What happens to the songs of yesteryear? They live again in this delicious memory stew of a musical. Rock of Ages is at New Wimbledon Theatre until March 2 and New Victoria Theatre, Woking from May 21-25. Simon Collins gives it FIVE STARS...
OUR VERDICT
Like Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz, the heroine of this tale, Sherrie Christian, leaves behind the innocence of rural Kansas to find marvellous adventures in a wonderland. For Sherrie, it is the weird Munchkinland of nightclubs and the Yellow Brick Road of the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles 1987.
Soon she meets our hero, Drew Boley, a would-be rock singer. Inevitably, the course of true love is subject to poor communication, misunderstandings, the ambiguity of the friend zone, lack of kissing, the normal bumpy ride to everyone’s wished-for contentment ever after.
The historical ambience of LA in the 80s is comically recreated in the matter of the story as a kind of ongoing living cartoon. Cheerily we suspend disbelief and become open to the questionable moral of American positivity. You’ve got to have a dream. Every character has a hedonistic, soulless dream of success to pursue: Sex, Drugs, Fame, Business, Wealth. The culminating song is Journey’s hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’, Hold on to the Feelin’,” apparently America’s best-selling digital track of the 20th Century.
The star of the night is its narrator, Lonny, perfectly played by Lucas Rush, whose knowing humour and improvised interaction with the audience is the show’s saving grace. At one point, for instance, he tells another character not to complain because “That’s the kind of musical you’re in!”
Without his ironic self-awareness, supported by clever moments of reflexive pastiche in the narration, design and direction – presumably too in Chris D’Ariezzo’s (born 1972) original conception – the audience would be only paying customers watching a karaoke cavalcade of two dozen glam metal, hard-rock classic tracks by the likes of Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Slade, Poison. In fact, by the end nobody in the theatre remains sitting down; everybody is standing clapping along and groovin’ with the cast.
These tunes must have formed the soundtrack of D’Ariezzo’s adolescence, indeed most of the teens of half the planet, anyone born after 1970. What happens to the songs of yesteryear? Some of them live again here in a delicious memory stew. As they emerged on the theatre steps afterwards the individuals, groups and couples who minutes earlier had been an audience looked well-fed and satisfied.
The publicity for the show includes a come-on tagline, WARNING: CONTAINS SERIOUS ROCK ‘N’ ROLL DEBAUCHERY! Sure enough there are approving drug references and lots of provocatively-dressed young women in their underwear, as per MTV, and some simulated intercourse. Our heroine from Kansas, the formerly innocent Miss Christian, does time as a pole dancer and lap performer “any way you want it,” in The Venus Club before committing horrific violence against the rock star, Stacee Jaxx, seemingly from guilt at having yielded to his temptation in the men’s toilet earlier.
In the main, the evening is relentlessly upbeat, happy, brash and loud. A terrific live band at the back of the stage, Arsenal, who also feature in the story, provides the music. The songs are delightfully performed thanks to the wireless mikes and very energetic, even gymnastics, singing and dancing of all the cast. The show can be recommended as great entertainment for anyone aged 20 to 70. I would particularly recommend it to anyone who wants to contemplate in cold blood the mass appeal of popular music.
This is a show that had its premiere in 2005 in Los Angeles, moved on to Las Vegas and Broadway, Toronto, Seoul and everywhere else ever since. It has already run for two years in London’s West End. A film version starring Tom Cruise was released in 2012. Over 4,000 actors have appeared in productions, with a combined worldwide audience of millions. The rock rolls on with no indication of gathering moss any time soon. Catch it if you can.
Rock of Ages is currently on Tour - read Jane Mcgowan's interview with Kevin Clifton here.