Saturday Night Fever | |
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Music | Bee Gees and other artists |
Lyrics | Bee Gees and other artists |
Book | Nan Knighton Arlene Phillips Paul Nicholas Robert Stigwood |
Basis | Saturday Night Fever by Norman Wexler |
Productions | 1998 West End 1999 Broadway 2004 West End Multiple touring productions Multiple international productions |
Saturday Night Fever is a 1998 jukebox musical based on the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever . Its book is by Nan Knighton (in collaboration with Arlene Phillips, Paul Nicholas, and Robert Stigwood), and the songs mostly consist of songs that were featured in the film's soundtrack, which in turn were mostly written and performed by the Bee Gees.
The musical focuses on Tony Manero, an Italian-American Brooklyn youth whose weekend is spent at the local discotheque. There he luxuriates in the admiration of the crowd and a growing relationship with Stephanie Mangano, and can temporarily forget the realities of his life, including a dead-end job in a paint store and his gang of deadbeat friends. In an effort to make it a family-friendly show, many of the film's darker elements, including references to racial conflict, drug use, and violence, were eliminated from the plot.
Directed and choreographed by Phillips, the £4 million stage adaptation premiered in the West End on 5 May 1998 at the London Palladium, and closed on 26 February 2000. [1] The original cast included Adam Garcia as Tony and Anita Louise Combe as Stephanie. Laurence Olivier Award nominations went to Garcia for Best Actor in a Musical, Phillips for Best Theatre Choreographer, and the production for Best New Musical . A cast album was released by Polydor Records.
After twenty-seven previews, the Broadway production, with Phillips directing, opened on 21 October 1999 at the Minskoff Theatre, where it ran for 501 performances. The cast included James Carpinello as Tony and Paige Price as Stephanie, with Orfeh as Annette, Paul Castree as Bobby C., and Bryan Batt as DJ Monty.
The first UK tour production ran from 11 November 2000 to 29 September 2001, with Ben Richards as Tony Manero.[ citation needed ]
In 2003 a second UK touring production ran from 1 March 2003 to 19 June 2004. The tour was a different version to the previous productions including some major revival changes. In the place of "More than a Woman (1)" the song "Words" was put into the show. This song was performed by Tony and Stephanie. The cast included Stephane Anelli as Tony and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as Stephanie.[ citation needed ]
The Third UK tour began on 12 September 2005, while the show was also playing on the West End. The tour ran until 5 August 2006.
On 9 March 2018, Producer Bill Kenwright announced a new production of the musical, which opened on 30 August 2018 at the New Wimbledon Theatre, and subsequently toured. [2]
The Bill Kenwright production returned in 2022 with a limited engagement at the Peacock Theatre in London from February 4 to March 26, 2022, starring Richard Winsor as Tony Manero. [3] Following the Peacock Theatre run, another UK tour began on September 5, 2022 at Milton Keynes Theatre and closed on November 26, 2022 at The Alexandra, Birmingham [4]
A London revival ran from 6 July 2004 to 16 February 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, prior to a lengthy UK tour. . The cast included Stephane Anelli as Tony and Zoe Ebsworth as Stephanie, with Kym Marsh as Annette and Shaun Williamson as DJ Monty.
An Argentinian production opened at El Nacional, Buenos Aires, on 4 April 2001 and closed on 28 July 2001. The cast included Darío Petruzio as Tony Manero, Silvia Luchetti as Stephanie, Elena Roger as Annette, Héctor Pilatti as Monty and Charlie G. as Bobby C.[ citation needed ]
Producer Joop van den Ende's Stage Entertainment company opened a Dutch production at the Beatrix Theater, Utrecht, on 17 June 2001. It closed on 23 February 2003. The cast included Joost de Jong as Tony Manero, Chantal Janzen as Stephanie, and various TV personalities as DJ Monty, one of them was Carlo Boszhard.[ citation needed ]
From 27 March 2003 to 28 September 2003 the show ran at Teatro Pedregal, Mexico City with Mauricio Martínez as Tony Manero, Lisset as Stephanie, Gisela Sehedi as Annette, Jaime Rojas as Monty and Eduardo Partida as Bobby C.[ citation needed ]
In January 2007 the show opened at the National Theatre of Korea, Seoul, South Korea where it stayed for 10 weeks before embarking on a short tour of Asia, playing in Daegu Opera House, Daegu, South Korea and the Taipei International Convention Centre, Taipei, Taiwan.[ citation needed ]
A Spanish production opened at Teatro Coliseum, Madrid on 19 February 2009 and closed on 30 August 2009. Produced by Stage Entertainment, the cast included Juan Pablo Di Pace as Tony Manero. On 6 December 2009 the Spanish production started a national tour and ran until 30 May 2010. [5] Although a complete cast album was never released, five songs were recorded in Spanish for promotional purposes: Stayin' Alive, Disco Inferno, Night Fever, Inmortality and How Deep Is Your Love. [6]
In April 2011 it debuted on Royal Caribbean's cruise ship Liberty of the Seas. Produced by Royal Caribbean Productions in association with Robert Stigwood. It plays twice a week. Choreographers include Spencer Liff, Diego Orengo, and Doriana Sanchez. Music direction by Phil Edwards. Directed By Loren Van Brenk.
A production ran at the South African State Theatre in Pretoria from 16 September – 9 October 2016. [7]
The Gordon Frost Organisation produced a revival of the musical at Sydney's Lyric Theatre in March 2019. [8] [9]
Character | Description |
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Tony Manero | A 19-year-old ladies' man living in the 1970s. His passion is dancing on a Saturday night down at the local dance club. He finds himself caught up in a love triangle. His ex-girlfriend Annette is madly in love with him, but he has eyes for a new girl Stephanie Mangano. Stephanie likes Tony back, and after an incident following the dance contest, she goes off him. |
Stephanie Mangano | A 20-year-old office worker from Manhattan. Stephanie classes herself as a refined citizen and convinces Tony she is a "snotty bitch", however she is the complete opposite. Stephanie meets Tony at the dance club and after agreeing to be his dance partner in the dance contest, falls in love with him. After he tries to rape her, she runs away crying. She feels sorry for Tony after his best friend dies and goes to talk to him. |
Annette | A sex-crazed girl. Annette is obsessed with Tony and even though she loves him, only wants to use him for one thing. |
Bobby C | A troubled youth. Bobby's life gets turned upside down when he gets his girlfriend Pauline pregnant. He ends up having a breakdown after his friends ignore his call for help. He dies after falling off the Manhattan bridge. |
Monty | DJ at the Odysey 2001 Dance Studio. |
Gus | A friend of Tony Manero's. After getting beaten up by a gang, he tells his friends it was their rival group, but they later discover he had made it up. |
Double J | A friend of Tony Manero's |
Frank Manero | Unemployed Father of Tony |
Flo Manero | Tony's very religious mother |
Frank Manero, Jr. | Tony's priest brother. After leaving the church and returning home, Tony takes him clubbing, their mother Flo flips on both of them. |
Linda Manero | Tony's little sister. |
Maria | A Spanish dancer at the Odyssey 2001 |
Cesar | A Spanish dancer at the Odyssey 2001 |
Doreen | A shy geeky teenager at the Odyssey 2001. She has an obsession with Tony and is fixated by watching him dance. |
Mr Fusco | Tony's boss at the paint store. |
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All songs were originally written and performed by the Bee Gees except where otherwise noted.
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and disillusionment in his working class ethnic neighborhood in Brooklyn. The story is based on "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night", a mostly fictional 1976 article by music writer Nik Cohn.
The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Saturday Night Fever is the soundtrack album from the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta. The soundtrack was released on November 15, 1977 by RSO Records. Prior to the release of Thriller by Michael Jackson, Saturday Night Fever was the best-selling album in music history, and still ranks among the best-selling soundtrack albums worldwide, with sales figures of over 40 million copies.
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Robert Colin Stigwood was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, and film productions including Grease and Saturday Night Fever. On his death, one obituary judged that he had been for a time the most powerful tycoon in the entertainment industry: "Stigwood owned the record label that issued his artists’ albums and film soundtracks, and he also controlled publishing rights – not since Hollywood's golden days had so much power and wealth been concentrated in the hands of one mogul."
William Kenwright, CBE was an English theatre and film producer. He was also the chairman of Everton Football Club for nearly two decades, from 2004 until his death in 2023.
Adam Garcia is an Australian stage, television, and film actor who is best known for lead roles in musicals such as Saturday Night Fever and Kiss Me, Kate. He is also a trained tap dancer and singer. Garcia has been nominated twice at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1999 and 2013.
Spamalot is a stage musical with score by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, with lyrics and book by Idle. Based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the musical offers a highly irreverent parody of Arthurian legend, with the title being a portmanteau of Spam and Camelot.
Staying Alive is a 1983 American dance drama film and the sequel to Saturday Night Fever (1977). The film was directed by Sylvester Stallone, who co-produced and co-wrote the film with original Fever producer Robert Stigwood, and writer Norman Wexler. Staying Alive stars John Travolta, reprising his Saturday Night Fever role as Tony Manero, with Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, Joyce Hyser, Julie Bovasso, Viktor Manoel and Kevyn Morrow.
"Night Fever" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees. It first appeared on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever on RSO Records. Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film Saturday Night, but singer Robin Gibb expressed hesitation at the title. Stigwood liked the title Night Fever but was wary of marketing a movie with that name. The song bounded up the Billboard charts while the Bee Gees’ two previous hits from Saturday Night Fever soundtrack were still in the top ten. The record debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at #76, then leaped up 44 positions to #32. It then moved: 32–17–8–5–2–1. It remained at #1 for eight weeks, and ultimately spent 13 weeks in the top 10. For the first five weeks that "Night Fever" was at #1, "Stayin' Alive" was at #2. Also, for one week in March, Bee Gees related songs held five of the top positions on the Hot 100 chart, and four of the top five positions, with "Night Fever" at the top of the list. The B-side of "Night Fever" was a live version of "Down the Road" taken from the Bee Gees 1977 album, Here at Last... Bee Gees... Live.
Paul Nicholas is an English actor and singer, best known for his work in the 1983 BBC sitcom Just Good Friends. The show won a BAFTA and Nicholas was nominated for best comedy performance.
James Anthony Carpinello is an American actor who came to national attention with his appearances in Tori Spelling's VH1 sitcom So Notorious. He also portrayed Stacee Jaxx in the Broadway production of the musical Rock of Ages.
"If I Can't Have You" is a disco song written by the Bee Gees in 1977. The song initially appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in a version by Yvonne Elliman, released in November 1977. The Bee Gees' own version appeared a month later as the B-side of "Stayin' Alive".
Andy Karl is an American actor and singer. He is best known for performing in musical theatre specifically musicals adapted from successful movies. He has received several accolades including a Laurence Olivier Award and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. He is also known for playing Sgt. Mike Dodds on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2015 to 2016.
Thelma Holt is a British theatre producer and former actress.
Richard H. Blake is an American actor and singer best known for his work in musical theatre.
Dreamboats and Petticoats is a jukebox musical based on popular songs from the fifties and early sixties. The musical, featuring those songs of the rock 'n' roll era, is set around the years 1957 to 1963 and was written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.
Anita Louise Combe is an Australian actress, singer, dancer who has worked extensively in the entertainment industry all around the world. Combe attended the Gwen Mackay School of Dancing and trained in the Cechetti method of ballet with Jennifer Pollard in Adelaide, South Australia before making her first professional appearance on stage as Sillabub in the Australian Premiere Production of Cats at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. She is one of the few people in the world to date who has played both roles of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly in the production of Chicago in the West End. Anita created the role of Stephanie Mangano in the World Premiere Production of Saturday Night Fever opposite fellow Australian, Adam Garcia and produced by Adelaide born, Robert Stigwood.
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