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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Rock of Ages
But we're all Hungarians in the theater, especially when it comes to jukebox musicals. Case in point, Rock of Ages, the pastiche of 1980s glam-rock ballads and anthems, all worked into a simple but effective story. It's funny, beautiful, and undeniably iconic in a new revival at Stray Dog Theatre under the direction of Justin Been. What he and Artistic Director Gary F. Bell add to it, in terms of cast and crew, and coaxing out all oceans of great singing and humor, makes this "stolen chicken," of repurposed heavy-metal music, feel freshly hatched from the egg. I have to credit music director Mallory Golden next, because this two and a half hour concert with comedy (and a 10-minute intermission) sounds great in every famous song. But coming in right behind her for wit and creativity is choreographer Mike Hodges, who actually gives us about 110%, in terms of stage movement. Cliched rock band gestures and poses come as winking embellishments in this show, rather than the substance of it. Between Mr. Hodges and director Been, your eye never stops traveling. And thanks to Ms. Golden and her singers, our ears have suddenly learned to listen to what had formerly seemed like so much sound and fury. Chris D'Arienzo wrote the libretto for Rock of Ages, where boy meets girl and somebody's dream is going up in smoke, and the whole town (the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, circa 1987) must come together to make things right again. The term "rock opera" suddenly seems to apply on multiple levels. A hundred years from now they'll be doing it at Lincoln Center with great reverence. What am I talking about? They'll probably be doing it at the Kennedy Center next season! But here it has wonderful singing, and layer upon layer of whimsical irony. So why wait? In any case, the stage musical is now almost 20 years old, opening first in Los Angeles in 2005 (at King King, and then moving to the Vanguard Hollywood) before a production Off-Broadway in 2008 (at New World Stages), and then on to the big time, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and subsequently the Helen Hayes, where it completed a New York run of over 2,300 performances, all with the musical arrangements and orchestrations of Ethan Popp. The source music is from David Lee Roth, Steve Perry, Journey, Styx, Twisted Sister, and all the groups we thought were far beneath us in college radio, when punk towered over us in the '80s. But now, it's really not too loud at all for someone in their dotage. In fact, in this production, it's strangely, deeply beautiful. I don't know if Rock of Ages would be as magical with a lesser cast, though. Dawn Schmid is (once again) indescribably hypnotic as Sherrie, a girl from Kansas. Here she's done-up in weirdly iconic, very high hair, and make-up and highlights that show off particularly well under Tyler Duenow's lighting. Sherrie falls for a bar-back in Los Angeles, Drew (the always-great Drew Mizell). The equally phenomenal Clayton Humburg plays the washed-up hard rocker Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise in the 2012 film adaptation) and provides a lot of dynamic chorus backup work as well. Jeffrey M. Wright adds exactly the right amount of bemused realism as the owner of the rock and roll bar that's about to meet the wrecking ball. And Bradley Bliven is excellent as his assistant Lonny, who's also the show's comically theatre-literate narrator. Sarah Polizzi is ingeniously funny as Regina, a protestor fighting to save DuPree's Bourbon Room. Jade Anaiis is wonderful as the owner of a local strip club, and elsewhere as the mayor. Luke A. Smith and Jacob Wilkinson are exceedingly thoughtful as a couple of German developers invading the nightclub scene. And there's great work as always from Sara Rae Womack, along with slinky Ruben Medina-Perez and the ebullient Corrinna Redford. You'd need a scaffolding to ascend all the big teased-up wigs on stage provided by Sarah Gene Dowling, on a compact but impressive set designed by Rob Lippert. The great costumes are by Colleen Michelson, with hilarious DayGlo spandex workout togs in act two. And "radical ragsmith" KD Brockfeld does the artful ripping on most of the singers' costumes, which we enjoy throughout. Glam rock suddenly possesses a torrid kind of beauty I never really appreciated, growing up. Which makes me look back more kindly on it now, all of a sudden. All these years later. Rock of Ages runs through April 26, 2025, at the Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee Ave., St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.straydogtheatre.org. Cast: Dance and Chorus: Ruben Medina-Perez, Corrinna Redford Production Staff: |
