Rock of Ages

Seaton Starlights have been performing together since 2012 but this was their first full musical in a theatre.

I am sorry but I have to say that I was disappointed by their choice of Rock of Ages for their debut on the big stage. The show had long runs on Broadway and the West End but it now looks rather tired and outdated when compared to other juke box musicals. Characters are one-dimensional, the plot is thin and dialogue –  including some puerile attempts at humour – limited, as is the appeal of the music.

That said, I think the company did a reasonably good job with the material they had.

The Bourbon Room is a run down bar/music venue in Hollywood, threatened with closure by German developers who, with the collusion of the Mayor, want to clear the strip it stands on to redevelop it into something more respectable. A group led by the Mayor’s secretary protests against this. Romantic interest is provided by a couple of incomers, both lured there by the promise of stardom. All against the background of events in the Bourbon Room.

Uppingham Theatre has a large stage and the show made full use of this with a very good set based on the bar. Musical support was very ably provided by a four piece rock band at the back of the stage. In addition to this I thought that the use of projection above the stage was creative and added to the feel of the production.

I enjoyed the performances of Louise Cook (Sherrie) and Charlie Harris (Drew), the two young people drawn to the bright lights of Hollywood – their duet High Enough was touching. I was also impressed by Mick Barker and Luke Cooper who played their roles as Hertz and son Franz, the German developers with considerable confidence and skill. And Diane Lander as the Mayor’s rebellious secretary Regina was very believeable – another performer who managed to create a good rapport with the audience. These three worked well together to make the most of the humour in the show.

Lonny is the assistant to Dennis, owner of the Bourbon Room. A central part of this key role is to interact with the audience, a sort of one-man Greek chorus. Daniel Alfieri clearly enjoyed this role and put lots of work into the part but I thought his character was rather too cynical to be treated as my friend and confidante as I think Lonny needs to be.

Chorus work was good with some well-rehearsed singing and dancing and I was impressed by the scene in which demonstrators against the demolition of the strip were forced offstage by the police to The Final Countdown.

At one point action moves to the Venus Club – an exotic dancing venue with pole dancers. I wondered how this would be managed by an amateur group but, thanks to some good choreography it worked very well.

With short scenes and dialogue of a limited quality making an assessment of acting in this show is difficult. Lines were learnt, diction good and some characterisations were also good. Again, an overall assessment of the quality of singing is difficult – there is a particular skill in singing heavy metal songs and I think this overstretched some of the cast. There was also a problem with sound balance – I sat in the middle of the theatre 10 rows back and at times the band (especially the drums) overshadowed both dialogue and song. (I felt especially sorry for a drag artist in the Venus club whose only line was completely drowned out by the band.) The lighting plan for the show must be quite complicated but I have to say that sometimes actors were left in the dark or lighting cues were late.

I think it’s true to say that on the night I was there audience reaction was quite low-key; until the finale (Don’t Stop Believin’ ) when the place erupted!

Seaton Starlights are clearly a very ambitious group with a great love for what they do – even the bar of the theatre was decorated with 80’s rock posters, creating an impressive ambience for the show. Putting on Rock of Ages has taken lots of work – but also, I was pleased to see from the programme, created a huge amount of pleasure for its large cast and crew.

Given this the Starlights deserve to succeed. I look forward to hearing about their next production with interest.

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