Saturday Night Fever makes you feel like dancing

If you think you know Saturday Night Fever, think again. Yes, the musical stage production ran on Broadway for 501 performances from October 1999 through December 2000.

But most people associate SNF with the film version, released in 1977 and featuring the tight disco moves of a chiseled face, buff, and white polyester suit-clad John Travolta.

Who can forget the opening scene of his don’t-mess-with-me strut down a Brooklyn street, swinging a paint can in rhythm to the Bee Gees’ Staying Alive?

Fast forward to summer of 2015, and SNF has morphed into an entirely new entity, thanks to the visionaries at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, Cayuga County. SNF is part of the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, which includes other shows at MGR, as well as at the Auburn Public Theater and Theater Mack, both in downtown Auburn.

Guided by the creative team of writers Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti of Theatrical Rights Worldwide, and directed and choreographed by MGR producing artistic director Brett Smock, SNF has a whole new look and feel.

Gone is Travolta’s self-absorbed interpretation of Tony Manero, a paint-store clerk by day and disco dancer par excellence by night.

Instead, the character — re-imagined by the creative team and magnificently embodied by actor Sam Edgerly (fresh off a national tour of Dirty Dancing) — brings a warmth and likeability to the role. We’re rooting for him, as he strives to escape the dead-end career paths of his father and peers while expressing his passion through dance.

And what dancing it is, demonstrated not only by Edgerly, but by the entire cast.

This is Smock’s forté. His inventive and energetic choreography and spot-on casting of mega-talented dancers in SNF as well as in the season’s opener, West Side Story, are catapulting MGR into an advanced level of theater, closely resembling that found on Broadway.

Moreover, MGR is tapping into a resource just down the road: Rochester’s own Nazareth College and its growing musical theater program. Corinne Aquilina, director of that program, serves as music director of SNF. Several Naz students and grads are in this production, and MGR’s 2016 season will include a July musical production of Pride and Prejudice on the college’s campus.

The set is divine, created by scenic designer Stanley Meyer, whose credits include Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and the world premiere of Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

Strong performances are turned in by Maddy Apple as Annette, Jessica Lea Patty as Stephanie, DJ Petrosino as Gus, and Pittsford native Chloe Fox as a member of the ensemble.

A special shout-out must be made to Morgan Naum, who not only plays Tony’s sweet younger sister Linda, but hams it up in three-second cameos as a gum-chomping waitress and a helpful nurse. Sometimes, actors can leave huge impressions on the audience while totally embracing just a snippet of a role. Naum’s got that skill nailed.

One problem occurred during the second night of the 28-performance run. A loud and annoying buzz could be heard throughout the theater every seven minutes or so, jolting audience members out of their immersion in the story. MGR's technical staff discovered the culprit to be a malfunctioning fog machine. Adjustments were made and subsequent performances have been problem-free, according to Kristin Bridges, marketing and creative director of the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival.

You don’t need to shlep to New York City — or pay Broadway ticket prices — to see some magnificent choreography and dancing this summer. Just get thee to Auburn.

Debbie Waltzer is a Rochester-based freelance writer.

If you go

What: Saturday Night Fever, U.S. Regional Premiere.

When: Through Aug. 12; 2 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays; 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Where: Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, 6877 East Lake Road, Auburn.

Tickets: $25 to $55. Available at FingerLakesMTF.com or (800) 457-8897.

Looking ahead

Merry-Go-Round Playhouse has announced its summer line-up of musicals for next year. Check FingerLakesMTF.com for complete details about:

Oklahoma!

From Here to Eternity

Crazy For You

Treasure Island

Million Dollar Quartet

Tenderly

Pride and Prejudice (to be performed at Nazareth College)

Smokey Joe’s Café