Baz Luhrman’s musical of his iconic film fares no better abroad than it did at home.

Baz Luhrman’s Strictly Ballroom: The Musical has opened in Leeds to a string of three-star reviews and more or less the same lukewarm reception it received in Australia in 2014.

Respected British musicals critic Mark Shenton described the production, playing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, as “energetic but clunky-looking” in a review for thestage.co.uk. “On one hand, it soars, simmers and shimmers,” he writes, “but Luhrmann’s story… is a bit of a dead weight.”

“The piece is undoubtedly high on schmaltz and camp,” wrote James Willstrop in a three-star review for What’sOnStage. “The story has the Hollywood formula underpinning it and whilst this didn’t hold the film back, the high emotional points are not as emphatic or profound on stage, nor the humour as biting.”

“The grand finale, a big lug of Vanda and Young’s Love is in the Air, is sickly with schmaltz… High camp gives way to low cheer,” complained Matt Trueman in Variety, while Claire Allfree praised Fernando Mira as Rico in a three-star review for The Telegraph, writing “his performance is steeped in passion, danger...