Noel Sullivan in the touring production of Rock of Ages. Picture: Manuel Harlan
Rock of Ages continues at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until 10 May, and then tours until 22 November.
You can’t knock the statistics that Rock of Ages has accumulated. A two-year run in the West End, a movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise, and a run that still continues on Broadway well into its sixth year – there is no doubt audiences across the UK will lap up this cheesy jukebox musical without batting an eyelid.
Opening its national tour in Manchester to a packed house without one of the show’s leading men (Stephen Rahman-Hughes) due to injury, you would expect to see his understudy take on the reigns of the kooky narrator role of Lonny. However, also because of injury, Chris Southgate wasn’t able to perform either. But worry not, in the old adage of ‘the show must go on’ the producers managed to pull both Nathan Amzi (on for press night) and Simon Lipkin out of their respective shows in London to share the role over the next few nights. Needless to say, this was a bonus for anybody watching the show.
The show is about as cheesy and clichéd as your next jukebox musical – girl leaves home and wants to become a star in LA, boy falls in love with girl, girls falls in love with someone else, boy fights for her love, and all set around a storyline of corruption on the Sunset Strip. While the story may be wafer thing, Chris D’Arienzo knows this and uses it to make his book self-referential and full of tongue-in-cheek moments, but the show’s real strength is in the 1980s rock soundtrack chock full of songs from the era, including Foreigner’s ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ and Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’. The crowd laps the songs up and even joins in at times, creating a rather electric atmosphere in the auditorium.
Noel Sullivan really shines in the lead role of Drew, clearly a part he feels really comfortable with and allows him to put a quirky edge to the character. He delivers a pitch perfect vocal that ignites the stage with a real rock edge. Cordelia Farnworth as Sherrie Christian, while perfectly fine in the role, almost seems to call in her performance – something perhaps to do with her playing the character in the West End for more than a year. Daniel Fletcher is superb as the club owner Dennis Dupree – relaxed, easy and understated.
Ben Richards takes the headline spot as sex-crazed rock legend Stacee Jaxx, and while the role may be more of a plot device to drive the narrative of Drew and Sherrie, he relishes every chance to grind and gain whoops of approval from the female audience. Strong support also comes from Jack Lord as Hertz Klinemann, Cameron Sharp as Franz, and Rakesh Boury in multiple cameos, including a rather disturbing money-loving mayor. It would be churlish to not mention the hilarious antics of Nathan Amzi as Lonny, although this is just a two show stop-over in LA.
Beowulf Boritt’s set design is the same as the London production and is lit with flair and a rock‘n’roll edge thanks to Jason Lyons. However, the technical aspects and indeed the show itself is let down by quite possibly the worst sound balance one has ever heard on a musical in more than ten years of reviewing. Microphones so low that you can’t hear them over the far too loud band, microphones not even being switched on so the actors are left to compete and project over everything else.
Rock of Ages has a lot going for it, a fun and energetic show that packs plenty of classic songs and some great performances and will no doubt settle into being a real hit in the regions.
Kevin Byrnes
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