The Cast of Saturday Night Fever – Photo Credit Paul Coltas
Saturday Night Fever (UK tour), Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
Nothing epitomises the disco era more than Saturday Night Fever. Released in 1977 the film was a critical and commercial success. It made its star John Travolta a household name, and the hit-laden album by the Bee Gees is one of the best selling soundtracks of all time.
This stage version is a brand new production and fans of the film and the music will not be disappointed. This production is as slick as the dance moves, and it keeps the action moving with some scenes that are changed just for a minute or so.
The story follows the young Italian-American Tony Manero – played here by Jack Wilcox who makes a wonderful leading man with all the charm and swag that Travolta provided. He commands every scene. Tony lives for the weekend and lives to dance, and boy can he move! His leading lady is Rebekah Bryant who gives a dazzling performance as Stephanie, who he eyes up as a potential dance partner. This film was billed as a “dance drama” and that’s what we also get here. There’s some gritty stuff in the storyline, with some themes reminiscent of West Side Story. The ensemble cast are fantastic – especially Billie Hardy as the luckless Annette, and Harry Goodson-Bevan as the tormented Bobby C.
The big star of the show however is the music – which sounds fantastic. We even have the Bee Gees (AJ Jenks, Oliver, Thompson, and Drew Ferry) singing throughout which was a lovely touch and they sounded amazing!
The dancing and choreography is outstanding and makes you want to bust a few moves of your own! Which was probably why by the end the entire audience were on their feet.
Five stars. It’s a disco inferno!
