If Gene Kelly had ever choreographed a Greek myth, it would probably have looked a lot like this. Scottish Ballet's Starstruck lands at the Theatre Royal Glasgow this week in a newly expanded two-act form — a glittering, jazz-soaked love letter to Hollywood's golden age that swaps backlots for Mount Olympus and gets away with it.

The production, running from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 April, is Artistic Director Christopher Hampson's biggest reworking yet of the company's 2021 hit. Think of it, as the marketing copy cheerfully puts it, as the director's cut.

From Paris Opéra to Hope Street

At the heart of Starstruck is a piece of dance history most audiences have never seen. In 1960, Gene Kelly — already a screen icon — was invited to create an original ballet for the Paris Opéra. The result, Pas de Dieux, was hailed at the time as "a breath of fresh air" before slipping into near obscurity.

Hampson, working in close collaboration with Kelly's widow Patricia Ward Kelly, has built a full two-act production around that jazzy core. The new Starstruck keeps Kelly's original choreography intact and wraps it inside a backstage love story: a Star Ballerina and a Choreographer whose romantic push-and-pull mirrors the mythological tug-of-war between Aphrodite and Zeus in the ballet they are rehearsing.

It is, in other words, a show about making a show — with gods, a French beach, and a lifeguard thrown in for good measure.

A designer's playground

Visually, Starstruck is unapologetically lush. Designer Lez Brotherston OBE, a long-time Scottish Ballet collaborator whose credits include The Snow Queen and The Secret Theatre, draws on the original André François set and costume designs from the 1960 Paris production — all sherbet colours, sharp silhouettes and Jazz Age swagger — then pushes them somewhere more contemporary. Expect sequins, expect tailoring, expect a chorus line that would not look out of place on an MGM soundstage.

The music is every bit as bold. Gershwin's Concerto in F anchors the score, joined by Ravel, all played live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra. There is a real pleasure in hearing that Jazz Age sound in a Victorian auditorium — a reminder that the Theatre Royal, which has survived two fires since it opened in 1867, was built for exactly this kind of spectacle.

Why this one stands out

Scottish Ballet's season has not been short on ambition, but Starstruck is the clear crowd-pleaser: short enough for a school night (one hour forty, including interval), warm enough for a first date, and smart enough for dance obsessives who want to see Kelly's rarely-performed Paris work in the flesh.

The 2021 version won Best Dance Film at the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards in its screen incarnation. This new stage cut promises more of everything — more story, more dancing, more Gershwin.

A special note for Friday night ticket-holders: after the 17 April performance there will be a post-show talk with Christopher Hampson and Patricia Ward Kelly, digging into how Kelly's Hollywood sensibility translates to contemporary ballet.

Book it

Venue: Theatre Royal Glasgow, 282 Hope Street, G2 3QA
Dates: Thursday 16 – Saturday 18 April 2026
Times: Thu/Fri/Sat at 7.30pm; Saturday matinee at 2.30pm
Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes including interval
Tickets: £15–£105 via atgtickets.com or scottishballet.co.uk

If you miss it in Glasgow, the tour heads to Inverness on 24–25 April. Either way, wear something you can clap loudly in.