Rock of Ages comes to The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on the first leg of its UK tour. A musical packed full of classic rock anthems, Rock of Ages is a fun, toe-tapping show full of Rock ‘n’ Roll debauchery.
Sherrie [Jodie Steele] finds herself far away from her home in Kansas, trying to make it big in the world of acting. She finds work in The Bourbon Room alongside Drew [Luke Walsh] who insists that they are just friends. Stacee Jaxx [Kevin Clifton] gets a gig at the club with his band Arsenal, and hits it off with Sherrie.
Drew gets a record deal and Sherrie finds herself working for ‘Mama’ [Zoe Birkett] at the local strip club. They go their separate ways. Meanwhile, Hertz [Vas Constanti] and his son Franz [Andrew Carthy] convince the city’s mayor to get rid of the strip, instead opting for clean living. The mayor’s city planner Regina [Rhiannon Chesterman] is outraged and makes it her personal mission to stop the proceedings.
The standout performance of the evening is Lonny [Lucas Rush] as the narrator or ‘dramatic conjuror’. He takes the audience through this journey with wit, humour, debauchery and natural banter. Rush spends lots of the show breaking the fourth wall and interacting with the audience, with natural confidence and ease. His is the best character by far.
Clifton puts on an impressive performance as Stacee Jaxx, one I don’t expect. I think he really encompasses the character, he oozes arrogance and self-entitlement but lacks a little of the magnetism I expect Stacee Jaxx to have.
Rock of Ages is a good, uplifting production that doesn’t take itself too seriously and one that will hopefully have you dancing in your seat.
Review written by Stacie Pollard.
Rock of Ages was shown from Monday 24th until Friday 28th at the Marlowe Theatre. The production is currently on tour, to find out more, visit here…
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