That sentiment – sung by the BeeGees, against an extended shot (if memory serves correctly) of John Travolta’s crotch sashaying down a Brooklyn street in the 1977 film – captured the restlessness and frustration of an earlier generation of young working class white men for whom the traditional perks of masculinity suddenly seemed bafflingly out of reach. Almost half a century later, as is abundantly evident from the comments section to just about any news story covering the Republican primary, those frustrations have simmered over into a boil, making Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s stage version of Saturday Night Fever not only a lively trip down memory lane, but also a curiously relevant piece of social history.
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