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Disco fever!: ‘Saturday Night Fever’ fans to recreate 2001 Odyssey disco

Disco fever!: ‘Saturday Night Fever’ fans to recreate 2001 Odyssey disco
Photo by Georgine Benvenuto

Hustle back to Bay Ridge!

A group of dedicated “Saturday Night Fever” fans will celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary by bringing its disco setting back to life! For the night of Dec. 13, the 2001 Odyssey nightclub will return to the Bay Ridge space it once occupied for a free, blow-out dance party. The organizer of the event said that she and her five feverish friends want to bring Brooklynites back to 1977 by recreating the iconic spot.

“When I think of the movie, the first thought in my head is the 2001 Odyssey,” said Stephanie Ovadia, who grew up in Canarsie.

The former disco at 64th Street and Eighth Avenue is now home to Bamboo Garden, a Chinese restaurant, but organizers will restore the spot to its original glory by installing a light-up dance floor and disco balls for the night.

At the party, original cast members Karen Lynn Gorney — who played Stephanie, John Travolta’s love interest — and DJ Monte Rock III will hustle the night away as discos stars Carol Douglas, Randy from the Village People, and the Trammps play Tony Manero’s favorite songs, including “Disco Inferno.” After guests work up an appetite on the dance floor, they can snack on slices from Lenny’s Pizza, another Manero favorite.

Ovadia said that the pack of fans was inspired to recreate the space by their nostalgic longing for a simpler time.

“There’s a bunch of people who love this time period — it was cell phone-free, people actually spoke to each other,” she said.

At the party, cell phones will be allowed, but ’70s outfits are mandatory, said Ovadia, who planned ahead by putting a jumpsuit on layaway.

“I’m going all ’70s,” she said.

The space can hold up to 500 people, and the organizers hope Brooklynites young and old will turn out and travel back to a time when platforms and bell bottoms were not just acceptable, but all the rage.

“I hope that they feel like it’s a moment of being back in time,” she said. “Just back in a time of innocence, almost.”

Saturday Night Fever 40th Anniversary (802 64th St. at Eighth Avenue in Bay Ridge, www.40thanniversaryreception.com). Dec. 13 at 5 pm. Free with RSVP.

Editor’s note: As of Dec. 13 at noon, this event is full, and no longer accepting RSVPs. Please do not call our reporter asking for tickets.

Reach reporter Julianne McShane at (718) 260–2523 or by e-mail at jmcshane@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @juliannemcshane.
Light up the night: Organizers will put down a light-up dance floor in the Chinese restaurant’s ballroom.
Photo by Georgine Benvenuto