Saturday Night Fever

Hit musicals are everywhere these days. None however, have quite made me tap my foot, do the knee twist and put on my, my, my, my, my boogie shoes. Until now. Writer Robert Stigwood’s fresh adaptation of Saturday Night Fever definitely has disco music stayin’ alive.

Being showcased in the iconic Chapel off Chapel Theatre, what the stage lacks in grandeur it makes up for in the ultimate in intimacy. So close you can see the sweat dripping off the small but utterly talented cast of triple-threat performers.

Unbelievably powerful voices, passionately trained dancers and they can act! Something to make everyone jealous!

The original 1998 musical brought new life to the 1977 film, giving the Bee Gees dominated soundtrack to its characters.

It is 1979 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and the storyline follows Tony Manero’s struggles with his love for dancing at the local discotheque and being a satin-shirt-wearing, typical 19 year old male in the ’70s.

Most of which is through song and dance of course – otherwise it wouldn’t be a musical.  However, the dialogue is just enough to balance the show and explain the meaning behind the story to the audience.

It was easy to think that this would be a fun night out filled with Bee Gees hits, finger pointing and plenty of thrusting. However, this show explores many darker topics very well, such as rape, abortion, suicide and religion, all during a time where racism was rife, the streets were dangerous and the youth were rebelling.

Although there were darker scenes, the unison of the whole cast made the performance multi-dimensional. Led by Sheridan Anderson as Stephanie, Elise Brennan as Annette, and the booty-shaking, utterly incredible Mike Snell as Tony, the cast fills every move and song with dramatics, oozing with confidence, passion and energy.

Put on your dancing shoes and strap in for some disco classics with a fresh new feel Melbourne. Saturday Night Fever is only running for two weeks.

Production images courtesy of Belinda Strodder Photography.

Saturday Night Fever
Chapel off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran
Thursday February 11 – Sunday February 28; Tuesday – Sunday, 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday, 1:30pm matinee
chapeloffchapel.com.au/melbourne-comedy-theatre-art/melbourne-events/saturday-night-fever-feb-11-28