Rock of Ages – The Musical

Cheesy 80’s music? Constantine Maroulis? Big Hair? Sign me up!
I am NOT what you would call a theater or musical fan, but this rocked my world! I can’t wait to see it again!
We had pretty craptastic seats (way in the back, obstructed view), but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. From the first song to the «Oh Sherry/Don’t Stop Believin’» finale, we couldn’t stop laughing and singing along. Constantine (*swoon*) was the perfect choice for the lead, and he belted out some renditions that were better than the originals.
Even if you’re not a huge fan of the music, there are lots of really funny moments in the show that anyone would enjoy. If you get a chance (when it returns here, or in another town), go see it. Even my blue line ride after the show was filled with singing from others who had just gotten out of the show!

Wow! I have seen a LOT of musicals and I can honestly say that this is one of the best! I thought it was hilarious. The music was really well done, too. I was thoroughly entertained and I left wanting more. I really wanted to get up and dance and sing through the whole thing (but I don’t know if the people around me would have liked that, so I refrained). Anyway, I don’t want to just repeat what the previous reviewers have said and I don’t want to give anything away. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it to everyone who likes the 80’s. I think it’s only in Chicago through Sunday, though.

I have no idea why I remember this moment so well, or why I had it in the first place. I was a freshman in college, in my General Psychology class, and apparently I wasn’t too engrossed in the lecture (go figure — psych was my major), and for whatever reason I started to wonder how/​why someone manages to get stuck in a music rut… when you stop liking the new music on the radio, and just stick with what you already know and like until you die. For example, my Dad likes music from the 40’s and 50’s…but has no fondness (read: clue) for much beyond that. I’m sure he thought The Beatles were just some dudes who needed haircuts. He has asked me questions such as, «Is that Madonna any good?» And Boy George just confused him. But he can jam to his Bob Crosby album like no one’s business.
Speaking for myself, I started listening to popular music in the late 70’s. I loved ABBA, I loved disco. Then I loved The Go-Go’s and AC/​DC, then Duran Duran and Bruce Springsteen, then a plethora of hair bands. So, in terms of music, I went along with the times… and I figured I always would. Then… what I’d wondered about that day in psych class happened to me… I got stuck. Not exactly sure when, and I have no clue why (but I have suspicions that Hansen was somehow involved)…but somewhere in the mid-​late 90’s, I found myself buying tons of 80’s compliation CD’s, and not too many CD’s from anyone with a song on the Billboard charts. More and more of the bands I liked didn’t tour anymore, if they were even still together, or they were playing at McHenry’s Fiesta Days (Loverboy for 7 bucks — woo hoo!) and not the United Center. Nowadays, every so often, I find myself getting a Dad-​like expression on my face, and asking someone something like, «Is that Justin Bieber any good?» The horror…
So I think it is abundantly clear… Rock of Ages could not have been more up my alley. I love 80’s music… I can name that 80’s tune in 0.05 notes. I love the decadence of the whole era. I love the indulgence… everything was about a good time, and soulless and wrong, and I am thrilled to have grown up in this decade. Sure, my yearbook picture frightens young children. And my prom picture could stop a clock. But good, bad, and ugly… it was a fantastic time, and Rock of Ages captures it perfectly, with a fabulous sense of humor, to some of the most memorable songs to come out of those amazing 10 years.
My Dad would have walked out.

Big hair. Bartles and Jaymes. Stonewashed jeans. The Reagan era. Righteous tunes.
Welcome back to the 80s!
Some friends and I (all children of the 80s) went to see «Rock of Ages» yesterday and I don’t think we could have had a better time or enjoyed it more.
This musical homage to the 80s is set in LA in ’87, on the Sunset Strip, and features a love story (she was just a small town girl; he was a city boy (born and raised in south Detroit, natch) and a struggling musician’s rise to the top, all against the soundtrack to some of the most memorable (good and so-bad-they’re-good) songs of the decade.
Constantine Maroulis has an amazing stage presence and was the perfect choice to play the lead, and boy, does he have a great voice. I don’t watch «American Idol» but after seeing him perform live, I can’t believe he didn’t win.
The musical is, as expected, cheesy, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s totally «in» on the joke.
Songs are standard 80s love-​to-​hate/​hate-​to-​love, by REO Speedwagon, Styx, Whitesnake, Poison, Bön Jovi, Journey and Foreigner. Interestingly though, not Def Leppard, as they wouldn’t give them rights to use their music.
If lived through the 80s, if you’re a fan of the 80s, hell if you’ve even heard of the 80s, you will enjoy yourself, I promise. I should point out, however, that this musical is not really appropriate for kids. You’ve been warned.
Rock of Ages. Still Rollin’.
Yup.