New Victoria Theatre, Woking – until 25 May 2019
Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes
4****
Nothing is better than a night at the theatre singing along to 80s rock music so Rock of Ages is definitely a winner when it comes to musicals.
Set in the mid to late 80s on the LA sunset strip, Rock of Ages tells the story of a wannabe rock star and a wannabe actress who meet and fall in love. The story is easy to follow and characters are well established and well portrayed.
Jodie Steele is brilliant as Sherrie, a small town girl determined to make it big as an actress. After befriending Drew (Luke Walsh), Sherrie becomes a waitress at The Bourbon Room working for Dennis Dupree (Kevin Kennedy). However she quits after a brief encounter with rock star Stacee Jaxx (Antony Costa). This results in Sherrie becoming a dancer at the Venus Gentleman’s club owned by Justice (Zoe Birkett).
Whilst all of this is going on Regina (Rhiannon Chesterman) keeps trying to stop German property developers Franz and Hertz (Andrew Carthy and Vas Constanti) from tearing down the Sunset Strip. However with amazing 80s rock songs the story has a happy ending.
The true star of the show however is Lucas Rush who plays Lonny, Dennis’ right hand man at the Bourbon Room. Rush has his comic timings down to an art and constantly breaks the fourth wall interacting with the audience and even reminding characters that they are in a musical.
The songs are catchy and the sets are impressive but the costumes, especially ones worn by female cast members, seem inappropriate at times. The show may be set in the 80s but the costumes didn’t always
reflect that, especially the female dancers who seemed to spend more time with their clothes off than on.
In all a good night out with lots of laughs and singing that will make you want to come back again.