IU has 'Night Fever'

The IU Auditorium saw the sparkling lights of a disco ball being shot out, illuminating the sky and contesting the stars as a crowd of just over 1,100 found their way into the Auditorium Tuesday night.\nThey were greeted by a brightly colored muslin scrim decorated with a disco dancer deep in movement.\n"Saturday Night Fever," the stage version of the 1977 film, which played Tuesday and Wednesday, starred the very apt singer/dancer Ryan Ashley who plays the neighborhood tough guy named Tony Manero. Playing along side him was Jennifer Mrozik as Stephanie Mangano, the vivacious broad that makes Tony realize his life is going nowhere. Dena Digiacinto played Annette, the girl who loves Tony even though he strings her along with the hope of an eventual romp in the sack.\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 Annette. One night he meets the Stephanie Mangano, a better dancer than Annette, and starts to court her affections. Stephanie makes Tony realize his life is 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.\nAshley was fantastic in his well-choreographed pelvic gyrations and corpsical contortions as he danced atop the stage to tunes like "Stayin' Alive," and "Night Fever." His vocal chords carried throughout the Auditorium with the aid of an almost perfectly disguised head set mic, but his pitch came down right on top of the notes and emitted a romantic sound. While Ashley certainly studied the movements of Travolta, he was indeed his own man as he played the avid dancer and heartthrob of women with his well-chiseled upper body.\nMrozik's Mangano played nicely the downtown girl who prefers the uptown girl image. And her voice ranks right up there with Ashley's as her soprano solos delighted the house. Also delightful were her frequent dances with Tony Manero.\nThe choreography throughout the show was elaborate, but not overly theatrical. The movements were well-rehearsed, well-timed and were so synchronized to the beat it resembled a mini Busby Berkeley extravaganza.\nDoug Booher, director of the IU Auditorium, said last week, "This show is one of those rare magical shows where everyone feels entertained and elated as they walk out of the auditorium. Nearly everyone will be humming or singing 'Stayin' Alive' or 'Disco Inferno' as they head back to their cars or rooms."\nI agree with him whole-heartedly.