All Shook Up - Saturday Matinee

I saw it last week and I thought it was great! I anticipated something relatively stupid, but the storyline worked for me and I thought Cheyenne was funny. The voices were excellent!

yay for all shook up and the cast!!!

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I much preferred the more comprehensible and more humorous Mamma Mia and I can't even begin to compare it with the artistry and originality of Movin' Out. Though I'm sure All Shook Up will have a long life in community theatres and high schools, I don't see it lasting too long on Broadway. But then again, Brooklyn is still running, so who knows?

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I think All Shook Up far outshines Mamma Mia - for story, music, and stage scenery. It will definately be around for a long time. (p.s. I never thought I'd admit to enjoying a musical more than Mamma Mia, but I am!)

Take away the band and you still have a brilliantly choreographed ballet. I guess if you're not a fan of dance, it woul explain why you find Movin' Out boring and All Shook Up fun. What little dancing was in All Shook Up was simplistic and forgettable. I love Mamma Mia and I wanted to love All Shook Up, but I found it to be a bit of a mess with a couple of fun spots. All the cheesy puns where Elvis song titles are worked into the dialogue were just eye-rolling. All Shook Up just had way too many characters and stories to lend any of them enough plausibility or focus to care about what was happening. It starts out as a cute love story around a girl who is barely there for the first act and an unremarkable boy who people pay attention to for no reason other than the script tells them to. The second act tries to become an all-out farce that was not clearly set up in the first act with moments of camp, tackling issues of racial bigotry, homophobia (which was decided to be ok at the end), and premarital sex. Had the show made it clear from the beginning what it wanted to be and stuck with it, I could have bought it, but it doesn't and the dialogue just isn't witty enough to propel me through the indecisiveness. Look at Spamalot, The Producers and Hairspray. These shows never change their style or tone throughout the show and when unbelievable events occur, they are unexpected, yet unsurprising. All Shook Up tries to achieve this, but not throughout the entire show. It is only in isolated scenes.

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Now or Never was a brilliant scene. I only wish the rest of the show was as good as that one scene.

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wow saw the show friday night and LOVED IT!!! I went in thinking that i really wasn't going to like and it took me a few numbers to get into but once i was into i was INTO it! its sooo much fun!!!! Your not supposed to take it seriously the show itself doesn't take itself seriously and thats what its about having fun! This isnt a show that will change your life or move you...this is a show that if you wanna go and just have a good time and hear some great singing and watch a cute story unfold and i actually found Act Two quite touching in parts. So go in with an idea of having fun and not being serious and you'll have fun.
PS i met the cast afterwards....the NICEST cast ever and they were willing to talk and everything soo nice.

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saddle shoe, I'd love to hear about the show, since you saw the Goodspeed production (right?), I'd be interesting to know the differences.

Also, how is Now or Never staged? I absolutely LOVED Dean's "exit" right before that song when I saw the show in CT and wondered if they'd at all be able to replicate that in a large theatre.

basketcase, there were a lot of things that were the same. As I watched a whole lot came back to me that I had forgotten but a lot of the changes do work. "That's Alright" is a great new song addition. Instead of Jenn singing "Roustabout (reprise)", she sings "Blue Suede Shoes" and does a great job. Cheyenne Jackson was worlds away from Manley Pope. Now, I did not think Manley Pope as terrible. He just wasn't as strong a singer as I would have hoped. I was so happy with Cheyenne Jackson's performance. The choreography is also totally different (they got a new choreographer) and I missed some of the stuff from CT but the new stuff wasn't bad. There is so much more I could say lol.

"Now Or Never" is easily one of my favorite scenes. The staging is so well done.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BE SURPRISED
In Chicago, Lorraine rides up on her bike to Dean (You will LOVE Curtis Holbrook, what a find) who is about to board a (very adorable) greyhound bus back to his military school. "Atleast we still have our memories. How I picked up your glove... and how we danced in my mom's bar... that's about it..." and they say their goodbyes and Dean goes to board the (oh so cute. can you tell i love this bus?) greyhound bus. As he steps on, she says it's such a shame that they haven't kissed and he swings from the bus door and starts singing "It's now or never..." and they are dancing and it's so sweet. Then he has to get on the bus Lorraine jumps on her bike and starts pedaling after the bus. The bike is on a hydrolic platorm but propped up so she is actually pedaling and the wheels are turning. The backdrop has telephone poles going by and it's so well done and finally she starts to catch up and they touch hands but then the bus pulls away off the stage. Lorraine is really sad and sings that last "It's now or never..." and then Dean runs on and calls her name and they both sing "My love won't wait!" together and kiss. It was a really great scene :)

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Updated On: 1/16/05 at 10:28 PM

The show is great...thats awesome Friday night rocked as im sure everynight there does...no i was next to the guy who got their pic taken by cheyenne...i was the kid in the blue coat w/ the annoying mom. i did get my pic w/ cheyenne though and that was awesome!!! sooo nice.

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gustof777, I saw you lol. Didn't notice your mom though.

Mister Matt, I'm tired of people being so negative about this show and I had personal attacks made against me for liking it. Sorry to be tired of seeing all the negative crap but the personal attacks just pissed me off enough to get really frustrated with people being negative. You have been negative on every thread about the show. Why don't you tell us what you liked?

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Mister Matt,

Please continue posting your feelings about ALL SHOOK UP and any other show. Your thoughts are perceptive and written from the perspective of someone who is in the business and knows what will "work" and what will "not work". Other postings seem to be written from the point of view of audience members who are there solely to enjoy the show and that's okay, but you seem to get to the nitty-gritty. Keep it up!

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