New Yorkers are in for a razz-ma-tazz treat when the musical “Dirty Dancing” comes to Broadway next year.

The stage version of the classic film is currently doing its pre-Broadway run at the Cadillac Theater in downtown Chicago through Jan. 17, and then it’s on to the Big Apple. The show, which originated in London and then went on to Toronto, is making its United States premiere in Chicago.

Those of us who saw it recently were standing and cheering in the aisles by the final number. What a cast! And what clever special effects that had us wondering how they ever managed to change a rainstorm to a golf course to a bedroom to a sunset to a summer resort to an ocean with people actually swimming in it.

Cast members walked across bridges that suddenly appeared and then disappeared on stage; they drove across the stage in an old car that suddenly became a bed. And, during a storm sequence, a tree fell down across the stage and the dancers balanced their way across it.

A golfer in the clubhouse scene teed up and shot the ball right into the audience (which was protected by an almost invisible screen).

As you’d expect, this musical, billed as “Dirty Dancing — The Classic Story on Stage,” has about the wildest, sexiest dancing most of us had ever seen in any musical production in memory.

A London reviewer wrote: “The biggest live theater sensation of all time.”

The plot, if you remember the film, involves a summer romance between a talented and headstrong dancer from the wrong side of the tracks and a doctor’s daughter who is vacationing at a summer resort with her parents and sister.

When Johnny Castle, who has taken a job as dance partner for vacationers at the resort, meets Frances “Baby” Houseman, there’s the predictable dynamite.

Playing Johnny is Josef Brown, who had the role in London’s West End and Australia. He’s danced with the Sydney Dance Company, the Australian Ballet and a dance group in Turkey, and filmed a documentary for ABC-TV in Palestine. No wonder he’s so perfect for the part.

“Baby” is played by Amanda Leigh Cobb, who’s done “The Country Girl” and “The Coast of Utopia” on Broadway. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, her credits range from Shakespearean performances to roles in “The Front Page” and “The Corn is Green.”

There’s a terrific blonde dancer in the show who debuted in the role of “Penny” in the North American version of “Dirty Dancing” in Toronto. No wonder Britta Lazenga is so good; she danced leading roles for the seven years she was with the Joffrey Ballet. She’ll knock ’em dead on Broadway.

I counted 39 in the cast, and many of them have Broadway credits on their resumes. One also was with the Royal Danish Ballet, another performed and taught in South Korea, others were in the original casts of such shows as “Mamma Mia” and London’s “Movin’ Out” and “We Will Rock You.”

Among the songs: “The Time of My Life,” “Hey Baby,” “Hungry Eyes” and “Do You Love Me?”

Culture at noon

Over at the Chicago Cultural Center before the “Dirty Dancing” matinee, I took in one of their 12:15-1 p.m. free Wednesday Lunchbreak performances under the newly renovated Tiffany domed ceiling. Wow!

The featured soprano was Hyunah Yu from South Korea, who’d made her New York City debut four years ago at Carnegie Hall and sang the title role in Peter Sellars’ new production of “Zaide.” Her performance of Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann arias was accompanied by pianist Alon Goldstein.

Between sets, the good-looking young Goldstien had the audience absolutely cheering when he played Johannes Brahms’ “Scherzo for Piano in e-Flat Minor, Op. 4.” The program notes say he’s performed throughout this country, Europe and Israel and has soloed with major symphonies in this country and Canada. One of the best free concerts I’ve seen at the Center.

Shirley Davis can be contacted at (563) 383-2281 or sdavis@qctimes.com. Comment on this column at qctimes.com.