A musical version of the cult hit film Dirty Dancing shimmies across the stage in London on Tuesday for its official West End premiere.

More than 240,000 tickets have been sold for the British production, which has taken in £11 million (about $23 million) in advance ticket sales, making it one of the fastest-selling shows in West End history.

Actors Georgina Rich as Baby and Josef Brown as Johnny take a photo call for the new musical Dirty Dancing in London on Monday.
(Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press)

The production is based on the Hollywood film starring Jennifer Gray as Frances (Baby) Houseman, a smart but plain young woman who falls in love with angry young professional dancer Johnny Castle (portrayed by Patrick Swayze) while on a family vacation at an upscale New York state resort in the early 1960s.

Acclaimed stage and screen actor Jerry Orbach also starred as Baby's disapproving father.

Eleanor Bergstein, who wrote the screenplay for the film, adapted her script for the stage production.

In the London show, Josef Brown — a former dancer with the Australian Ballet — reprises the role of Castle, whom he first portrayed in 2004 in an earlier Australian production. Newcomer Georgina Rich stars as Baby.

The original 1987 film was a box office success and became a further hit after its release on video.

The film's soundtrack of period tunes and newer material also topped the charts, with the theme song (I've Had) The Time of My Life — which plays during the film's climatic dance finale and is also included in the stage version — eventually winning an Oscar.

Though definitely not a cinematic masterpiece, the Pygmalion-inspired film's "guilty pleasure" quality has endured over the years.

Dirty Dancing: The Musical is playing at the London's Aldwych Theatre.