James Carpinello (Stupid Kids) and Joey Lawrence ("Blossom") are two of the contenders up for the lead role of Tony Manero in the upcoming Broadway musical Saturday Night Fever. Endeavor, which reps Carpinello, confirmed the actor was being considering for the part, and added that a final decision might come as early as the end of Thursday, May 6.
Carpinello made his mark in the Off-Broadway play Stupid Kids, which debuted last year at the WPA Theatre and then transferred for a short run at the Century Center Theatre.
Lawrence is best known for his supporting role in the mid-90s sitcom "Blossom," during which years he flourished as a teen idol.
Carpinello and Lawrence would have to fill the dancin' shoes of John Travolta, who created the role of Manero in the 1977 film. The tuner features many of the Bee Gees songs from the movie, including "Stayin' Alive" (which opens the show) and "Night Fever," and others that weren't, such as "Tragedy." Also thrown into the mix are K.C. and the Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes," Rick Dees' "Disco Duck," and Barry Gibb's "What Kind of Fool." All the songs are woven into the coming of-age story, often functioning as plot-furthering personal statements by the story's various Bay Ridge-based dancin' fools.
Saturday Night Fever is adapted for the stage by Nan Knighton, in collaboration with Arlene Phillips (who directs and choreographs), Paul Nicholas and Robert Stigwood (who will produce with Niko Associates). The set, by Robin Wagner, shares with another film-turned-stage-musical, Footloose, the monumental presence of a bridge -- this time the Verrazano. Saturday Night Fever began performances at London's Palladium April 29, 1998 and has been playing to enthusiastic, teenybopper-heavy audiences since. The show made a matinee idol of Adam Garcia, who played Manero.
Tickets to Saturday Night Fever, opening at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre on Oct. 21, went on sale April 18. Previews will begin Sept. 28.
For information on the hit London musical based on the 1977 John Travolta film, call (212) 307-4100.
