Someone new will be making sure that no babies are put in corners. After a long search, US TV network ABC has found the brave soul who will attempt to live up to Patrick Swayze's performance in Dirty Dancing. That person is dancer/actor Colt Prattes, who will play Johnny in the new version.
The planned three-hour TV movie will spin roughly the same story of the naive Baby (Abigail Breslin), who heads with her parents and siblings to a holiday in the Catskills. There, she meets and falls for Johnny, the resort's charming and skilled dance instructor whose other-side-of-the-tracks status means her parents aren't thrilled by their romantic connection. Debra Messing is also aboard, playing Marjorie Houseman, Baby's repressed, disapproving mother
Jessica Sharzer has written the new adaptation, with Wayne Blair on directing duty and Tony award-winning Hamilton stage choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler handling the dance moves. The show, which bucks the trend of recent movie-musical remakes, will be filmed and not staged live.
Prattes has mostly been known for his stage work (he has appeared in shows such as Rock Of Ages) and for showing off some serious dance skills in P!nk's music video Try.