New Wimbledon Theatre – until 8 September 2018
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
4****
30 years after its initial release into cinemas around the world, you would be forgiven for thinking that the themes of “Saturday Night Fever” would have grown old and uninteresting, with its basis around the long gone seedy disco clubs of the seventies and family drama of a time far in the past; but Bill Kenwright’s new production takes these now faded memories and sculpts them into 2 and a half hours of wonderful disco ball filled nostalgia. This production is absolutely one of the best touring shows I have ever seen, with brilliant direction, a fabulous set and slick choreography from Bill Deamer that just makes you want to get up out of your seat and dance.
Michael Cortez, Jared Thompson and Owen Broughton are all fantastic as Joey, Double J and Gus respectively, with great dance skills and a brilliant sense of comradery between the boys. Anna Campkin performed well as Annette as Marios Nicolaides as Frank Junior, both with brilliant acting that gave the feel good show a nice bit of grounding in story at the times when it needed it. Raphael Pace performed brilliantly as Bobbie C, giving an excellent slow burn of a portrayal with his character leading up to the tragic finale and, looking back in hindsight now, he showed us this was going to be his path straight from the off. Kate Parr was great as Stephanie Mangano, with a really strong presence with Tony and absolutely beautiful dancing. And in the lead role, Richard Winsor was absolutely fantastic as Tony Monero. He was captivating with his acting, delivering a very real and grounded performance and, even though it seemed like he forgot the choreography at times, I didn’t know that he could dance like that! However, the highlight of the night for me was the three men ever present in the background. Edward Handoll, Alastair Hill and Matt Faull were absolutely phenomenal as the three Bee Gees, with a singing impression so scarily similar to the real band that there were times I was fooled into thinking it was pre-recorded tracks. These boys are something special!
In conclusion, you all need to get a ticket quick for “Saturday Night Fever” quick, because I can guarantee you this… this show is one of those special shows!