'Rock of Ages' loud and flashy, just like the '80s

Review

Tony-nominated Broadway smash "Rock of Ages" opened at Ruth Eckerd Hall Tuesday night with a production as loud, flashy and unsubtle as the music and era it celebrates.

The show runs through Sunday, and drew a sold-out crowd of 2,180 for its first performance.

The show is set in 1987 on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip, to which countless aspiring rock stars gravitated during the era that spawned Motley Crue, Poison and Ratt.

Drew (Constantine Maroulis, reprising his Broadway role), is one such hopeful, working as a bar back at Dupree's Bourbon Room and dreaming of stardom under his nom du rock, Wolfgang Von Cult.

Sherrie (Rebecca Faulkenberry) hits town from Payola, Kan., with dreams of being an actress. She's hired as a waitress at Dupree's where Drew falls in love with her.

Meanwhile, a German industrialist (Bret Tuomi) wants to turn the strip into a strip mall, imperiling Dupree's.

Hoping to generate enough cash to save the club, Dupree (Nick Cordero) convinces popular act Arsenal to play a gig there, its final show before egomaniac lead singer Stacee Jaxx (MiG Ayesa), goes solo.

Stacee seduces Sherrie in Dupree's men's room, breaking Drew's heart. Stacee then demands Dupree fire Sherrie, who winds up working as a stripper. Didn't see that coming, did you?

Activist Regina's (Holly Laurent, subbing for Casey Tuma) efforts to save the strip are complicated by her feelings for the developer's son, Franz (Travis Walker).

The first act was overlong and relentlessly frenetic. Granted, the stereotypical characters and clichéd storylines hardly needed space for development, but the pacing made the arrival of intermission a relief.

The second act was more enjoyable, as the script began to spoof not only the era's clichés, but itself as well. In addition to the expected happy ending, there's at least one romance that defies expectations.

Maroulis was effectively sweet as Drew, whether fumbling and failing to convey his feelings to Sherrie, or dealing with a manager who teams him with a boy band.

Faulkenberry displayed a Broadway belter's voice - particularly on a snippet of Judas Priest's "Eat Me Alive" - as well as the necessary sex appeal for a role designed primarily to move her from one revealing, skin-tight outfit to another.

Cordero and Patrick Lewallen, who narrates as Lonny, Dupree's sound man, gave the most consistently enjoyable performances, functioning similarly to the characters Jay and Silent Bob in director Kevin Smith's "Clerks" and "Mallrats."

Interestingly, a relatively small portion of the show's score was drawn from hair metal acts, so-called because of the scene's heavy-handed use of mousse and hairspray. The song list relies more heavily on earlier tunes from arena rock acts such as REO Speedwagon, Styx, Journey, Pat Benatar and Foreigner.

"Rock of Ages" runs through Sunday with shows at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The hall has added hardback seats in the pit in front of the stage. Ticket prices range from $42 to $72. The hall is at 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. Call the box office, (727) 791-7400, or visit www.rutheckerdhall.com.