May 27, 2003

Saturday Night Fever Starts Summer of Moonlit Movies at MASS MoCA

(North Adams, Mass.) One of America's most beloved films, Saturday Night Fever, will play at MASS MoCA on Friday, June 27, at 9 P.M. The film that catapulted John Travolta from minor celebrity to superstar also marked the rise and fall of disco and mirrored the common struggle for a better life. The Bee Gees' sound track will be played on a surround sound system as the uncut film airs on the largest screen in Berkshire County -- all outside and under a starlit sky.

The film balances gritty urban realities and the flashy glamorous disco dance scene as paint store clerk Tony Manero and secretary Stephanie struggle to break out of their dead-end lives and into the glamorous world of Manhattan. The film and sound track fed each other's success as hit songs saturated the charts - up to four at a time - throughout 1978 including classic disco hits like Stayin' Alive, How Deep Is Your Love, Night Fever, More Than A Woman, If I Can't Have You, and Disco Inferno. The film grossed over $100 million and garnered Travolta's first Oscar nomination.

Already a recognizable face from the hit TV show Welcome Back, Kotter John Travolta tested the movie waters with a small part in Carrie and immediately went on to superstardom in Saturday Night Fever. Major hits Grease, Urban Cowboy, and Blow Out quickly followed. When the disco reign fell so did its kings and queens as Travolta spent the 1980s staring in a series of forgettable films until 1994's Pulp Fiction capitalized on the newly rejuvenated '70s nostalgia by casting him as an edgy but lovable hit man. Since then, films like Get Shorty, Face/Off and The Thin Red Line have guaranteed his status as an outstanding actor in a variety of genres.

Lickety Split will be open to serve full dinners and snacks starting at 8:00 P.M. when the doors open. There will also be a full bar. In case of rain, the film will move indoors where the Hunter Center will have been transformed into a full movie palace.

Tickets to Saturday Night Fever are $6.50. MASS MoCA members get 10% off. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located on Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org