Swooning over Swayze

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At last: Swayze makes his debut after delay due to illness

As long-awaited West End debuts go, it did not get off to a good start. Fans of Patrick Swayze have already been kept waiting for two weeks because of illness for their chance to see the Dirty Dancing star take the lead role in Guys And Dolls.

But when he finally took to the stage to do his stuff as Nathan Detroit, it was a catalogue of minor disasters.

First, power cuts caused havoc at the Piccadilly Theatre box office, leading to a 15-minute delay at the start of the show - and slow clapping from the audience.

Then the packed house had to sweat it out in sweltering temperatures because the air conditioning had been out of action for hours as a result of the power cuts.

Finally, an announcement was made that because of all the problems Swayze had not been able to do a final rehearsal with the full orchestra for the first time.

But did his adoring fans mind? Of course they didn't. They loved him - even if a throat and chest infection had left 53-year-old Swayze's voice weak and hoarse.

The moment he appeared he was greeted with wild cheering and screaming, and if he struggled to hit the high notes with co-star Claire Sweeney and failed to join in some choruses - well, nobody's perfect. Anyway, Swayze, a trained dancer, held his own with the routines.

Fiona Coats, 40, of Argyll, said: "He was absolutely brilliant-considering they hadn't even been able to do a final rehearsal." American tourists Annie Schmidt and Sarah Settle were overcome by the experience of finally seeing Swayze in the flesh.

Ms Schmidt, 21, said: "He was phenomenal. His singing was fine, but his dancing was really great."

Ms Settle, also 21, added: "I remember seeing Dirty Dancing when I was very young and it was absolutely amazing seeing him up close. I was not disappointed."-Jill Hars and her daughter Verity had travelled from Basildon. Verity, 21, said: "He was even better than I expected. Even after all this time he has got all the right moves."

Her mother added: "He was out of this world. He had that real star quality."

Ellen Cunningham, 18, of Lewes, said: "The chemistry between him and Claire was great. My mum and sister are totally in love with him."

But not everyone left the performance happy. Jo Smith, of Woking, had been waiting weeks for Swayze to turn up but fainted in the heat and missed the second half of the performance.

The 29-year-old said: "It was so hot in there and I just passed out. I really wanted to see him and I'm gutted. I guess I'll just have to come again."

 

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