The cast of the new TUTS production of Rock of Ages. Photo by Melissa Taylor.
Theater is back in Houston after 19 months and TUTS started their return-to-the-stage with a bang! After 582 days without an audience in the Hobby Center, Theatre Under The Stars opened their 2021-2022 season this past Tuesday with a rocking performance of the Tony nominated musical Rock of Ages.
Rock of Ages features many of the biggest rock hits from the 1980’s, tied into a story about dreams, love, and friendship in Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Strip. Performing in front of a nearly-full house of masked and vaccinated (or recently tested) theater-goers, the cast brought an energy to the stage that is only possible with a live audience. Not only was the audience thrilled to be out of their houses and in front of a stage for the first time in nearly two years, but the rock-and-roll had everyone clapping, dancing, and even singing along to the memorable songs from “a sexier time”. The band could hardly wait to start the show, barely letting the TUTS pre-show video finish before diving right in.
TUTS’ production of Rock of Ages features a cast of both Broadway actors and local Houstonians, each bringing a wealth of experience to the show, with some having performed in the Broadway or touring productions of Rock of Ages at some point. The passion that the actors brought to the stage was palpable, a necessary attribute to make up for the loosely tied-together storyline. Since the focus of the show was the songs, the story was made up to specifically fit the songs they were working with, not the other way around like many original musicals. There were scenes that felt a bit forced or unnatural since their only purpose was to include a famous song that without which the show would be incomplete. Much of the first act felt a bit cliché with the development of the love story and presentation of each character’s dreams and ambitions, but by intermission the dreams were all falling apart enough to leave the audience completely clueless as to how the show would resolve itself by the end. The second act includes the most memorable songs which helped to drive the storyline to the end, and truly left me wanting more.
The characters each come from vastly different backgrounds, with an assortment of dreams for moving to LA, yet the show breaks them all down to show the humanity between them, so that even as their lives and dreams change it doesn’t mean they have to give up, but only adapt to the changes life throws at them and they can still thrive and find a purpose in life. The show strikes a balance between heartbreak and humor, mostly through the self-proclaimed narrator/conjurer Lonny. While his world, like the other characters, is falling apart through the economic redevelopment of the Sunset Strip, he tends to stay positive through his raunchy humor and perfectly timed breaks of the fourth wall (referencing or talking to the audience). Additionally, the driving force of the show is the five-piece, on-stage rock band composed of very talented musicians.
Overall Rock of Ages is a great show to bring audiences back to live theater, since everyone knows at least some of the songs and are bound to have at least one character tug at their heartstrings while presenting the morals of the show. Rock of Ages is on-stage at the Hobby Center through October 17th and more information can be found at TUTS.com.