Rock of Ages

It was a pleasure to return to the Princess Royal Theatre for this performance of Rock of Ages, and I would like to thank the Melyn officials for their warm welcome.

Rock of Ages is a typical jukebox Musical but this time with songs by some of the best Glam Rock bands such as Journey, Whitesnake, Europe etc. With musical numbers including Final Countdown,  We built this City, Here I go Again, Don't Stop believin among others to keep the audience in a rock mood.

It follows the story of Sherrie Christian who travels to Los Angeles to make her fortune but she obviously ends up on the strip where she meets lots of colourful characters.

It follows the typical storyline, boy meets girl, boy loses girl but finally boy gets girl. The underlying story was that a developer wanted to redevelop the strip which would mean the closure of all the clubs on it with the story based mainly on the Bourban Room. The show has a large cast of characters and each one played their roles well. The smaller roles were played by Andy Walters -Burnett, Danni Gravell, Sally Thomas, James Liam Price, Kallum Brain and Karen Webb.

The show was narrated  by Lonny who kept the action moving along, this meant that the fourth wall was broken numerous times but  this role was played with his usual aplomb by Ben Bateman, he gave his usual assured performance in this role.

Sheri Christian was played by Kelly Louise Shreeve and I liked the way she portrayed the Kansas girl hitting the big city looking for fame but ending up initially as a waitress but then as a stripper at the Venus Club run by Justice Charlier played by Leah Collett. Leah is a very experienced actress and brought all her talent to this role, a totally different one to which I have seen her in the past.

The role of the owner of the Bourban Room , Dennis Dupree was taken by Rhys Hyett-Ferrier and I liked his interactions with the other characters, especially Lonny.

Drew Boley, the aspiring songwriter and performer was played by Sam Freeman as usual Sam gave a very good vocal performance with his voice suiting the rock tunes he had to belt out.

The roles of the developer Hertz Klienmann and his son Franz were played by Lee Bentley and Lewis Ansell, both gave good performances and vocally I believe this is the best role I have seen Lee in well done both.

Regina , the city planner who objects to Hertz’ plans was taken by Bethan Packer, this was the second time I have seen Bethan play this role and as usual she gave a typically polished performance.

Finally Stacey Jaxx, the ex rock star and ladies man was played by Steffan Lloyd, in my opinion he really shone in this role well done.

The show could not work without brave work by the ensemble ladies and some clever choreography, this was well done by the choreographer Andy Walters-Burnett, i really liked some of the dance sequences and I thought the pole dancing section was very nicely done lighting wise and movement wise.

There were a few sound issues on the evening I was there but I was really impressed by the enthusiasm and camaraderie of all on stage.

It was an evening of rock, sex and debauchery Just what Rock of ages is about and once again a brave choice by Director Anthony Argyle and MMTC.

Thank you for your welcome and I look forward to joining you for Sunset Boulevard in 2025.

 

 

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