The Long Island Advance
Come And ‘Feel The Noize’
“Rock of Ages,” The Gateway’s season opener, begins with a blistering guitar riff, then Lonnie the narrator proclaiming, “Welcome to Sunset Strip,” as the full cast of 21—in leather, beards, long hair and big hair, fishnet stockings, short skirts and bare midriffs—blast out from doors singing “Livin In Paradise,” “Cum on Feel the Noize.” Oh baby! You’re in for a hilarious, rollicking night.
In 1987, The Bourbon Room is the last legendary L.A. club that offers raucous rock ‘n’ roll acts, including slithery Stacee Jaxx, adorned with a leopard vest and tight sequined leather pants, who wails out the music and drives groupies wild.
Christopher Persichetti as Lonnie narrates the story, addressing the audience often, with a winking edginess that’s flamboyantly funny as he stalks the stage. (Watch out, front-rowers.) And there are so many silly, humorous moments that emerge one after another—angels and activists running down the aisles, furry puppets appearing for emphasis, exaggerated singing, clapping along to the songs, confetti thrown—that along with the fabulous voices and dancing, the show is a welcome, outrageous romp.
While Lonnie is a cynic, he tries to help sweet, naïve Drew (an adorable Woody Scott White), who wants to be a composer and singer at The Bourbon Room, but is relegated to cleaning bathrooms at the club while he has eyes for Sherrie (Malia Monk). She’s a bit of a naïf, too, excited to be in Los Angeles to pursue acting and winds up at the club getting a job as a waitress.
Will they, won’t they? No spoilers, but a few of the stunners.
“We’re Not Gonna Take It,” sung by Sarah Michele Lindsey as Regina, is a fireball number that Lindsey and the cast grab by the throat. It’s a stomping, twirling anthem, and they rock it after German developer, Hertz, played by Ian Knauer, great as the villain, wants to clean up the strip and seize the club via public domain. He’s accompanied by his son, Franz (Ethan Carlson), reluctant to go along with his dad’s wishes. Plus, Franz admires Regina (more about them later).
When Drew sings the lovely “More Than Words” and “Heaven” thinking about Sherrie, his gorgeous voice is as plaintive and beautiful as his yearning. He’s joined by the heavenly white-robed cast, who surround him up on a landing and on the sides. (Hey, it’s a musical!) But the poor guy just can’t express his feelings to Sherrie. Which discourages her.
Oh, that Stacee Jaxx, played to sleazy perfection by Mark Ryan Anderson. He’s the lead singer for The Arsenal and comes to The Bourbon Room for an interview. Girls hover over Stacee as he flips his hair back, seduces Sherrie, and both sing “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Then the cad dumps her.
When Sherrie, now a stripper in a gentlemen’s lounge called The Venus Club after Stacee gets her fired, encounters a drunken Stacee who comes in for a lap dance, she refuses but is convinced by Mother (amazing Asia Kaleem, especially in “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”), who owns The Venus. In “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “In the Heat of the Moment,” Sherrie gets her revenge. Stacee gets elbowed, bitten, slugged as Sherrie nails him with every lyric.
Pure gold. Great voice.
And don’t miss when Dennis, the owner of The Bourbon Room (Aaron Fried), and Lonnie, upset that the club is about to close, admit their attraction to each other in “Can’t Fight This Feeling.” They jump on poles and throw their arms out dramatically like quasi opera stars.
There were cheers when Franz finally stands up to his father, who threatens to strike him. (Ethan Carlson is terrific in his role.) He strips down to a pink sparkly tank top and shorts, while Regina does the same, and they sing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” in a jubilant, somersault production number. (Franz jumps on Regina in the end! Yay!)
This musical, with its 33 hit songs, was nominated for five Tony Awards and was made into a movie for good reasons. The choreography in the show is just superb and the songs, singing and musicians, well, they were all smokin’ and raised the roof.
Dan's Papers
The Gateway Kicks Off 75th Season with 'Rock of Ages'
The Gateway’s 75th season kicked off this month with a certified head-banger: Rock of Ages by Chris Darienzo and Ethan Popp. This jukebox musical is a love letter to ’80s kids and fans of the generation’s high-energy rock music, glam rock, arena rock and heavy metal, featuring mashups and full renditions of classics like “We Built This City,” “The Final Countdown,” “Dead or Alive,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “Renegade” and “Pour Some Sugar.” Careful listeners may also catch a snippet of the show’s namesake song, “Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard, which is infamously omitted from the musical’s soundtrack.
The setting and narrative of Rock of Ages are carefully built upon the show’s track list, with characters’ names, goals and story beats closely mirroring the featured songs. Many of these connections are either obvious or stated with a wink to the audience, such as Sherrie Christian being named after both Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie” and Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian.” The main couple, too, is a direct callout to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” — Sherrie is a small-town girl, Drew is a boy from Detroit, and, yes, a midnight train is involved.
As with many jukebox musicals, Rock of Ages’ plot is not the main draw. In a sense, the story is the hamburger bun keeping the ingredients together, but the music is the meat that people come to enjoy. While the production relishes in its surface-level triviality via Lonny, the self-aware narrator who breaks the fourth wall and makes fun of the show’s cliché elements, the story it’s telling is shockingly sincere in portraying the dark reality of seeking Hollywood fame in the 1980s.
Sherrie Christian, portrayed by Malia Monk, is the young, naive runaway who flees her Kansas home to chase her dream of becoming a famous actress. Instead, she discovers that life is full of rejection, betrayal and exploitation. Monk captures Sherrie’s transition from a bright-eyed dreamer to an embittered realist exceptionally well in her acting and singing. Her haunting delivery of Quarterflash’s “Harden My Heart” gives chills that are amplified by the number’s poignant infusion of Pat Benatar’s “Shadows of the Night” sung by Asia Kaleem, as a reluctant Sherrie is lured into a life of exotic dancing by strip club owner Justice (Kaleem).
The script may treat Sherrie and her romantic counterpart, rockstar wannabe Drew Boley, as tragic parallels faced with the true cost of fame and forced to compromise their values to achieve it, but it’s a tough sell equating Sherri’s horrific situation to Drew’s low point, at which his manager forces him to wear trendier clothes and sing pop songs. And that’s probably for the best. Among the main cast, Sherrie is the only deep, nuanced character in this otherwise hilarious, campy romp through ’80s music and nostalgia, and that seems to strike a comfortable balance for the audience.
Drew’s struggle may pale when compared to Sherrie’s, but his portrayal by Woody Scott White is bursting with humor and heart. His performance of “I Wanna Rock” channels the rock gods that this musical celebrates, and his sweeter numbers like “Waiting for a Girl Like You” prove the impeccable range and tone of his voice.
Rock of Ages is chock full of scene-stealing dynamic pairings beyond the romantic leads. Throughout the first act, Ethan Carlson as the flamboyantly German Franz is an absolute delight, and Sarah Michele Lindsey as the riotous Regina is a force that leaves the audience in stitches. Put them together in act two, and the result is a wonderfully ridiculous, off-the-walls rendition of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” replete with neon unitards and legwarmers.
Raunchy narrator Lonny, played by Christopher Persichetti, and headstrong hippie Dennis, Aaron Fried, are a source of endless laughs throughout the show and share a chemistry as undeniable as it is cheeky, though their romantic rendition of REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” still manages to come out of left field in the silliest way.
Stacee Jaxx, the personification of the MTV rockstar lifestyle, is a caricature and a half with his lion-mane hair, in-your-face debauchery and harem of groupies, and actor Mark Ryan Anderson plays the part with conviction. Though his character’s role in the story diminishes as it progresses, Anderson steals the full company’s finale number with his part in “Don’t Stop Believin’” sung of entirely in Spanish.
The sex, drugs, rock and roll don’t end with Stacee Jaxx. The choreography is suggestive, the costumes are scandalous, the innuendos aren’t subtle, and the crude humor is rampant — in other words, Rock of Ages is a time capsule containing everything that rockers from the generation of excess would hope to see in a production like this.
With support from
Bellport Box Office
Tuesday - Sunday, 11am - 6pmClosed Monday
631-286-1133
boxoffice@thegateway.org
