All Shook Up Reviews

Seems like maybe it will be a huge hit with families... People like shows they can see with there familes... like Beauty n The Beast n Wicked n such...

As an aside, I don't find any of the cast members to have anything resembling sex appeal, so you might hear that a lot as well. And yes, I might be in the minority, but Jackson does absolutely nothing for me.

Talkin Broadway is Negative:

"Some musicals really do go that extra mile to give relevance to their titles. However, in the case of All Shook Up, which just opened at the Palace, the title is less apropos to its subject matter of a Midwest town being introduced to rock music than to San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake.

If the destruction here isn't total, it's close enough for theatrical purposes. Never in the brief recent history of Broadway jukebox book musicals has this much established talent been involved in the creation of so little of consequence. The flagrant misuse of (to begin with) performers as gifted as Alix Korey, Sharon Wilkins, and Leah Hocking, and of set designer David Rockwell, is alone enough to make you want to weep at the present state of Broadway musicals.

More depressing still is what this show heralds for the future, especially with regard to shows eschewing original scores in favor of cramming pre-existing pop catalogs (in this case, that of Elvis Presley) into new librettos (in this case, by Joe DiPietro). It's easy enough to write off obvious hack jobs like Mamma Mia! and Good Vibrations, which have no believable pretense of creative intent behind them. But, in its way, All Shook Up is worse: It aspires to create art from garbage, but produces only exquisitely painted trash. And too many theatergoers today can't tell the difference. "

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"Such insensate idiocy eventually becomes impossible to take without suffering at least partial brain damage; I found myself unable to stop smiling at the mounting contrivances of the second act, which was set - for reasons known only to DiPietro - almost entirely in an abandoned fairground. But such grins never translate into either laughter or pleasure; that would require real jokes and something - anything - happening onstage that can emotionally involve the viewer.

The only identifiable feeling All Shook Up evokes is pity for the cast. Korey, one of musical theatre's best belters, has little to sing and less to play as the thoroughly one-dimensional mayor. Hocking's voice is thrilling, and she's got great comic timing, but she's reduced to playing nothing more than a curvaceous plot point. Gambatese and Price, while appealing, lack the skill necessary to fake their way through their non-roles; Wilkins and Hadary fare only slightly better. Jackson sings and dances well, but seems determined to generate charisma solely from the gyration of his pelvis; he's not successful.

Of course, All Shook Up isn't about its performers, their characters, or whatever threadbare complications DiPietro has devised for them; it's about Elvis songs. If that's all you want, nothing of theatrical consequence will stand in the way of your enjoying them at the Palace for the foreseeable future. Otherwise, don't expect this flavorless musical martini to leave you either shaken or stirred. "
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/AllShookUp.html

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Updated On: 3/24/05 at 06:33 PM

Well that really drives the point home now, doesn't it? And it's unfortunately not the theatergoers fault. They just shove whatever's given to them, down their throats. It's the people who decided that this was a show worthy of Broadway and spending millions of dollars on. I can't believe it ever got past it's run in Conn. Makes you long for AIDA. And that speaks volumes.

It does.. their set looks like Hairspray's too.

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Nothing makes me long for Aida.

i dont know if i thought the sets looked the same so much, but did they have to use the same "buildings light up" idea for the website? it was probably the same company, id guess.

i enjoyed the show. i hope it gets some positive reviews.

Updated On: 3/24/05 at 06:48 PM

I really just can't wait to see Brantley's...

Well, I just got back from the opening night performance and I hated it. I hated it so much I didn't go to the afterparty.

I really hope All Shook Up gets some positive reviews. It is what it is. It is not meant to be a deep ground breaking musical. It is just a fun show with a lot of wit that is very entertaining. I saw the show twice in Chicago and was never dissapointed. Yes, it does have some flaws, but you still leave the theatre with a good feeling and a smile. And that is why it is worth the price of admission and garner some positive reviews.

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Newsday is up

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-etlede4188220mar25,0,4503754.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-stage

At the other end of the spectrum, Kuchwara (AP) is very positive:

"There may be life in the jukebox musical after all. The much-maligned genre that produced the highs of "Mamma Mia!" and the lows of "Good Vibrations" has strengthened the case for pop-song musical theater with a surprising "All Shook Up."

This genial, thoroughly ingratiating show, which opened Thursday at Broadway's Palace Theatre, features songs made famous by that icon of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley. And it also celebrates Presley himself, using his persona as the model for the musical's lead character, a guitar-strumming, motorcycle-driving, hip-swiveling roustabout named Chad.

What makes "All Shook Up" work so well is the show's cheerful, tongue-in-cheek sense of self. Book writer Joe DiPietro, one of the creators of the long-running off-Broadway revue "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," has concocted a goofy, often funny and sweet-tempered story that is an affectionate send-up not only of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," but all those cheesy movies Presley made during his mediocre film career. Remember such cinematic clinkers as "Harum Scarum," "Clambake" and "Speedway"? They make "All Shook Up" seem like "Long Day's Journey Into Night."

""All Shook Up" thrives on that confusion, a mixed-up merry-go-round of fun anchored by all those Presley tunes. Lightweight, to be sure, but it floats very nicely indeed."
AP Review

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Updated On: 3/24/05 at 10:26 PM