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Longrunners Extend: Stomp, Saturday Night, Black

Three of the West End’s longer-running productions – stage-to-screen disco musical Saturday Night Fever, dance extravaganza Stomp and thriller The Woman in Black - have announced extensions to their current booking periods.

At the Apollo Victoria, Saturday Night Fever has added six months and is now taking bookings up to 22 October 2005. The stage production had its world premiere at the West End's London Palladium in May 1998, marking the 21st anniversary of the release of the 1977 hit film, starring John Travolta, which effectively defined the disco age.

The stage musical features Bee Gees songs from the original Grammy Award-winning motion picture soundtrack, including 'Staying Alive', 'Night Fever', 'Jive Talkin'' and 'How Deep is Your Love' as well as two songs - 'Immortality' and 'First and Last' - written especially for the stage production by the brothers Gibb.

Saturday Night Fever was adapted for the stage by the film's producer Robert Stigwood. It finished its Palladium run in February 2000 and embarked on two regional tours before returning to the West End, opening at the Apollo Victoria on 6 July 2004, following previews from 2 July (See News, 31 Mar 2004). The cast features Stephane Anelli as Tony Manero and Hear’say pop star Kym Marsh as Annette (See News, 18 May 2004)

At the Vaudeville Theatre, Stomp has also added six months to its schedule and is now taking bookings up to 2 October 2005. The show, which originated in Brighton in 1991, has toured all over the world but only started its first West End run at the Vaudeville Theatre in September 2002.

Stomp transforms the junk and clutter of urban life into a source of rhythm and dance. In 100 minutes, a cast of eight performers use boots, bins, garbage, zippo lighters, plumbers' plungers and everything including the kitchen sink to hammer out a symphony.

And finally, at the Fortune Theatre, The Woman in Black had added a further four months to its booking period, taking it up to 3 September 2005. Susan Hill’s 1970s novel, a ghost story told through the eyes of a keen young solicitor sent to a secluded house to wind up the affairs of a recently deceased woman, was adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, who died last year (See News, 15 Dec 2004).

Originally produced at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre in December 1987, The Woman in Black has been seen by over two million theatregoers since opening in London in 1989. Directed ever since its opening by Robin Herford, the spooky two-hander currently features Brian Miller and William Rycroft.

- by Terri Paddock

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