While the current TV season is winding down, ABC is bringing the season to a close in a huge way, debuting a new three-hour musical remake of Dirty Dancing. While it still isn’t known when the trailer may arrive, the network has released the poster today, which gives us our first look at the new Frances “Baby” Houseman (Abigail Breslin) and Johnny Castle (Colt Prattes). This ABC Original Movie Event will air Wednesday, May 24 from 8 PM to 11 PM ET, which is shaping up to be one of the most highly-anticipated events this season.
Entertainment Weekly debuted this new poster, which comes just a few months after ABC announced the May 24 premiere date. Before the special was announced, some believed that ABC was trying to tap into the success of live musicals like NBC’s Hairspray, but when Abigail Breslin came aboard in December 2015, it was revealed that this three-hour movie will be taped prior to broadcast, like Fox’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show. With the arrival of this poster, the first trailer may be coming very soon.
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances “Baby” Houseman falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle, and nothing is ever the same for anyone in the Houseman family. Not only are the memorable songs from the original movie included, but there are additional songs from the era that will be featured, showcasing double the number of musical performances by the stellar cast. Dirty Dancing stars Abigail Breslin (Scream Queens) as Baby, Debra Messing (Will & Grace) as Marjorie Houseman, Bruce Greenwood (American Crime Story: The People vs, OJ Simpson) as Dr. Jake Houseman, Nicole Scherzinger (Dancing with the Stars) as Penny, Colt Prattes (Rock of Ages, Pink’s music video “Try”) as Johnny, Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) as Lisa Houseman, Tony Roberts (Annie Hal) as Max Kellerman, Trevor Einhorn (Mad Men) as Neil, Shane Harper (The Passion) as Robbie Gould, J. Quinton Johnson (Everyone Wants Some) as Marco, Beau “Casper” Smart (Step Up 3D) as Billy, Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy) as Vivian Pressman and Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars) as Tito.
Dirty Dancing, the global pop-cultural phenomenon, becomes a three-hour filmed musical event this season on the ABC Television Network. The adaptation of the beloved 1987 romantic drama and instant movie classic Dirty Dancing, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2017, will be produced by Lionsgate Television in association with Allison Shearmur Productions, executive produced by Allison Shearmur (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Hunger Games franchise; Cinderella) and Grammy Award-nominee Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages), who also serves as executive music producer. The teleplay is by Jessica Sharzer. Wayne Blair (The Sapphires, Septembers of Shiraz) is the director, and two-time Tony Award-winner Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, Bring It On, In the Heights) is the choreographer.
The original Dirty Dancing movie hit theaters in August 1987, and became an immediate hit, earning $213.4 million worldwide from just a $6 million budget, while helping to launch the careers of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. The cast also included Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, Jane Brucker, Kelly Bishop and Lonny Price. Take a look at this new poster for Dirty Dancing as we continue the countdown towards this epic three-hour event on May 24.
