Entertainment

Aurora native stars in Drury Lane's revamped 'Saturday Night Fever'

Posted January 13, 2017 5:00 am

By Scott C. Morgan

Adrian Aguilar strikes the iconic Tony Manero pose in rehearsals for “Saturday Night Fever” at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Courtesy of Brett Beiner/Drury Lane Theatre

Broadway veteran Adrian Aguilar was honored when Drury Lane Theatre approached him to audition for its revamped production of “Saturday Night Fever.” But the Aurora native was wary of taking on John Travolta's famed role of Tony Manero.

“Before I even accepted the audition, I requested a script first,” Aguilar said. “I've got to see what this stage version plans to contain. What parts of the movie are they putting in, and what are they leaving out?”

The hit 1977 film is famous for Travolta's frenzied disco dancing and his iconic white suit. “Saturday Night Fever” also spawned a best-selling soundtrack album filled with Bee Gees pop hits, including “Stayin' Alive,” “How Deep is Your Love,” “Jive Talkin'” and “More than a Woman.”

Less well-remembered about the R-rated film is its darker content. When not on the dance floor, “Saturday Night Fever” unflinchingly shows a group of Italian-American Brooklynites swearing up a storm, casually using drugs and engaging in gang warfare. Scenes involving a gang rape and an accidental suicide also shocked parents of the era.

So Aguilar was pleasantly surprised by the new stage script for “Saturday Night Fever.” Penned by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti, the changed script differs from the 1998 London stage original and the national tour that played Chicago's Oriental Theatre in 2001. In fact, the script is so new that Aguilar says changes are still coming in during rehearsals in Oakbrook Terrace.

“(Cercone and Abbinanti) dropped off some unnecessarily negative aspects. It's not necessarily that we need to clean this up, it's more about being gratuitous and overshadowing the story,” Aguilar said. “We are, I think, the first people in a long time to get a new crack at it and to completely rework it.”

Aguilar admits that Tony Award-nominated director/choreographer Dan Knechtges has been putting him through the paces to learn the show's disco footwork. And that's despite Aguilar's day job as a personal fitness trainer for Hardware CrossFit in Chicago.

“I'm too old for this,” laughed Aguilar, who was born in Aurora and later moved to Oswego. “When I was 20 to 26, my career was primarily as a featured ensemble dancer. But it's been a few years since I had to put on the dance shoes, so I'm hurting and I'm sore.”

Aguilar has chosen not to perform as frequently on Chicago-area stages as he used to, tackling maybe one role a year instead of three or four.

Before he starred on Broadway in the 2014 musical “Rocky” (he was in the ensemble and was the principal Rocky Balboa understudy), Aguilar was regularly cast around Chicago as ladies men such as Kenickie in Paramount Theatre's “Grease.” He also appeared with his actor brother, Alexander Aguilar, in “The Drowsy Chaperone” at the Marriott Theatre and “Double Trouble” for Porchlight Music Theatre.

“I never wanted to go to New York,” said Aguilar, who returned to his family in Chicago less than a year after “Rocky” closed on Broadway. “I really am a die-hard Chicagoan.”

In addition to fitness training, Aguilar has been branching out into other behind-the-scenes theater jobs. For instance, he assistant-directed and did the fight choreography for Drury Lane's recent production of “Crazy for You.”

“I have been trying to kind of take a back seat to my wife,” said Aguilar of actress Brianna Borger. “She is a brilliant performer — one of the best singers I've ever heard, which is initially why I developed a massive crush on her years ago.”

Yet, Aguilar is excited for the chance to embody one of cinema's most famous dance roles.

“That music — that's what people want,” Aguilar said. “When you think of ‘Saturday Night Fever,' you start thinking of all those awesome Bee Gees songs.”

Chicago actor Adrian Aguilar, formerly of Aurora and Oswego, steps into John Travolta's boogie shoes as Tony Manero in a revamped stage version of "Saturday Night Fever" at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace.

Adrian Aguilar rehearses for the revamped "Saturday Night Fever" at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Courtesy of Brett Beiner/Drury Lane Theatre

Adrian Aguilar, center, rehearses for the revamped "Saturday Night Fever" at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Courtesy of Brett Beiner/Drury Lane Theatre

Adrian Aguilar, center in car, played Kenickie in "Grease" in 2012 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. The actor stars as Tony Manero in "Saturday Night Fever" at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Courtesy of Liz Lauren/Paramount Theatre

John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney, left, are shown in a publicity shot for the film "Saturday Night Fever." A revamped stage musical version of the 1977 disco phenomenon plays at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace from Thursday, Jan. 19, through Sunday, March 19. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Where: Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, (630) 530-0111, <a href="http://drurylanetheatre.com">drurylanetheatre.com</a>

When: 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, 1:30 and 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday; Thursday, Jan. 19, through Sunday, March 12

Tickets: $43-$58 previews; $45-$60 regular run; senior discounts available for matinees; dinner packages available

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