In the late seventies one film was so ground-breaking that it went on to define the whole era, the disco era. That film was, of course, Saturday Night Fever, and its soundtrack, filled with amazing disco classics and some of the Bee Gees greatest hits, sold over 22 million copies, was number one in the UK for 18 weeks and in America for over 2 years.
In 1998 the live stage show appeared at the London Palladium and, in an effort to make it a family-friendly show, many of the film’s darker elements, including racial conflict, drug use, domestic abuse and sexual assault were eliminated from the plot.
For the 2019 tour Director Bill Kenwright has reintroduced some of the grittier elements and, at the same time, reconstructed some of the show’s biggest songs so that Tragedy becomes a cry for help from a suicidal Bobbie C (Raphael Pace) and a rejected Annette (Anna Campkin) pours her heart out in If I Can’t Have You. As a direct consequence of these musical changes, the songs are given a context that has been missing in some previous productions.
Another plus is that the best known disco numbers from the film (and a few extras) all appear in this version and they give the stunningly handsome and charismatic Richard Winsor, who takes the iconic role of Tony Manero, a chance to show off some absolutely tremendous moves, although a “wardrobe malfunction” with the trousers of his white suit meant that, on the opening night in Crawley, he showed off a lot more than was originally intended!
The brilliant Bee Gees soundtrack also gives the audience a chance to enjoy Stephanie Mangano’s (Kate Parr) superbly balletic performance and the incredible latin american dance competition routine from Caesar and Maria (Javier Cid and Rhianne Alleyne).
In a moment of inspiration, a Bee Gees tribute band have been added to the production, giving the million selling soundtrack an air of authenticity and providing both narration and background to help the musical flow from start to finish. Edward Handoll, Alistair Hill and Matt Faull work hard to emulate the very individual sound of the Bee Gees and triumph in every number.
This production still stays faithful to the original film but, with the addition of the Bee Gees and the superb full company choreography by Bill Deamer, is much more of a musical than a drama. It does still have some dramatic moments, but the most famous and appealing thing about the film was always its thumping disco soundtrack and iconic dances and, with those taking centre stage, the musical is the perfect tribute to the time when disco was king.
**** Four Stars