Rock of Ages - 10/13 Preview and Opening Night - REVIEWS HERE!!!- Page 2

[BlueforBroadway]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 9:20pm

The reviews are coming in and they are good.

Yay!!!
Variety review

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 10:30pm

The reviews are great! Congrats to the cast!!
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Variety

Rock of Ages
(New World Stages; 499 seats; $80.50 top)
By MARK BLANKENSHIP
A Matthew Weaver, Carl Levin, Jeff Davis, Corner Store Entertainment presentation, in association with Scott Prisand, Janet Billing Rich, Hillary Weaver, Charles Rolecek, Susanne Brook, Israel Wolfson and Prospect Pictures, of a musical in two acts with music by various composers and book by Chris D'Arienzo. Directed by Kristin Hanggi. Musical direction, Matt Beck.

Lonny - Mitchell Jarvis
Drew - Constantine Maroulis
Sherrie - Kelli Barrett
Stacee Jaxx - Will Swenson
Dennis - Adam Dannheisser
Justice - Michele Mais
Regina - Lauren Molina
Franz - Wesley Taylor
Hertz - Paul Schoeffler

Really, "Rock of Ages" should suck. Like a thousand other shows, it takes pop songs from a particular era (in this case, the hair metal '80s) and shoves them into a flimsy plot, then it names the ingenue Sherrie, so her boyfriend can sing Steve Perry's "Oh, Sherrie." The ushers even hand out lighter-shaped flashlights, so everyone can participate in the forced nostalgia by waving fake Bics during power ballads. And yet, somewhere between the Styx dance break and the Twisted Sister reprise, this jukebox tuner transcends its hoary parts to become a legitimate artistic achievement. Auds may even wave their lighters out of genuine enthusiasm.
The success is due largely to tone. If nostalgia musicals take their subjects too seriously, they can be schlocky, but if they mock the past too much, they can be insufferably smug. In "Rock of Ages," scribe Chris D'Arienzo and director Kristin Hanggi find an excellent middle ground: They know their material is just for fun, but they don't suggest they're superior to it. They invite us to laugh with '80s rock 'n' rollers instead of at them.

The comedic lynchpin is Lonny (Mitchell Jarvis), a burnout who runs the sound at Dupree's Bourbon Room, a fictional club on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip. He's our narrator, and his asides acknowledge the show's cheesiness without belittling its heart. "This may be a bit more 'Guys and Dolls' than the actual Strip," he says, "But you know what? It's the theater. We romanticize."

D'Arienzo lets Lonny comment at all the right times, so it feels like we have an ally on stage. If he groans at an obvious joke, then our intelligence isn't insulted. If he digs the love story between wannabe rocker Drew (Constantine Maroulis), who cleans the club's toilets, and naive small-town girl Sherrie (Kelli Barrett), then we're invited to care about them, too.

Jarvis steals Jack Black's wise-ass attitude from "School of Rock," but he ably grounds the show. Even better, he knows when to play small, which keeps him from being a total caricature.

The rest of the cast follows suit. "American Idol" finalist Maroulis finds several honest moments as an awkward kid afraid to pursue his dreams, and Barrett injects real desperation in her journey from suburbanite to failed actress to stripper. (Her arc is one of the script's wittiest touches, since it recreates Pat Benatar's journey in the "Love Is a Battlefield" video.)

Will Swenson, who played Berger in this summer's Central Park revival of "Hair," ignites several scenes as Stacee Jaxx, the leader of a hair metal band who threatens to steal Sherrie's heart. His faith in his own sexiness, even when he's a drunken mess, is charmingly earnest.

Because it's relatively restrained, the production's most over-the-top numbers are refreshing. Without giving too much away, the back-to-back insanity of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Can't Fight This Feeling" are hilarious because they upend our expectations of the characters, the costumes and the choreography.

And then there's the music. A few numbers overdose on screechy theatrics, but the singing is mostly impressive. David Gibbs' arrangements also make these chestnuts sound fresh, like when Benatar's "Shadows of the Night" and Quarterflash's "Harden My Heart" blend into a surprisingly successful medley. That kind of craft makes escapism even more satisfying.

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p.s. I loved Constantine in the Wedding Singer.



Variety Review Updated On: 10/16/08 at 10:30 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 10:57pm

Rock of Ages
Reviewed By: Patrick Lee · Oct 17, 2008 · New York


Making a jukebox book musical out of the hair-band hits of the 1980s may sound like a joke, but the funniest thing about Rock of Ages, currently blasting the roof off New World Stages, is that it has as much covert affection for musicals as it does for the arena rock of yesteryear. As the song says, it don't mean nothing but a good time.

The hugely enjoyable musical has the good sense to riotously spoof itself, tongue always in cheek. The tone is set by our mullet-haired narrator (played with infectious energy by Mitchell Jarvis) who confesses he's no "Andrew Lloyd Sondheim" and that he wanted to explore deep and insightful theater -- but instead is narrating a show with poop jokes and Whitesnake songs.

The plot is so predictable and clichéd it could be condensed into a music video, but the show doesn't need anything more than a well-worn story to do the trick. There's a boy (Constantine Maroulis) who dreams of being a rock star and a girl (Kelli Barrett) who's left her small town to be a movie star. Their paths cross at a legendary rock club on the Sunset Strip just as the city's corrupt Mayor (Brian Munn) targets it for demolition. A bad-boy rock superstar (Will Swenson) is reluctantly enlisted to save the club, but is soon putting the moves on the girl. It all works out exactly as you want and expect it to in the end but with a few sly surprises thanks to bookwriter Chris D'Arienzo. (You won't ever hear REO Speedwagon's classic "Can't Fight This Feeling" again without cracking a smile.)

The show's songstack, which includes power ballads and rock anthems that will be familiar to anyone who lived through the era, is almost always up to the task of musicalizing the plot while putting nostalgia in the air. Songs such as Extreme's "More Than Words" and Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" make for natural stageworthy character ballads, while rock anthems such as Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" and Quiet Riot's "Cum On Feel The Noize" transition effectively into crowd-pleasing production numbers under Kristin Hanngi's direction. Indeed, less than a handful of the show's 30 songs feel unduly forced into musical theater duties. Better still, the music, performed by an on-stage band under Ethan Popp, retains the credible sonic punch of the original well-known recordings and happily avoids sounding like weak Broadwayized versions. Make no mistake, this show rocks and it rocks loud.

A few of the supporting players have less than enough to work with to strongly register, even by the show's cartoon standards, while Wesley Taylor, in a smaller swishy role, threatens to steal the show. As for the leads, Maroulis and Barrett are both enormously endearing performers with credible rock vocal chops, and make an ideal romantic couple for this material. Swenson, last seen in Hair, is deliciously outlandish as the spoiled, flamboyant rock superstar who comes between the kids. His outrageously hilarious performance steals clichés from Axl Rose, David Lee Roth, and several other real-life rockers, but he ultimately delivers a fresh, delightful comic creation in perfect keeping with the tone of the show.
ROA Theater Mania

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 12:32am

Just came back from the after party and boy were spirits high there! YIPPEE!!!!!!

[VocalLizzy]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 10:30am

Loved being your cab-mate tonight, Jane2...spirits were ridiculously high at the party, and judging by the reviews coming in, deservedly so.

I'm proud of each and every person in the show - they KICKED A## last night and should be basking in the glory (and some Alka-Seltzer LOL) today on their well-deserved day off.

(I on the other hand, am nursing a regrettable migraine at the office...)

Back for more next weekend...

Miss Lizzy
Rock of Ages - Nothin' But A Great Time!

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 11:12am

Hey Lizzie-let's exchange some photos. Later, though. For some reason I have a headache too, even though the bartender put NO vodka in my drink!

btw-that party was HUGE! I don't think I was ever at an opening party that huge.

Updated On: 10/17/08 at 11:12 AM

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 4:58pm

...btw-that party was HUGE

Nice to hear- glad you had a good time.

[VocalLizzy]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 5:07pm

Incredible time, JerseyGirl2...

And here are a few more links with some killer reviews:

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/ob/10_16_08.html

http://www.americantheaterweb.com/index.php/originals/2008/10/17/atw-review-ligrock-of-agesl-ig-a-surpris

http://www.nyc.com/broadway_tickets/rock_of_ages.1000437/editorial_review.aspx (the only real merit to this one is the star rating - 3.8 out of 5)

I'm so proud of all of these very talented people...just AWESOME...

Miss Lizzy
Rock of Ages - Nothin' But a GREAT Time!!!!!

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 5:34pm

miss Lizzy- how many times have you been there?
I've seen it twice- I have a few more sets of tickets. maybe I'll see you there one day.

[Mistress_Spouzic]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 5:52pm

ugh that party was nuts... I felt like I couldnt move especially when I ended up so close to the table during the speeches and everyone was crowding around to see. Im too short for such things... tho some interesting people did manage to trip over my wheelchair which was nice way to work in a hello to people I wouldnt ordinarily have spoken to.

I've seen it 4 times now! >is that bad?<

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 6:10pm

>>>is that bad

Not in my book.

[VocalLizzy]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 6:17pm

Like Mistress, I've seen it four times (five if you include the reading).

Hope to meet you there, JerseyGirl!

Hugs,

Miss Lizzy
Rock of Ages - Nothin' But A Great Time!

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 10/17/08 at 7:02pm

How many people spoke last night?

Pictures are up- cute!!
http://www.broadway.com/Rock-of-Ages-Rolls-Out-Wild-Off-Broadway-Opening/broadway_photos/5013219

Updated On: 10/17/08 at 07:02 PM