A little bit of the ’80s still survives today: People wear
big hoop earrings, off-the-shoulder T-shirts and slip-on shoes.
Bands like Franz Ferdinand often have an ’80s New Wave
sensibility. And in one shadowy nook along Hollywood Boulevard, the
’80s still rock.
Considering this increase in retro styles in apparel, lifestyle
and music among current youth trends, the opening of “Rock of
Ages,” a new musical about ’80s rock dreams and
lifestyle in Los Angeles, could not have been more timely.
“Rock of Ages” is about a Sunset Strip rock venue
threatened by City Hall and the sweeping bulldozers of a real
estate developer and the people who come there to make it big.
The show is directed by Kristin Hanggi, a UCLA theater alumna
who won LA Weekly and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards for
her direction of “Bare.” It will run Thursdays through
Sundays for four weeks at the Vanguard in Hollywood. Its producers
plan to bring the show to Las Vegas in the near future.
One of the show’s characters says, “The dreams you
come in with may not be the dreams that you go out with, but they
still rock.” This theme defines “Rock of Ages”
and sets it apart from the typical Broadway musical.
“When you go see a rock musical on Broadway, it’s
watered down. But we have a real band that plays all over L.A.
It’s not like a pit orchestra,” said Tom Lenk, a UCLA
theater alumnus who plays the misunderstood son of the German
developer.
A typical rock musical doesn’t have music that the
audience would already be familiar with, Lenk said. But the music
of bands like Journey, White Snake, Styx, Twisted Sister and others
comprise the entire score of “Rock of Ages.”
While these bands aren’t exactly at the top of the charts
anymore, to “Rock of Ages” writer Chris
D’Arienzo, this music is just as vital to rock history as the
songs of the ’50s and ’60s.
Surprisingly, D’Arienzo compares the ’80s rock music
in the show to current rap music.
“It’s lifestyle music. It’s not endorsing a
message; it’s endorsing a way of being, of acting, of
dressing, of partying,” D’Arienzo said.
Because ’80s rock is so sensationally theatrical and is
being revitalized by shows such as “Laguna Beach”
playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop
Believin’,” D’Arienzo has found that the genre
lends itself well to the form of a musical.
“People who are into musical theater will appreciate the
conventions that we brought to it. But people who hate musicals
will enjoy it for what it is ““ a rock concert with a
story,” D’Arienzo said. “We wanted to create a
musical that is an olive branch to people who don’t like
musicals.”
Along the lines of the East Coast versus West Coast feuds
between rap artists of the ’90s, this show invokes a Los
Angeles versus Broadway rivalry.
“It’s fun for an L.A. crowd to have a show that
finally references their city. Most shows are centered around a New
York aesthetic,” D’Arienzo said. “As far as the
show and the music and the feeling that an audience gets when it
leaves the theater, this show can go toe-to-toe with any New York
show.”
With a cast that features Kyle Glass of Tenacious D and Dan
Finnerty, the foul-mouthed wedding singer from the movie “Old
School,” the spectacle of the neon and pastel ’80s, and
some unapologetic sexual dancing, “Rock of Ages”
self-consciously admires and also pokes fun at itself and the
era.
“The whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek,” Lenk
said. “I don’t think you can make fun of something
really well unless you have a love for it.”
The musical concluded its opening performance at the Vanguard on
Jan. 26 to a cheering audience with its lighters lit and held
high.
“You’re not going to see an Ibsen play,” Lenk
said. “Have a beer, relax and let’s have some
fun.”