BWW Exclusive: They're Stayin' Alive! SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Cast Reminisces Before 54 Below Reunion Concert!
By: Nicole Rosky Aug. 31, 2015
Bring your dancing shoes to 54 BELOW for the reunion celebrating the 2000 Broadway musical SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Reunite with some of the original cast members for some of the Bee Gee's biggest hits of the late 70s, "Stayin' Alive," "Boogie Shoes," "If I Cant Have You," "Jive Talkin," "How Deep Is Your Love," and even a few songs recently added to a brand new production of the show.
Featuring original cast members Paige Price (SNF, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Beauty & The Beast), Paul Castree (9 To 5, Young Frankenstein, High Fidelity, SNF), James Carpinello (SNF, Rock Of Ages, Xanadu), Orfeh (SNF, Legally Blonde, Fascinating Rhythm, Footloose) and also featuring Shannon O'Boyle (Once), Jay Ellis, Casey Garvin (Bullets Over Broadway), James LaRosa (Mr. Confidential), Ray DeMattis (Mafia, Untitled, Father Hood), Maddy Apple (White Christmas Nat'l Tour), Natalie Weiss (Everyday Rapture), Haley Swindal (Jekyll And Hyde) and featured choreography by Nick Kenkel and Music direction by Milton Granger.
We've asked some of the cast to share their favorite Saturday Night Fever memories. Check out what they had to say below!
One of my favorite memories is the guy who came in the white suit to the show a billion times...it was fun to see someone so enthusiastic and, well IN COSTUME!
My favorite memories of SNF are all from the beginning. The audition process through through the opening. It was quite a challenge, and well outside of my comfort zone. It took months and months of rehearsal. Digging in and doing the work was very rewarding. God bless Jimmy Walski. The first few days of rehearsal with Sean Palmer and Andy Blankenbeuhler on either side of me... being blown away by how easy they made all of the dancing look. Singing with Barry Gibb in his studio in Miami. Arlene Phillips never ending support. Hearing Orfeh blow the roof off of our rehearsal room at City Center. Meeting Andre Ward, one of the most talented dudes on Broadway, who's become my Broadway good luck charm... 3 shows together. Everything after I think I've blocked out!
I have many thrilling memories from Saturday Night Fever, but there is one that always jumps to the forefront when I am asked. I can't say it was the happiest, but it was a thrill.
In the Broadway production, my character Bobby C. has a very emotional, drug fueled, life crisis breakdown on the Verrazano bridge during which he falls to his death. I played this scene every night by climbing 40 feet to the top of our bridge set, hanging from two cables and letting go. The audience got to see me plunge straight down 30 feet until the stage would go black right before I hit the floor. Of course I didn't actually hit the stage because I was wearing a harness hooked to a wire that stopped me. It was a very exciting bit of stagecraft, except one night when my plunge was stopped, I felt the wire snap right where it connected to my harness. As I fell to the floor I thought- "how surreal, my character is dying on stage and I'm dying in real life! If the audience only knew the fantastic realism they are getting."
P.S. I survived.
A very thrilling and surprising moment that I'll never forget.
Orfeh:
There are honestly too many to mention...the whole SNF experience remains one of my all time fav broadway show Experiences as a whole... Getting to do a big photo shoot with James, Paige & the "faces" at the actual club Odyssey on the famous dance floor from the movie, is a favorite memory and of course meeting, performing with and marrying Andy Karl... Yup, that ranks very high on the great memory list for SNF ;)
My favorite show memory, aside from just getting to perform some of the hottest choreography ever, involved scaring everyone offstage in my "hospital" makeup. Since Gus gets beaten up (spoiler alert), he has bloody bruised makeup and bandages for most of Act 2. I truly enjoyed sneaking up on fellow cast members and backstage crew in said makeup and costume to scare the living daylights out of the them. I would walk like a zombie from "The Walking Dead' or "28 Days Later", sneak up on some unsuspecting victim, and bam! Priceless reaction.
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Reunion Concert plays 54 Below (254 West 54th Street) tonight, August 31 at 7PM & 9:30PM. The cover charge starts at $40, premium seating starts at $80 and a $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.
54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, is the performance venue in the grand tradition of New York City nightlife. A few blocks from the heart of Times Square and just below the legendary Studio 54, 54 Below is a classically designed state-of-the art nightclub in the theatre district that hosts audiences with warmth and style. The venue provides a food and beverage menu from early evening through the wee hours of the morning that is worthy of the world-class entertainment on the stage. Located at 254 West 54th Street, 54 Below features up to three shows nightly with cover charges ranging from $15-$105, www.54Below.com.
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