Review: The Band Is Where It's At In ROCK OF AGES

The band is the essential heartbeat of rock & roll! In Arizona Broadway Theatre's current production of ROCK OF AGES, Mark Foreman (keyboards), Daniel Stotz (bass), Douglas Ramlow (percussion), and Andrew Hake and Jeff Lauffer (guitars) prove the point with an explosive and electrifying nonstop performance that plays true to the distinctive attributes of glam metal. When you've got music like this, the iconoclastic tunes of the 1980's, played with such zest and fervor, you could pass on the story, just go with the beat, and enjoy. But, of course, there is a story.

Under Foreman's musical direction, this ROCK OF AGES is a totally amped-up and vigorous medley of '80's hits wrapped around Chris D'Arienzo's otherwise very conventional and "irrepressible love story" about Sherrie (Laurie Gardner), a small town girl (yes, from Kansas!) following her yellow brick road to Hollywood's Sunset Strip (circa 1987) and Drew (Seth Hunter), a Motor City transplant revving up to be a big wheel on the highway of rock.

Paralleling their roller coaster relationship, thrown off track by Sherrie's ill-fated tryst with rock idol Stacee Jaxx (Joe Ogren), is a fun (and socially relevant) subplot involving a German father/son developer team (Bobby Underwood and Barrett Harper) with eyes on razing Dennis Dupree's (Rob Watson) iconic rocker home, the Bourbon Room, despite the protests of Regina (Rori Nogee), the prototypical Berkeley hippie activist.

Director and choreographer Kurtis W. Overby does a masterful job in piecing together all the strands of this music fest cum subplots. Wrap the music of groups like Journey, Asia, Warrant, Foreigner, and Twisted Sister around a script that is fittingly gritty with a decent share of sleaze and double entendres, add choreography that is downright pulsating and sexy, place it all in Geoffrey Eroe's evocative period set, and spice it up with an ensemble of high-powered vocalists ~ and you've got one hell of a pulsating block buster.

The musical is enriched by a number of well-crafted and uplifting performances. At the top of my list is Matthew Mello, a member of the 68 Cent Crew Theatre Company, who is at the top of his game as Lonny, both Dupree's assistant and the show's narrator who traverses the fourth wall to indulge in risqué exchanges with select members of the audience. Mello is mellow-on-steroids ~ super-amiable and mischievous, with fiery rock vocals and high-level attitude.

Seth Hunter reveals the transformative power of the music that he loves when he shifts gears in the first act from mild-mannered busboy and belts out I Wanna Rock, convincingly hitting the high notes and qualifying eventually for top billing. Laurie Gardner's ear-splitting and at times pitchy vocals are more than made up for by her appealing portrayal of naiveté, aspiration, desperation, and self-affirmation.

There are other gems that give sparkle to this production: Joe Ogren is terrific as the self-indulgent rock star, perfectly carrying off what looks to be the incarnation of David Lee Roth.

Barrett Harper ("I'm not gay, I'm German") nearly stops the show with a spectacular rendition of Hit Me With Your Best Shot ~ the ultimate faceoff between the flamboyant son and his tightly wound father. Rori Nogee joins Harper in the fun arrangement, and, as she does throughout the show, delivers a spirited, earthy, and lovable performance. Rob Watson is delightful as the laid back and eventually angelic proprietor of the Bourbon Room.

While the story line may be conventional, the music and the message are not. The point is summed up in what may well be noted as the show's anthem, Journey's Don't Stop Believin': paraphrasing a tad, the quest for fulfillment of one's dreams "never ends, It goes on and on, and on, and on."

ROCK OF AGES continues its rockin' run at Arizona Broadway Theatre through June 19th.

Photo credit to Joe Samplin

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