Sheffield Lyceum – until Saturday 1 December
Reviewed by Lottie Davis-Browne
5*****
It doesn’t seem like two minutes since Rock of Ages opened in London’s West End – yet in actual fact it is some seven years ago in 2011 when I first took a step back in time to the 80’s, to witness this jukebox musical for the first time. Although a huge lover of 80’s music, it’s the softer cheesier stuff I’m a particular fan of (artists such as Bananarama, Duran Duran, Wham! etc….), I took a step out of my comfort zone and embraced my inner (soft) rock Goddess. The show is filled with many famous glam metal and soft rock songs of the 1980’s – featuring songs by Journey (“Don’t Stop Believing”), Pat Benatar (“Hit Me With Your Best Shot”) and Bon Jovi (“Dead or Alive”).
Set around 1987-“ish”, the story is set around saving The Bourbon Room, (a bar/club owned by Dennis Dupree and assisted by Lonny) from pending demolition. Wannabe rock star Drew Boley (Luke Walsh) works as a bartender at The Bourbon Room, and when new arrival Sherrie arrives seeking a job, he is instantly smitten and begs Dennis to give her a job. Whilst the tour programme states Jodie Steele in the role of Sherrie, following finishing the West End run of “Heathers: The Musical” on Saturday, Jodie doesn’t actually start the role until Thursday evenings performance. This however was only discovered at the start of the show with a rather muffled voice over which only told the majority of the audience there were a few cast changes – sadly most of us didn’t hear any of the names but were able to find out during the interval. Having seen Jodie in Heathers and Wicked in the past, it was clear once the show started and we met our Sherrie (later confirmed to be Rhiannon Chesterman) that I realised Jodie wasn’t performing tonight. This left me feeling instantly deflated, however this feeling soon vanished once Rhiannon sang her first note. Her performance was flawless and I soon felt myself blush for feeling like a disappointed child on Christmas Day when I didn’t get everything I wanted!
With Chesterman stepping in as Sherrie (when she usually plays Regina), this meant Erin Bell stepped in to play Regina. Again another flawless performance. As this is a touring production, the stage set differs great dramatically from the original London production. The Bourbon Room is still there, kind of; just set back amongst the scaffolding which forms the main part of the set. There’s a video screen high up (if you’re sat in the stalls you have to strain your neck slightly to see it but it’s worth it!), which is used throughout. When the first press photos were released of the stripped back stage set, the Roadies (Rock of Ages Roadies) were not too impressed, and even has a fellow Roadie myself (having seen the original London cast a few times and followed the last tour up and down the UK), I was slightly anxious to how it would work but I actually preferred the set like this. There were several other more subtle changes to it to which just added to the humour. Rock of Ages is a musical that doesn’t take itself too seriously and that’s what makes it such a laugh to watch over and over again – without getting bored of it. The vehicle used by Drew to collect Sherrie for their date can only be described as a child’s sit on motorcycle complete with side seat. (I had tears of laughter down my eyes at this point!). Or Kevin Kennedy (aka Curly Watts from Coronation Street many many moons ago – who was in Sheffield not that long ago with the tour of Fat Friends The Musical) as Dennis with his “naughty salt”. Or the mini ride on JCB digger on the day of the proposed demolition.
What they lacked in stage set the cast made up for with even more humour thrown into the mix. During a particular romantic number between Dennis and Lonny (Lucas Rush) “I Can’t Fight This Feeling” – where other productions have included a certain Dirty Dancing lift at the end of the duet, tonight instead we saw Dennis “fall” and land behind the bar and appear back on his feet in seconds doing cartwheels and more across the stage faster than the speed of light before disappearing again behind the bar and coming back pretending to be worn out – to which Lonny retorts (trying very hard not to laugh) “I never knew you were so agile Dennis!”
Another thing I love about this particular production is that whilst the West End had a rather large cast, this one appears much smaller in comparison but they use each and every member to fill scenes where needed making it appear the cast numbers are actually larger than what they really are.
I was eager to see how Zoe Birkett (2002 Pop Idol Winner) would perform as Justice, after seeing some unpleasant comments following cast announcements from the shows fans saying she was too young etc for the role. For me age is just a number and having been the understudy Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard before taking on the role permanently for the tour, I knew vocally she would not disappoint. Despite being under the weather tonight, Birkett still gave a knockout performance. If this was her “not at my best” as she so put it after the show somewhat apologetically, I was quick to reply that she must blow the roof off when she’s on top form!
A highlight of the show for me has always been the duet between Regina (Erin Bell) and Franz (Andrew Carthy) “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – partly for the fantastic blink-and-you-miss-it lightening flash costume change and the humour that follows – tonight’s cast again did not disappoint on this and I thought that Erin suited the role perfectly. She certainly appeared to be having fun!
Although the movie “never ends” and go’s “on and on and on”, sadly as much as I could talk about this show and this particular tour cast for hours, I must wrap up and take off my leg warmers (for now!) and hope that it won’t be long until I am back in the Bourbon Room.
What a better way to ease the stress of the year and get into party mode in time for Christmas and New Year! I won’t stop believing, will you?
(P.S: If like me you love all things 1980s, then watch out for the tour of brand new 1980s themed musical Club Tropicana which arrives in Sheffield next March!)