We are ten minutes in to the Strictly Ballroom musical at The Lowry and the plug is pulled. Fans of the cult Baz Luhrmann movie will know that a similar thing happens at the finale of dancefloor romance at the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix - although we weren't exactly expecting it to occur for real when we'd barely nestled into our seats in Salford.
The cast walk silently from the stage, and the audience are left in darkness, then full light, then lights up and down, as producers work behind the scenes to seemingly tackle gremlins in the system. After a 14 minute stoppage we are back into the action - showing dazzling and headstrong young dancer Scott Hastings aiming to do things HIS way, to the dismay of his dance teacher mum Shirley and her dance partner Les.
The technical problems make it a strange start to a production that you kind of expect to come at you full razzle dazzle. But then it never quite kicks into fifth gear on opening night at The Lowry for me.
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It is also hampered by a not insignificant FIVE cast changes at the Tuesday evening performance. I'm afraid, despite the best efforts of the understudies, it did really disrupt the flow of the show for me - things just felt at odds.
Thankfully, the leading man and woman in the show are in simply sparkling form at the heart of what remains a feelgood musical.
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton takes on a role he seems born to play as passionate dancer Scott Hastings, and former Coronation Street star Faye Brookes is in stellar form as the shy dance beginner Fran with big ambitions.
She makes the role totally her own with a brilliant awkward humour at the start of the drama, allowing Fran's own progression as a dancer and as a woman to gracefully emerge to its spectacular conclusion on the stage. Her vocals are simply stunning throughout - as are Kevin's when they playfully duet together.
Fans of the 1992 film will love hearing so many of the movie's iconic lines on stage - and many of the songs that famously soundtracked it are brought to new life in this musical version like the classic Love Is In the Air and Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps.
One of the film's most memorable scenes - when Scott meets Fran's passionate Spanish family - is also one of the big highlights of the musical too.
That's largely down to the extraordinary performance of Jose Agudo as Rico who well and truly brings the goosebumps with his fiery and fierce flamenco. He exacts the perfect Paso Doble riposte to cheeky young upstart Scott.
Naturally, it all builds to the sequin-encrusted and feather-festooned ballroom finale at the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix.
Scott and Fran's flamenco is everything you could possibly want to see on stage and ensures the night ends on a perfect ten - if at times the show overall was perhaps lingering more around a 7.
Strictly Ballroom is at The Lowry theatre until Saturday, July 1
