Nobody puts the Ipswich Regent in the corner. This year’s barely started but the theatre already has two major shows booked for 2017 including Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage.

Ipswich Star: Lord of the Dance Dangerous GamesLord of the Dance Dangerous Games (Image: Archant)

Nobody puts the Ipswich Regent in the corner. This year has barely started but the theatre already has two major shows booked for 2017 including Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage.

First at the St Helen’s Street venue is Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games which runs from February 6 to 9.

Fresh from successful runs in the West End, Broadway, Europe and beyond it’s a blend of dance and music fusing the traditional with the contemporary. Choreographed and directed by Flatley, it stars his protégés James Keegan, Morgan Comer and Matthew Smith in the role of the Lord of the Dance.

“I’m blown away by the remarkable talent and abilities of the great cast we’ve gathered and delighted to return to the UK where we started out 20 years ago,” says Flatley, whose performance at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest thrust Irish dance into the global spotlight.

Dangerous Games features new staging, cutting edge technology, new costumes and choreography, world champion acrobats, 40 of the world’s most outstanding young performers and new music by composer Gerard Fahy. Tickets go on sale from 9am this Thursday.

Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage runs at the Ipswich Regent from March 20 to 25. It is one of 12 new dates added to the UK and Ireland tour of producers Karl Sydow and Paul Elliott’s new take on the low-budget 1987 film, which went on to make more than $200million at the box office. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey it was the first movie to sell a million videos, also resulting in a number one single and album sales of 42m worldwide.

For those not familiar with the story, in the summer of 1963 17-year-old Frances “Baby” Houseman heads to Kellerman’s resort in New York’s Catskill Mountains with her older sister and parents. Stumbling across an all-night dance party at the staff quarters, her life changes when she meets dance instructor Johnny Castle.

Featuring hit songs like Hungry Eyes and (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, it originally opened at London’s Aldwych Theatre in 2006 with a record-breaking advance of £15m, making it the fastest-ever selling show in West End theatre history.

It became the longest running show in the theatre’s history, playing to more than two million people during its five-year run.

Recent sell-out tours include France, Germany, Italy and Australia.

Written by Eleanor Bergstein, scriptwriter of the 1987 film, the show includes all your favourite characters plus some new scenes. Casting will be announced in the spring but tickets are on sale now.

Councillor Bryony Rudkin, Ipswich Borough Council’s culture and leisure portfolio-holder, said: “These are both fabulous shows and continue our determination to bring the best to Ipswich. We have Annie, CATS and Sister Act this year, which will all attract theatre-goers from all over the region. You do not have to go to London to see top shows – the Regent Theatre has it all.”