THE FANS' LOVE STORY: How The Movie 'DIRTY DANCING' Captured The Hearts Of Millions! (24 page)

Crystal L. Berger. Birch Bay, Washington.

“I will always be grateful to Patrick Swayze and
Dirty Dancing
for helping me through this cancer . . .
Dirty Dancing
is just a gem. It has been a lovely friend for many years. Some charmed time, a little bit of sweetness.”

Callie & David Van Kleeck. Glendale, Arizona.

“We BOTH love good storytelling and happy endings . . . Both Patrick and Jennifer made their characters believable. Their characters’ innocence and idealistic outlook on life was genuine in them both . . . It has served as the centerpiece of MANY of our ‘Date Nights’ throughout our twenty-five years of marriage.”

Doreen Height. Derby, England.

“It is a film that makes you feel good.” She states she lost weight in case she met Patrick—then she had a heart attack, and if she hadn’t lost the weight, she might have died. “So I will always be a fan of Patrick.”

Roberta Teska. Lake Worth, Florida.

“What blew my mind was Patrick’s dancing . . . absolutely loved him (dancing) with Cynthia Rhodes (Penny) . . . Because of my interest in Patrick, I found Swayze Mania and the fan club. And I have wonderful friends now.”

I visited Patrick’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—7018 Hollywood Boulevard. Patrick received his star on his 45th birthday on August 18, 1997.

At the Complexions Gala in Detroit in 2004, I was lucky to have my picture taken with Sarita Allen, Artist-In-Residence, at Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Patrick (Board Member) hosted the gala for this acclaimed dance company. In addition to giving amazing, innovative, powerful performances, Complexions does outreach work with youth.

1. Eleanor Bergstein used some of her own life experiences in the story line of
   Dirty
   Dancing.
   
2. Dirty dancing really happened and was sometimes called liberated dancing or dirty dwaging.
   
3. The movie was initially called:
   Dancing.
   
4. Vestron Pictures agreed to make the movie after virtually all of the other studios had turned it down.
   
5. Emile Ardolino was pursued to be the director of
   Dirty Dancing
   because of an earlier dance documentary that he directed:
   He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’
   (1983), which won an academy award for Best Documentary.
   
6. The movie began filming September 5, 1986 at Mountain Lake Hotel in Virginia and wrapped on October 27, 1986 at Lake Lure Inn in North Carolina.
   
7. The release dates were August 17, 1987—New York City premiere; August 19, 1987—LA premiere; and August 21, 1987—USA. Following the New York premiere, there was a ’60s themed party at Roseland dance hall in which all the stars attended.
   
8. The
   Dirty Dancing
   TV show on CBS in fall 1988, starring Patrick Cassidy as Johnny and Melora Hardin as Baby, lasted only three months.
   
9. In 1988, “Dirty Dancing: Live in Concert,” the musical tour, featuring Bill Medley and Eric Carmen, went to 90 cities in 90 days. (*I attended this fabulous show and to this day still have my souvenir button: “Things Go Better With
   Dirty Dancing.
   ”)
   
10. It was the first movie to sell 100 million video copies.
    

1. Jennifer Grey
   

   Mother, Jo Wilder—actress
   

   Father, Joel Grey—Broadway performer
   

   (Grandfather, Mickey Katz—comedian—who did some performances in the Catskills)
   

2. Patrick Swayze
   

   Mother, Patsy Swayze—choreographer
   

3. Jerry Orbach
   

   Father, Leon Orbach—vaudeville
   

   Mother, Emily Orbach—radio singer, Broadway performer
   

*All five of the mentioned actors below had extensive training/experience prior to
Dirty Dancing
.
This list is just some information about their very beginnings. It is not meant to be a list of all of their training/experience.

1. Patrick Swayze began dancing as a young child (as soon as he could walk) at his mother’s dance studio and was in many recitals and school musicals. His first professional appearance was as a dancer in Disney on Parade, and then he appeared on Broadway in
   Goodtime Charley
   in 1975, and then in 1978 in
   Grease
   as the lead. Patrick Swayze had danced with the Houston Jazz Ballet, Harkness Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and Eliot Feld Ballet.
   
2. Jennifer Grey took dancing lessons as a child but allegedly was not allowed to perform during her childhood. She made her professional dancing and stage debut at age twenty.
   
3. Cynthia Rhodes danced and sang as a child and worked at Opryland as a singer and dancer at age seventeen while in high school.
   
4. Jerry Orbach was in many school plays and began acting in summer stock at age sixteen.
   
5. Kelly Bishop had her first dance job at age eighteen at Radio City Music Hall.
   
6. Jack Weston began acting at age ten.
   

1. In 1969, Jerry Orbach starred on Broadway in
   Promises, Promises
   for which he won a Tony Award as Actor in a musical. Kelly Bishop was in the chorus.
   
2. In 1975, Joel Grey (Jennifer Grey’s father) starred on Broadway in
   Goodtime Charley
   and Patrick Swayze played a dancer and servant in the same show.
   
3. Kenny Ortega was the choreographer for the movie,
   Xanadu
   (1980) which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Gene Kelly became a mentor to Kenny Ortega. Cynthia Rhodes appeared as an ensemble dancer in
   Xanadu,
   which was her first movie role. Miranda Garrison appeared as a dancer.
   
4. Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze were featured together in the movie,
   Red Dawn
   in 1984.
   
5. Jennifer Grey was featured in the movie,
   Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
   (1986) and Kenny Ortega was choreographer and a second-unit director.
   

1. Patrick Swayze starred in
   To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar
   (1995), and Kenny Ortega was the choreographer.
   
2. Patrick Swayze made a cameo appearance as a dance instructor, and Miranda Garrison was an assistant choreographer and dancer in the prequel movie,
   Dirty Dancing: Havana
   Nights
   (2004).
   
3. Kelly Bishop starred in the television show,
   Gilmore Girls,
   and Kenny Ortega directed some episodes.
   
4. Kenny Ortega and Miranda Garrison are cast members in the documentary,
   MOVE
   (2010).
   
5. Stacy Widelitz and Patrick Swayze co-wrote the song “Cliff’s Edge” for
   Road House
   (1989) and Patrick Swayze performed it. Stacy Widelitz worked on the theatrical production of
   Without A Word
   in 1984 with Patrick Swayze. Stacy Widelitz composed music for
   One Last
   Dance
   (2003), which was the movie adaptation of
   Without A Word
   .
   

1. Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi—writer, director, dancer, producer, actor—met at Patsy Swayze’s (mother) dance studio in 1971 and were married 1975–2009. In the movie,
   Grandview U. S. A.
   (1984), they both were choreographers and Patrick had a lead role. They starred together in the movie,
   Steel Dawn
   (1987). They collaborated together for the movie,
   One Last
   Dance
   (2003). Lisa was writer, producer, lead actor, and Patrick was producer, lead actor, financier. (Also,
   Without A Word
   , the 1984 stage production created and starred in by Patrick, Lisa, and Nicholas Gunn from which
   One Last Dance
   was based, won six LA Drama Critic Awards.) Patrick starred in the TV series
   The Beast
   (2009) and Lisa directed one of the episodes. Patrick and Lisa danced together at the World Music Awards in 1994 (which Patrick was hosting).
   
2. Kelly Bishop and Lee Leonard—TV talk show host and anchor—married in 1981.
   
3. Cynthia Rhodes and Richard Marx—singer, musician, writer, producer, arranger first met in connection with the movie,
   Staying Aliv
   e (1983) and married in 1989.
   
4. Jennifer Grey and Clark Greg—actor, screenwriter—married in 2001.