BWW Reviews: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, December 16 2014

Last night was a big night for the Theatre Royal as it was not only the press night for Saturday Night Fever, it was also the unveiling of the long awaited refurbished foyer. The new bar areas, stairway and rooftop terrace are looking absolutely stunning!

Set in New York in the 1970s, Tony Manero is stuck in a dead end job and dreams of becoming a professional dancer. When the opportunity arises to compete in a disco contest he teams up with partner Stephanie to try and kickstart his dance career.

To add a fresh feel to Saturday Night Fever they have cast actor-musicians to play their own instruments onstage. While this works wonderfully in some shows, it comes off as slightly ridiculous in Saturday Night Fever and I am baffled as to why a disco musical needs such a big brass section. The problem with casting actor musicians for this musical is that some of the ensemble were lacking in the dance routines. While the leads were all good dancers, there were a couple of falls and mistakes during major dance scenes.

Leading man Danny Bayne lacks the charisma to pull off the role of Tony Manero. While you cannot fault his dancing or his vocals, he is definitely missing whatever John Travolta had in order to pull off what is actually quite an unlikeable character. While I realise this was originally released in the 1970s Manero makes me a little uneasy with his violent outbursts and complete disrespect for women. At points this production doesn't seem to know whether it is a hard-hitting drama or a jaunty outing of Bee Gees classics.

I understand that a newly-opened show is likely to have some small technical hitches, but the number here was unacceptable. There were problems with the sound for the first half of Act 1 as dialogue was inaudible followed by deafeaning and then disappeared completely at one point in Act 2. The scenery was fitting to the show but more than a little distracting during quieter numbers when you could hear set pieces trundling their way across the stage.

Saturday Night Fever has an excellent tracklist, a decent story and in theory should make for a great night out. Unfortunately this production just seems to be missing something.

Saturday Night Fever runs at the Theatre Royal until January 3rd.

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