scott: ‘A life lived in fear is a life not lived’. I think that’s true of everyone in the world; you shouldn’t live in fear of failure. To have convictions, to have a passion, to follow it and not be scared to do it - that’s what makes people what they are. 

“I have applied that motto to my life, by not listening to people and by believing in myself. I was fearless. I had to be. I was bullied at school. I didn’t want anyone to know that I was dancing, because of people’s attitude towards it when I was growing up. 

“It’s a lot easier today to say you want to study dance, but I was studying classical ballet. Wearing a pair of tights was not cool in Ballarat in Australia, so I hid that from people. But I still followed my passion, and you end up having to be fearless. Any horrible comments that people made, I let them slip like water off a duck’s back, because I had a dream and I stuck to it. You will do well in life if you have a passion and a dream, and I encourage all people to follow it and not live in fear.”

Craig’s determination has certainly paid off. Highly regarded within the theatrical world, he returns to the small screen with Strictly Come Dancing this autumn.

“I can’t wait for Strictly to come back. People often say to me, ‘It’s your 20th series, aren’t you bored of it yet? Are you considering leaving?’ I always reply that I love it. I get the best seat in the house for some of the best dancing and some of the worst dancing that the UK will ever see. And how wonderful is that? For me, it’s different every time because you get different stories, different people. It’s a change of cast each year, so each year it feels like a brand-new show but with the same format. It’s brilliant!”  

Diane Parkes

on Tue, 30 Aug 2022