The strut, the songs and THAT suit - the seventies are back in Oxford as Saturday Night Fever hits town. Based on the classic John Travolta movie (no more mentions of that) this high octane musical sees New Yorker Tony Manero pursuing his dreams of becoming a dance champion in the world of Brooklyn Discos.

As Manero, Stephane Anelli is a great stage presence, snake-hipped and brooding, with a light but expressive singing voice which is used to best effect on the ballad 'Immortality'. Although Anelli dominates from the start, the supporting cast are all excellent, especially Darren Carnell as the tragic Bobby C, and Jane Horn as Annette. However, even these performances are eclipsed by the songs themselves - to hear the Bee Gees' numbers sung in a dramatic context brought new life to them. 'Tragedy', sung by Carnell, is a revelation as a huge tear-jerking power ballad, laying to rest the cheesy version by Steps, and 'If I Can’t Have You', sung by Horn, comes as a plea from the heart. Such is the quality of the songs it is hard not to believe they weren’t written specifically for the stage. But of course, Night Fever has dancing as well and here the whole cast really come into their own. Anelli, and Zoe Smith as his dance partner the social climbing Stephanie, both dance fantastically, but the ensemble dance numbers are breathtaking. In some cases saying the best bit of the evening was the end may seem rude but with Saturday Night Fever this is the case: the finale is wonderful, all the cast onstage reprising most of the songs, and either Stephane Anelli is the best actor in the world or he was having as much fun as the audience. This was one evening which certainly had the Apollo audience dancing in the aisles.

David Wootten, 10.06.03