Saturday Night Fever at Broward Center

Saturday Night Fever at
Broward Center
By J. Canepa
The 1970’s disco craze reached its apex
when the film Saturday Night Fever hit
theaters, unleashing a disco obsession that
still lives on.
The Broadway Across America tour has
brought the new stage rendition of Saturday
Night Fever, which runs through March 17,
to Broward Center.
Original producer Robert Stigwood
wrote the new version over a nine year
period. No stranger to musicals, he also
worked on the film versions of Grease and
Evita.
Choreographer Arlene Phillips realized
how much dancing took control of the show.
Using a bold technique, she combined figure
skating styles, break dancing and
gymnastics to keep the actors sweating and
the audience on the edge of their seats.
A cast of 32 singers and dancers were
brought in to retell the story of a paint store
clerk who comes alive whenever he’s disco
dancing. The only change in the musical is
that it relies more on the main characters
and their love for dancing and leaves out a
lot of the drugs and violence, which were
portrayed in the film.
Tony Manero (Richard H. Blake) bored
with his dead end job, lives for the nightlife
when he tears up the floor at the Odyssey
2001 disco club. He’s also less than pleased
with dance partner Annette (Aileen Quinn)
and drops her for the better dancer he sees
in Stephanie Mangano (Jeanine Myers).
Tony finally breaks out of his daily rut,
away from his family traumas and into the
spotlight, deciding to dedicate his life to disco.
The audience gets to relive the ‘70’s
through the characters, the costumes and
that famous soundtrack.
The cast is well-seasoned. Blake has
played the role of Tony in the Broadway
production for over a year. He has starred
in other stage performances such as Rent,
The Sound of Music and Footloose.
Meyers is “thrilled” to still portray the
role of Stephanie after playing the part on
Broadway. She also starred in The Who’s
Tommy, Victor/Victoria and Anything Goes.
If the name Aileen Quinn sounds
familiar, it’s because she’s widely known
for her film role of Annie. Now she’s all
grown-up and plays the flighty Annette.
Though Barry, Robin and Maurice
Gibb have been making records since the
‘60’s, they are best-known for their
unforgettable songs featured in Saturday
Night Fever.
Staying Alive, Night Fever and You
Should Be Dancing are all still part of the
score, but this time the songs can be
experienced live. The stage show features
two new songs, Immortality and Its My
Neighborhood, written especially for the
production by the Bee Gees and performed
by the cast.
Maurice Gibb believes Saturday
Night Fever is a show for everyone.
“People have gone back to the fun things
of the 1970’s,” he says. “The ones who
didn’t live it then are living it now.”
Staurday Night Fever runs at the
Broward Center for the Performing Arts
through March 17. For ticket information
call 954.462.0222.
$69
40
www.ExpressGayNews.com February 25th, 2002