Saturday Night Fever (Musical)
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Saturday Night Fever |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Bee Gees |
| Book: | Nan Knighton , Arlene Phillips , Paul Nicholas , Robert Stigwood |
| Lyrics: | Bee Gees |
| Premiere: | May 5, 1998 |
| Place of premiere: | London Palladium , London (UK) |
| Place and time of the action: | New York City (Brooklyn and Manhattan) in 1976 |
| Roles / people | |
|
|
Saturday Night Fever is a musical based on the 1977 dance film Saturday Night Fever (starring John Travolta ) and the music of the Bee Gees . It tells the story of 19-year-old Tony Manero, who wants to escape from Brooklyn in New York and dreams of a better life with a beautiful girl. As a fanatic disco king, he lives out his longings on Saturday nights on the dance floor.
overview
The musical premiered in London on May 5, 1998 at the London Palladium , and the Broadway premiere was on October 21, 1999 at the Minskoff Theater in New York .
The German premiere of the musical took place before New York: on September 11, 1999, the German premiere began in the Musical Dome in Cologne and played until June 30, 2002. In these three years, over a million visitors saw the stage version in Cologne .
With the well-known Bee Gees songs like Stayin 'Alive , Night Fever and How Deep Is Your Love , 47 musical performers, together with the 18-piece orchestra, transformed musical theater into New York in the 1970s. Michael Rouse as "Tony Manero" and Karin Seyfried as "Stephanie Mangano" initially took over the leading roles. The German production was presented by the British original producer Robert Stigwood together with the German producers Thomas Krauth and Michael Brenner .
The fact that the German-language premiere took place before the Broadway premiere is a specialty within the musical landscape. In this case there was the following reason: The German producers Thomas Krauth and Michael Brenner were already co-producers at the premiere of Saturday Night Fever in London. Therefore, they managed to win the original British producer Robert Stigwood - who had also produced the film Saturday Night Fever , which made John Travolta world famous - for the German musical version. In this way, Saturday Night Fever celebrated its premiere in Cologne before New York.
After the three-year season in Cologne, the production made a guest appearance in 2004 as an award-winning new production for several months each in Munich ( Circus Krone ) and in Basel (musical theater). (Director: Alex Balga , Choreography: Arlene Phillips)
In 2005 and 2006, Saturday Night Fever went on tour as a new production and played in numerous cities, including Düsseldorf , Bremen , Leipzig , Vienna and Frankfurt .
action
1976: Tony Manero, a young Italian-American, works in a paint shop in the New York suburb of Brooklyn. To escape his dreary day-to-day work, he spends every Saturday evening in the "2001 Odyssey" disco. The 19-year-old dreams of leaving Brooklyn and wants a better life with a beautiful girl. For the time being, however, he can only live out his longings on the dance floor - as the acclaimed disco king. Tony sees his big chance in the dance competition of the "2001 Odyssey". But before he can be celebrated on the winner's podium, he still has to convince his adored dream woman to venture out with him ...
first act
19-year-old Tony Manero works in Mr. Fusco's paint business in Brooklyn. He lives into the day and only waits for Saturday nights when he goes to his 2001 Odyssey disco to dance and meet up with friends. The petty bourgeoisie of his strict Catholic home depresses him and there are constant arguments.
When he meets again with his friends Joey, Double J, Gus and Bobby C in the disco, he agrees to take part with Annette in the annual, big Universal Disco Dance competition. That evening he saw Stephanie Mangano for the first time on the dance floor and fell in love with her.
While training with Annette, Tony meets Stephanie again, who has just moved to Manhattan and has thus achieved social advancement in his eyes. He just wants to take part in the dance competition with her. When Bobby C's girlfriend becomes pregnant by him, Bobby C feels overwhelmed and seeks advice from his friends. However, they are annoyed by him and do not really listen to him. Bobby C is desperate and feels left alone.
Second act
Tony wants to help Stephanie move to Manhattan, so he asks his boss for a day off. When the latter refuses, Tony quits his job. Tony and Stephanie win the dance competition, but Tony feels like another couple danced better and didn't win because of their Puerto Rican descent. Thereupon he hands the two of them the trophy and the prize money, whereupon an argument with Stephanie arises.
Later that night, despite a thunderstorm, he and his friends still do gymnastics on a bridge. Bobby C wants to prove to the others that he is not a coward and climbs higher and higher on one of the steel ropes. He falls to his death.
The morning after, the sad and disaffected Tony meets Stephanie again and tells her that he wants to move to Manhattan too. Both promise to remain good friends from now on.
Song title as an aid to interpretation
Tony and Stephanie's claim that they wanted to remain good friends is challenged by the fact that they ended up singing How Deep Is Your Love? , a clear declaration of love, sing together. You can also interpret the phrase: “Life's going nowhere, somebody help me” from Stayin 'Alive as a cry for help from the disoriented (Tonys and Bobby C's).
This procedure is countered by the assertion of a music critic that the music titles have no close content-related relationship to the plot of the musical.
Music track
first act
- overture
- Stayin 'Alive
- Boogie Shoes
- Disco Inferno
- Night fever
- Disco Duck
- More Than a Woman
- If I Can't Have You
- It's My Neighborhood
- You should be dancing
Second act
- Jive talkin '
- First and Last
- Tragedy
- What Kind of Fool
- Nights on Broadway
- Night Fever (recapitulation)
- Open sesame
- More Than a Woman
- Salsation
- Immortality
- How Deep Is Your Love
- final
In later productions, the order of the titles was partially changed or new titles were added. But the basic structure of the original production, which could be seen in London, New York and Cologne, always remained the same.
Awards
- Saturday Night Fever has won several awards. In 2000, for example, the German first performance in the Cologne Musical Dome from ZDF won the audience award as “Most Popular Musical”.
- The new production of the dance musical (also presented by the producer trio Thomas Krauth , Michael Brenner and Robert Stigwood ) was honored with awards: In 2004 the Munich daily “ tz ” awarded Saturday Night Fever the “tz Rose” for “outstanding performance in the cultural field ".
- The culture department of the Munich evening newspaper also praised the stage version: In 2004 it awarded the director Alex Balga the “Star of the Week”.
- In the summer of 2016 "Saturday Night Fever" was performed for the first time open air at the "Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg". Directed by Ulrich Wiggers . In the musical elections of the online magazine "Musical 1", the production was named "Most Popular Open Air Show 2016". Alexander Klaws was voted “Most Popular Musical Actor 2016” by the readers for his role as Toni Manero.
Others
- At the German premiere at the Musical Dome in Cologne, the Bee Gees greeted them by video from the USA .
- The huge disco ball, an unmistakable part of the production, was two meters in diameter and was lifted onto the stage by several technicians at each performance.
CDs
- Saturday Night Fever - Original 1998 London Cast Recording
- Saturday Night Fever - The Bee Gees hit musical, soundtrack to the original performance in the Musical Dome Cologne (1999). Intershow Records, 2002, mr. heartbeat records, Th. Krauth GmbH, HR0007, label code LC12534
Web links
- Website of the German original production
- London production website
- Saturday Night Fever in the Guide to Musical Theater
- Saturday Night Fever in the Internet Broadway Database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Hinzpeter: The return of the suburban Djangos. Rousing hits and opulent dance scenes - funny that “Saturday Night Fever” can only be seen as a musical more than 20 years after its cinema release . Ed .: stern, Gruner + Jahr GmbH, Hamburg, September 2, 1999.
- ↑ Sascha Suden: The hot fever night. Saturday Night Fever: Great premiere. Dance, dance, dance! Ed .: Express Köln, M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne, September 13, 1999.
- ↑ Tina Jordan: Michael Brenner and Thomas Krauth: They give Cologne the Travolta show . Ed .: Express Cologne, M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne, July 15, 1999.
- ↑ Review of Saturday Night Fever on Mehr! Entertainment.de: ( http://www.mehr.de/unternehmen/rueckblick/ ) .
- ^ Musical Saturday Night Fever in Cologne . musical-world.de
- ↑ Sandra Ebert: Saturday Night Fever. That is why the audience voted it the best German musical . Ed .: Express Cologne, M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne, December 12, 2000.
- ↑ Saturday Night Fever - The Success Story. In: Official website. June 10, 2006, accessed March 14, 2017 .
- ↑ Saturday Night Fever - The Success Story. In: Official website. June 10, 2006, accessed March 14, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.musical1.de/wahlen/