“Saturday Night Fever" at the Timber Lake Playhouse -- May 30 through June 15.
Friday, May 30, through Sunday, June 15
Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL
With Broadway World calling the show “a fast and fun night of musical theatre” that's “brimming with so many 'wow' moments,” the disco sensation Saturday Night Fever opens the 2024-2025 mainstage season at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, this exhilarating musical – running May 30 through June 15 – adapted from the Oscar-nominated 1977 smash that catapulted the Bee Gees to international fame and made a household name of star John Travolta.
In the stage rendition of Saturday Night Fever, the time period is the 1970s, and disco fever is rampant in the nightclubs of Brooklyn, New Work. Tony Manero, a store clerk by day, lives for the weekends and spends all his free time rehearsing new routines to perform at his local club, 2001. There, he and his gang of friends - known in the neighborhood as The Faces - can escape the social tensions and disillusionment of their everyday lives. But Tony’s eye is soon caught by Stephanie, a mesmerizing dancer who is desperate to escape Brooklyn and make a life for herself in Manhattan. Despite her initial hostility, the couple agree to enter a dance competition and their professionalism soon turns to attraction. When the Faces are hit by tragedy, however, Tony is forced to reflect on what is truly important in his life.
Based on the 1977 movie phenomenon that launched the disco era, Saturday Night Fever features such unforgettable Bee Gees hits as “Stayin’ Alive,” “Disco Inferno,” “More Than a Woman,” and “How Deep Is Your Love,” with the film's soundtrack a Grammy Award winner for Album of the Year that spent a remarkable 120 weeks on Billboard's album charts. The film itself made Travolta, already well known from his role in the popular TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, a household name, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, at the time becoming the fourth-youngest nominee in the category. In 2010, Saturday Night Fever was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. When adjusted for inflation, director John Badham's movie is also one of the highest-grossing R-rated films released in the U.S., boasting a total box office gross, as of last year, of $673,899,098.
With the theatre's season opener directed by Tommy Ranieri, Saturday Night Fever runs at the Mt. Carroll venue from May 30 through June 15, with performances on scheduled Tuesdays through Sundays, and admission is $30-50. For more information and tickets, call (815)244-2035 and visit TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
