Rock of Ages

It is a strange phenomenon that  the very thought of going to see an amateur production of ‘Oklahoma’ or ‘Oliver’ seems like a massive retrograde step or perhaps even a step into the past. The huge influx of new titles available to amateur groups means that rather than the aforementioned classics, you are far more likely to see a ‘One Man Two Guvnor’s’, a ‘Legally Blonde’ or, as was the case on this occasion, the latest new release, ‘Rock Of Ages’. As I took my seat at Dereham’s superb Memorial Hall, I could already sense an unease amongst the great and the good of Dereham Theatre Company.

The show ran for 2,328 performances on Broadway (the 27th longest recorded run) but barely managed 2 years on the West End. The 2012 film version received a  luke- warm response in the UK and I had already started to wonder if the subject matter resonated with British audiences. The story is simple, even by musical standards and is set in Hollywood in 1987. Lonny Barnett and Dennis Dupree run the Bourbon Lounge, a safe haven for 80’s vintage Rock. Amongst the odd assortment of employees are cleaner and aspiring rock singer, Drew Boley and newly arrived singer, Sherrie Christian. They fall in love, but wait …. spaced out Rock legend Stacee Jaxx, European property developers Hertz Klinemann and his son Franz all conspire to reduce the (inevitably high) chances of a happy ending. Throw in protester Regina Hoontz and a secondary love tangle and …… well anything was possible.

The set (Kevin Jude, Dave Filer and Haydn Rogers) was excellent. The very embodiment on an 80’s rock club and working on three different levels gave the production plenty of depth. Costumes (Michele Blanks and Dereham Theatre Costumes) were also perfection, with plenty of variety and some very imaginative and exotic choices for the girls. Make up, hair and wigs (Sophie Blanks) did nothing to let the side down. In fact, I thought the wigs were more credible that many I have seen on an amateur stage with some pretty ambitious hair pieces kept well under control. Lighting (Emotive Lighting and Sound) was excellent and sound (Emotive Lighting and Sound) …. see final paragraph!

The chorus were split and shared between protesters and (more commonly) single girls of this parish. Dance Captains Georgia Long and Martha Bailey held the girls together with Brodie Elgood and Olivia Dolman standing out amongst the latex and lace. There were always plenty of bodies on stage for each routine but the choreography (Georgia Millan) seemed a little confused in all but two of the songs. The music screamed “Rock” but the steps said Musical Theatre and even with a large dollop of air guitar it didn’t sit quite right with me. Having said that all the dancers and chorus were enthusiastic, committed and worked hard throughout. There was also a nice little drag cameo from Ollie Ludman that made me laugh out loud and was worthy of recognition !

In the supporting roles, and also working hard were Chloe Hunter as Constance Sack, Alan Syder as Ja’Keith Gill and Laura Marvell-James as Justice Charlier. Mark Wells was on top form as the villain of the piece, German property developer Hertz Klinemann, showing how good he is within his range.

In the more prominent roles, Elliott Hunter made a nice job of Rock legend and sex god, Stacee Jaxx, using his superb singing voice to give credibility to the many songs. I found him a bit shouty last time I saw him on this stage (Jesus Christ Superstar) but there were no such issues this night. I loved Andy Lofthouse and Lee Chapman as Dennis Dupree and Lonny Barnett, who were completely believable as best friends and later on … gay lovers! with Mr Chapman particularly putting body, soul and every ounce of his energy into the part. Two great characterisations that were diminished only by the enduring sound issues throughout the performance.

The show overall was something of a surreal creation and this is underlined by the success of supremely talented Declan Matwij as reluctant developer Franz Klinemann. Mr Matwij delivered one of his trademark high comedy caricatures that was just perfect for the piece. More importantly perhaps, the show needed it really badly and the audience lapped it up in the absence of anything much else of substance. This production did benefit from two romantic leads that really could sing and, whilst they didn’t look completely comfortable with each other, they both delivered accomplished performances. Heather Rudolph as City newcomer, Sherrie Christian and Michael Stoker as aspiring songwriter and musician Drew Boley, gave it everything but, with a script that was short of dialogue, they failed to make their romance the focus of the production.

Maybe it was because I couldn’t connect with the themes in this production or maybe the script did not enthuse me, but I found myself captivated by a perfectly straight performance unable to be contained within the many lightweight characters. Penultimate paragraph honours just have to go to the amazing Ellie Buckingham as Protester and idealist, Regina Kootz. Miss Buckingham just seemed to be doing Shakespeare when everyone else was doing ‘Carry On’ Aerosmith! I know I am on record as being a Buckingham fan but don’t let that distract you. She really stole this show!

Cards on the table … I didn’t like ‘Rock of Ages’! It was a mess of a script that wanted to be rock opera but didn’t really have the guts. It mixed classic songs of the era with new songs to promote the story. That would have worked but that story was so small and uninteresting  it could have been wrapped up and lost in the chorus of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” (one of my favourite songs). The production itself wasn’t terrible, in fact in places it was quite stylish. Having the band on stage worked really well and Musical Director Helen Cowie and Conductor Dave Cowie got a brilliant sound out of the magnificent 5 piece combo. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) looked good and knew what they were doing, but it is no exaggeration when I say that I could not make out anything anyone said or sang for the first 15 minutes. The band were perfectly balanced and not at all too loud but the vocals and dialogue were all over the place. The actor’s mics were brought in late so many times you almost got used to missing the first line of every piece of script. I began to feel that whoever was on the desk did not know which buttons to push or when to push them. Director Chris Dilley is a really nice guy with plenty of talent. The good things about this show are testament to that, but I left the theatre thinking that he didn’t get it any more than I did …. another British guy caught in a very American fantasy? Maybe.

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