Saturday Night Fever is currently being performed at Storyhouse in Chester. Storyhouse is a very modern, accessible and spacious building. I found the place, well organised and has various designated places to eat, drink or simply relax and read a book there. There was a lovely atmosphere as soon I entered, the staff were extremely helpful and enthusiastic about the place. Storyhouse is a theatre, cinema, library and community hub all within the same building. An ideal place to have Saturday Night Fever performing there.
Saturday Night Fever is produced by Bill Kenwright, by arrangement with The Robert Stigwood Organisation. Bill Kenwright also directed Saturday Night Fever with a great eye for detail and his enthusiasm was notably observered throughout the performance. The production values were enhanced incredibly for this production.
Saturday Night Fever is based on the New York Magazine article, “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", which was written by British writer, Nik Coln in 1976. This was later developed into a 1970’s classic Paramount/RSO movie, Saturday Night Fever, which became a worldwide success. A massive commercial success, the film significantly help to popularise disco music around the world. The stage adaption was written by Robert Stigwood in collaboration with Bill Oakes. The narrative of Saturday Night Fever stayed extremely true to the article and film, with a few alterations as the show was performed on the stage.
The leads of Saturday Night Fever, Tony Manero was played By Richard Winsor and Stephanie Mogano was played by Olivia Fines. The chemistry and dynamics between them in their roles was extremely strong and demonstrated a great deal of warmth, affection and empathy for their characters. Richard Winsor has a great stage presence about him, especially when he was on the dance floor, he owned the stage.
There was a huge ensemble of cast members involved in the show, including, Flo Manero (Melody E Jones), Frank Senior (Grant Neal), Frank Junior (Phil Mennell), Bobby C (Will Luckett), Double J (Brandon Gale), Gus (Owen Brighton), Annette (Natasha Firth), Joey (Ross Clinton), DJ Monty (Faizal Jaye), Connie (Jade Heusen), Jay (Brett Sheils), Maria (Sophie Sass), Shirley (Zoe Heighton), Chester (Fletcher Dobinson), Caesar (Robert Anthony), Doreen (Helen Gulston) and Fosco (Benjamin Harold). They all played their roles wonderfully and provided great support for the rest of the cast.
The Bees Gees, Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb were played respectively by Jake Byrom, James Kenneth Haughan and Danny Knott. I thought it was a great concept having the band perform songs of Saturday Night Fever during the performance adding a great new dynamic and edge to the show. The voices of all three guys were exceptional, their vocals were very strong and displayed so much emotion as they were singing the songs too.
Saturday Night Fever was about Tony Manero, a working-class man, who worked in a dead-end job in a small hardware store and spends his weekends drinking and dancing in his local Brooklyn discotheque, 2001 Odyssey. While in the disco, Tony is the champion of the dance floor and receives the admiration and respect he longs for. He has a very close circle of four friends, Joey, Double J, Bobby C and Gus, whom he socialises with on a daily basis. His friends and he spend weekends dancing at the disco, helping him escaped the harsh realities of his life; a dead-end job, clashes with his unsupportive and squabbling parents, racial tensions in the neighbourhood and restlessness.
Tony and his friends ritually clown around Verrazano - Narrows Bridge. The bridge has great significance for Tony to escape to a better life on the other side, in a more suburban Staten Island. He has a very strong bond with his friends, which was demonstrated incredibly well on the stage.
Tony agree to be Annette’s partner in an upcoming dance contest, but their partnership was soon short-lived, when Tony was mermised by another woman, Stephanie, whose dancing skills greatly excede Annettes’s. Initially, Stephanie rejected Tony’s advances, but she eventually agree to be his partner in the dancing competition, provided their partnership remained professional. This soon caused problems, when Tony wanted much more.
The main running themes in Saturday Nught Fever are the relationships between Tony and his family and friends, whilst racial tensions and suicide were subtly touched upon during the show as well.
The set design by Gary McCann was extremely effective as all the scenes were performed with very little disruption during the performance. The props and set fitted well into the 1970’s era. A great concept having the large mirror with the disco dance floor reflecting into the background, so the audience could see this. Attention to detail was taken in account with all the costumes, which again fitted into the 1970’s era. Tony’s iconic white suit was very good and looked the part too.
Well done to Bill Deamer for the fantastic cheorgraphy performed during the show. It can be really difficult to do this with having such a large cast, but was done so effective. The dance moves performed by all by the cast were extremely good and definitely had a disco feel to it.
The Lighting Designer, Nick Richings did a great job with incorporating moods and emotions throughout the performance. Having the large mirror lit with the disco dance floor was extremely effective and fitted extremely well with the setting of the show. Well done to the Sound Designer, Dan Samson, an excellent job ensuring the all dialogue could be heard, especially the vocals of the songs performed.
Having the guys playing the roles of The Bee Gees performing their songs worked incredibly well. The Bee Gees greatest hits, Staying’ Alive, How Deep Is Your Love, Tragedy, More Than A Woman and Immortality were all performed brilliantly. Boogie Shoes and Disco Inferno were also performed as they are classic disco songs as well.
Saturday Njght Fever is touring at other venues around the UK, which gives audiences up and down the country the opportunity to see the show. I would recommend you get your dancing shoes on and see this fantastic production, which will pull at your heart strings one minute and make you want to dance the next. A really enjoyable show, full of drama and emotion, plus it's packed with so many iconic songs from The Bee Gees. What are you waiting for...?
Reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 10/9/19
No comments:
Post a Comment