'Fever' hits Auditorium stage

"Saturday Night Fever," the stage version of the 1977 film that helped rocket John Travolta to stardom, will play at 8 p.m. Nov. 19 and 20 at the IU Auditorium.\nThe stage version, originally produced in London's West End, takes us back to a time when Jimmy Carter was Chief Executive, bell-bottom pants were the rave and disco was hotter than the surface of the sun. \nSNF's story starts out with an apathetic paint store clerk Tony, who is a regular at the disco Odyssey 2001 with his occasional dance partner in Annette. One night he meets Stephanie Mangano, a better dancer than Annette, and he starts to court her affections. Stephanie makes Tony realize his life his going nowhere, and can change that if he can devote the same determination and passion that he devotes to disco to the rest of his life. The story deals with Tony's rejection of Annette and a stormy relationship with Stephanie. The course of the show is set against the background of the problems of his family and friends. Is there an undertone? Yes. It is the escape from the drudgery of the 1970's working class life through the swirling lights and pulsating rhythms of disco, typified by the Bee Gees soundtrack.\nRyan Ashley is a professional DJ based in Los Angeles and is the leading man playing the role of Tony Manero. Manero says being a DJ on the side is what kept him from waiting tables to make ends meet during the rotten downturn of work for the entertainment industry following Sept. 11th. For six months he did nothing, until he joined Sir Paul McCartney on his "Driving Rain" USA tour. \n"It's really an exciting role to do," Ashley said. "Not only is he a tough guy. He's a nice guy." \nAshley said there is no relationship between how he is playing Tony and the way Travolta portrayed him on the screen.\nSNF also features hits by music group the Bee Gees. \nBorn to musical parents on Britain's Isle of Mann, the group consists of three brothers named Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. And their over 30 year career yielded many top 10 hits featured in the show. Their soundtrack for the 1977 film may be one of the largest selling soundtracks to leave the recording studios. According to a press release, music stores have sold more than 110 million copies of their other albums. They have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.\nSNF actors boogie down to several Bee Gees numbers including "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever," and "Jive Talkin"