Follow your Bliss: Night Fever

Get your dancing shoes ready and prepare to be swept away in disco era as Saturday Night Fever musical takes you back to 70s where flashy clothes, bell bottoms, big hair and twirling dresses were everyone's cup of tea.

The musical has finally arrived in Singapore and I couldn't be more excited. We booked our tickets a month ahead and scored VIP seats at a pretty reasonable price. The show opened its curtains on September 25th at the Mastercard Theatre of Marina Bay Sands and will run until October 4th.

Saturday Night Fever is a musical adaptation from the ground breaking film of the same title in 1977. It was the movie that catapulted John Travolta to stardom and sent the music world to euphoria with electrifying hits of Bee Gees.

If you are a huge fan of the film, then the musical won't disappoint. The play does not veer away from movie. In fact, it's in parallel with the plot as if it's being played frame by frame. Saturday Night Fever tells of the life of Tony Manero and his gang in Brooklyn. A dead-end job and a dysfunctional family, Tony turns to discotheque 2001 Odyssey every weekend to escape and rule the dance floor.

Seasoned actors Brandon Rubendall and Jenna Rubaii lead the roles of Tony Manero and Stephanie Mangano. When Tony strutted himself to the dance floor and the entire cast grooved to the beat of " Stayin Alive", I was almost on my feet wanting to get up and dance. The vibrant set, lights, flashy clothes and disco music transported me to almost 40 years back in Brooklyn. It was as if I wasn't merely watching but rather living, breathing in that era.

Act 1 was a superb showcase of vocal talent and of dance prowess of every single member of the SNF. I haven't been following the turn out of the musical in Manila and KL but from what I've gathered, they had a good run and tickets were almost sold out. My heartstrings were pulled to see a rather large Filipino ensemble making up the entire cast. Mikki Bradshaw as Anette; who is head over heels in love with Tony delivered a flawless rendition of Yvonne Ellimanís If I Can't Have You.
The heart stopping number of Tony during " You should be dancing" was enough for me to say that the ticket price was totally worth it. The musical did not only center on Tony's desire to win the $500 disco competition but it tackles society-related subjects i.e racism, gang fights,religion as well moral issues such as pre-marital sex, suicide and abortion. There were some derogatory, explicit remarks and scenes which are definitely PG -13.

Bee Gees hit tracks were slightly re-arranged to match the mood of each scene. 'Tragedy" was reworked to a suprisingly melancholic ballad and delivered in a heartbreaking performance. Night fever and Disco Inferno were crowd favorites sending onlookers to thump their feet at each beat.

Act 2 was the supposed climax but it turned out to be a series of dramatic lines which seemed to lack coherence especially for those who have not seen the film. Though it felt as if the ending was forced and " How Deep is Your Love" was sang during the mushy scene between Tony and Stephanie while gazing the Brooklyn Bridge, the cast managed to reclaim the momentum during the curtain call as they glide to Saturday Night Fever MegaMix.

A famous artist quoted in one of her interviews that, "Music is an art and art is rare and important. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for". Saturday Night Fever is an important piece of art which transcends time and generation. The impressive talent brought on stage and passion for music shown by the characters is worth the ticket price alone. It is no surprise that most of us ended on our feet strutting towards the end of the show. Why shouldn't we be? We got the Night Fever baby!

#ootd