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Rock of Ages First Night Reviews Roundup
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Rock of Ages opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre last night. The show has been billed as ‘Spinal Tap Meets Rocky Horror’ with numerous '80s hair metal classics being combined with a romantic storyline set on LA’s infamous Sunset Strip. The cast includes TV personality Justin Lee Collins as bar owner and “Dennis Dupree”, ex-Wicked star Oliver Tompsett as aspiring glam metal singer “Drew”, ex-Jersey Boys performer Amy Pemberton as wannabe-actress “Sherrie and X Factor winner Shayne Ward as rock bad boy “Stacee Jaxx”. UK Tickets presents a roundup of the opening night reviews. |
They Say: Rock of Ages ReviewsOn paper, a juke-box musical based on the power ballads of Foreigner, Journey and REO Speedwagon and the hair metal anthems of Bon Jovi, Poison and Twisted Sister sounds an even worse idea than We Will Rock You. Until you look at the download sales of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and work backwards, like Chris D'Arienzo must have done when he wrote the book for Rock of Ages. More a mix tape than a juke-box musical, it manages to both glory in and lampoon the clichés of the rock genres it's built on, with knowing nods to Axl Rose and David Lee Roth, and the odd X-rated joke about groupies and ping-pong balls, and wipes the floor with the Queen vehicle. **** Four Stars - Pierre Perrone for The Independent (read the full review here) The jokes are unfunny, the story both predictable and appallingly written, while the acting – with the club’s proprietor played by low-grade TV presenter Justin Lee Collins with X-Factor veteran Shayne Ward as the rock god – is dismal. I usually have a soft spot for cheesy sleaze, but there is something repellent about this show’s leering manner, while the subplot involving a crude caricatured German property developer, who wants to demolish Sunset Strip, and his outrageously camp son proves as infantile as it is unfunny. * One Star - Charles Spencer for The Telegraph (read the full review here) The book, by Chris D'Arienzo, is as shallow as the scene it supposedly sends up. Worse, it is almost entirely free of laughs, reliant on frequent recourse to the use of props such as prosthetic penises, and Lonny, the narrator (Simon Lipkin) wearing a T-shirt bearing the legend "Hooray for boobies". When he bemoans being "lured to narrate a show with poop jokes and Whitesnake songs", one feels like commiserating. * One star – Michael Hann for The Guardian (read the full review here) You Say: Rock of Ages ReviewsUK Tickets customers have also been telling us what they thought since Rock of Ages previews began in early September 2011. Read their reviews here. |
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