Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Resorts World Sentosa is running the musical Rock of Ages from 6 to 24 August 2014.
The musical Rock of Ages premiered in Los Angeles in 2005, and made its Broadway premier in 2009. With a book by Chris D’Arienzo, it tells the tale of small-town girl Sherrie (Shannon Mullen) who arrives at the infamous Sunset Strip in 1987 seeking fame and fortune.
Sherrie starts working at the Bourbon Room, where she falls for musician Drew (Dominique Scott). But the lovers face a trying time as Stacee Jaxx (Joshua Hobbs) arrives to play his last show at the Bourbon, in an attempt to save the club from demolition.
A jukebox musical, Rock of Ages has no original songs; instead all songs are from rock greats of the ’80s: Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Poison, and Twisted Sister amongst others. At times Mullen’s voice is drowned out by the bass-heavy music.
Scott and Hobbs fare much better, at times holding high notes and injecting vocal power into the songs. Also, despite the storyline being weak especially in this day and age of deeper plots in musicals, Rock of Ages entertains because of its wacky slapstick humour.
Also a very clever way to handle the weak story was for D’Arienzo to break the fourth wall by way of Narrator Lonny (Justin Colombo) who constantly reminds the audience they are part of the show, a technique which draws people in even more to this zany and offbeat comedy.
If you saw Rock of Ages the 2012 movie starring Tom Cruise, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mary J. Blige, along with Julianne Hough who played the young Sherrie, you’ll remember Cruise’s outlandishly amazing portrayal of Stacee Jaxx. Hobbs doesn’t exactly match Cruise’s exhilarating performance, but he does create an interesting albeit tamer Jaxx, and his voice more than makes up for his contained portrayal.
All in all, Rock of Ages is exciting and fun, and the humourous acting along with recognizable rock songs make this weird musical one you shouldn’t miss.
