Sydney beats NY, London for ‘Strictly’ premiere

SYDNEY – Sydney scored a major coup Monday by securing the theatre premiere of Australian film “Strictly Ballroom” ahead of New York and London.

New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell said Baz Lurhmann, director of the smash hit 1992 film, had chosen the harbour city for the musical’s debut run.

“Producers in London and New York have been pursuing the rights for “Strictly Ballroom” for many years,” O’Farrell said.

“It is a major theatrical coup that Sydney has secured the premiere ahead of Broadway and the West End.”

The film was the surprise hit of the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Prix de le Jeunesse, and went on to earn global acclaim.

It is credited with being partially responsible for the hugely successful television phenomena “Strictly Come Dancing” in Britain and “Dancing with the Stars”, the second most-watched programme in the United States.

Lurhmann, who is currently directing Leonardo DiCaprio in a re-make of “The Great Gatsby”, said “Strictly Ballroom” had originally been devised in Sydney and it was a natural choice for the premiere.

“Of all my shows, “Strictly Ballroom” is the most personal,” he said.

“It’s a simple show, with a simple truth, and a simple heart, that seems to have grown and grown and now completes the circle of its journey, returning to the city where it all began, Sydney.”

The show will open at the Lyric Theatre in September 2013.