★★★★
About:
Set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip, Rock of Ages is an Arena-rock love story told through the glam rock music that defined America in the 80s. With hits such as Don’t Stop Believing, Dead or Alive, I Wanna Know What Love is and The Final Countdown it tells the story of when boy meets girl in LA’s most famous rock club.
Cast
Zoe Birkett – Justice
Andrew Carthy – Franz
Vas Constanti – Hertz
Rhiannon Chesterman – Regina
Kevin Clifton – Stacee Jaxx
Kevin Kennedy – Dennis
Lucas Rush – Lonny
Jodie Steel – Sherrie
Luke Walsh – Drew
Do I love Glam rock? Yes. Do I love musical theatre? Uh huh. Do I adore Kevin Clifton? Absolutely.
However, having watched the mediocre 2012 movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin, my expectations for this production were pretty low. I was expecting to come out singing the songs yet feeling underwhelmed. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Lucas Rush (Lonny) was cast brilliantly as the narrator, interacting just the right amount with the crowd and getting everyone laughing from the offset. The relationship he portrayed between Lonny and Kevin Kennedy’s character of Dennis was sweet yet hilarious, and in the extremely LGBTQ+ friendly city of Glasgow got the biggest cheer of the night when the two characters finally got together.
Both Jodie Steel (Sherrie) and Luke Walsh (Drew) were respectively rockin’ in their roles. Steel in particular has an incredible voice and her rendition of I wanna Know Love Is completely blew me away.
The rest of the cast was stellar with Pop Idol winner Zoe Birkett giving a memorable performance as Justice.
For me it was Kevin Clifton who stole the show. As a long time Strictly Fan I was looking forward to seeing how Clifton’s Ballroom moves would incorporate into the glam rock scene of the 80s. The character of Stacee Jax is an oddity, but Clifton played it excellently with just the right amount of bravado and lightness to keep it from falling over the edge to absurd. His singing voice was much better than expected with a few stellar moments including the rendition of Wanted Dead or Alive (which coincidently happens to be one of my favourite songs). There was little chance for Clifton to show of his dance moves which was slightly disappointing, however he did treat us to a little during the bows which had everyone cheering.
The production of this show was extremely slick with a big screen detailing any scene changes, allowing the audience to be aware of exactly where they were to avoid confusion. Although from the upper gallery and the balcony the top of the screen was obscured so this effect was lost.
All in all it was an extravaganza of campness which had me up dancing for the final number and leaving with the biggest grin on my face.
Only Hope 