Saturday Night Fever in Melbourne

Saturday Night Fever in Melbourne

StageArt Theatre is using quadruple threat performers for its February production of Saturday Night Fever the Musical at Chapel off Chapel. The cast are singing, dancing, acting and playing musical instruments. The Executive Producer Robbie Carmellotti told *David Spicer that Melbourne has so much talent he could have cast it twice over.

How is Saturday Night Fever relevant today?

Flare pants and disco-balls may have all but disappeared from our Melbourne dance floors but the core of Saturday Night Fever, its themes and characters remain relevant.

The music of the Bee Gees presents universal themes, whilst both the script and score of Saturday Night Fever demonstrate topics still facing generations today - love, aspiration, racism and youthful rebellion. At its heart, Saturday Night Fever is a coming-of-age tale about growing beyond given circumstances and finding your place.

Saturday Night Fever is set against a back-drop of post-war economic instability and political tension, as generational changes and increasingly harsh social divides push a distrust in the government. These themes recur over and over again in human history and are felt particularly acutely here in Australia. Ingrained in every element of this production is the suspicion and stigma cast between the Italians and Latinos, and the conflict that arises from this which again is eerily paralleled to the treatment of Muslim peoples in our current day and age.

Do you think people will be surprised to learn of the Australian connection to this quintessential New York musical?

Whilst the show is set in Brooklyn, this musical has its roots right here in Australia. The Bee Gees were raised in Queensland and the original producer of Saturday Night Fever, Robert Stigwood (who sadly passed away last month), was born in Adelaide. Stigwood also wrote the script that we are using in this production. StageArt’s production of Saturday Night Fever is dedicated to Robert Stigwood, and the Australian heritage of this work is something we are proud of.

What is different about the latest production?

Audiences who saw the last Australian tour or West End production will be surprised at how profoundly different our production is. With so many revivals of musicals on the mainstream stages, we pride ourselves in producing shows that have either never been seen in Australia before or approaching older productions in a completely new way. StageArt’s production of Saturday Night Fever is taking a deeper look at this work by really delving into the truth of Brooklyn in this era and the confronting issues our characters actually faced. Disco is obviously a huge element of the show but it’s been important for us to not gloss over the grit and heart of this work. There is an intrinsic contrast between the tough exterior of Brooklyn in 1979 and the bright lights of disco, which has been fascinating to explore.

Was it difficult finding quadruple threats to sing, dance, act and play an instrument?

Australia has ample talent and we were fortunate enough to have a wide selection of Melbourne’s elite performers. It was such a risk to produce this version of Saturday Night Fever, knowing we had to find a stellar cast of 22 actors, singers and dancers who could also play instruments. When you see our production you’ll also notice that most are multi-instrumentalists who pick up two or three different instruments during the show. The level of talent who came to audition for us was astounding and we could’ve cast the show twice over. This production is a testament to the diverse talent pool we have here in Melbourne.

Tell us how your cast is handling this?

The cast are fully embracing and immersing themselves in 1970’s disco and the world their characters live in. Some of the darker themes in this production have been quite confronting to some cast members and they have been incredibly brave. Their dedication is inspiring and they are totally committed to bringing the best possible production to the Chapel Off Chapel stage.

In the dancing department you have Luke – from the original 2005 West End production as choreographer. What insights has he been able to bring to the production?

We’ve been truly gifted with Luke’s prior experience with this show; his insight and intimate knowledge of Saturday Night Fever has been invaluable. Luke has approached this production with so much passion and energy that has transferred onto our cast. His choreography is so diverse, covering a range of styles and emotions. Audiences will be blown away by the dance element which is so important to telling this story.

What is our favourite Bee Gees song?

My favourite Bee Gees song would have to be “Tragedy”. When you listen to the Bee Gees recording it seems like a light, disco song but when you break down the lyrics and true intentions behind the song it’s surprisingly very sad. This is the truth that we have brought to the forefront when this song is performed in our show. Besides this, who could forget the STEPS late 90s cover with the brilliantly tacky choreography? Thankfully that will not be featured in our production.

Saturday Night Fever is on at Chapel off Chapel from February 11 until 28.

*David Spicer Productions manages the rights to the musical in Australia and New Zealand.

More Reading

Saturday Night Fever casting announcement

Musicals in 2016 and Beyond

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