Batt, Blake & Blankenbuehler Added to Bway Fever Cast; Prevs Sept. 28
25 Aug 1999
Saturday Night Fever, the musical inspired by the hit Robert Stigwood film of the same title, will begin Broadway previews Sept. 28 for an Oct. 21 opening at the Minskoff Theatre. Joining previously announced cast members James Carpinello, Paige Price and Orfeh will be Forbidden Broadway veteran Bryan Batt, Paul Castree, Richard H. Blake, Andy Blankenbuehler and Sean Palmer. The film-based musical will boast a total cast of 43.
Saturday Night Fever, the musical inspired by the hit Robert Stigwood film of the same title, will begin Broadway previews Sept. 28 for an Oct. 21 opening at the Minskoff Theatre. Joining previously announced cast members James Carpinello, Paige Price and Orfeh will be Forbidden Broadway veteran Bryan Batt, Paul Castree, Richard H. Blake, Andy Blankenbuehler and Sean Palmer. The film-based musical will boast a total cast of 43. Carpinello steps into the dancin' shoes of John Travolta as Bay Ridge boy Tony Manero. Price will play Stephanie, Tony's dance partner and love interest. According to Endeavor, which reps Carpinello, both were offered the parts after a final May 7 audition. Carpinello, who had been competing for the role with television heartthrob Joey Lawrence, 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. Carpinello then had a leading role in a West Coast mounting of The Rocky Horror Show. Price has been around the Broadway scene for many years, touring with A Chorus Line and understudying Smokey Joe's Cafe. She was also in the original cast of Beauty and the Beast and part of the tour of Tommy Tune's Busker Alley. As Stephanie, she will sing such disco classics as "What Kind of Fool" and "How Deep Is Your Love" Saturday Night Fever features many of the Bee Gees songs from the 1977 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 Broadway newcomer Arlene Phillips (who directs and choreographs), Paul Nicholas and Robert Stigwood (who will produce with Manny Kladitis and David Rocksavage). Director Phillips has served as choreographer on such feature films as "Annie" and "Monty Python's Meaning of Life." The set, by Robin Wagner, shares with another film-turned-stage-musical, Footloose, the monumental presence of a bridge -- this time the Verrazano. Costumes are by Andy Edwards, lighting by Andrew Bridge (Sunset Boulevard). 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. For information on Saturday Night Fever call (212) 307-4100. -- By Sean McGrath
and Robert Simonson and David Lefkowitz
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