Photos: ROCK OF AGES at Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse will present the Tony Award-nominated Broadway smash ROCK OF AGES. Running through Nov. 7, check out photos of the production.

ROCK OF AGES will be presented at Circa '21 through Nov. 7, with performances on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday. matinées at 1:15 p.m. Pre-show entertainment featuring the theatre's waitstaff the Bootleggers also will precede all performances. Ticket prices are $70 for the Friday-Sunday productions and $63 for the Wednesday matinee and evening shows.

Reservations are available through the Circa '21 ticket office. For reservations, contact the theatre at 1828 3rd Ave., Rock Island or by calling 309-786-7733 ext. 2. Online reservations also may be made at the theater's website circa21.com.

As ROCK OF AGES begins, it's the tail end of the big, bad '80s in Hollywood, and the party has been raging hard. Aqua Net, Lycra, lace and liquor flow freely at one of the Sunset Strip's last legendary venues, a place where rock icon Stacee Jaxx takes the stage and groupies line up to turn their fantasies into reality. Amid the madness, aspiring musician and resident janitor Drew longs to take the stage as the next big thing and also longs for Sherri, a starry-eyed small-town girl fresh off the bus from Kansas. But the rock-and-roll fairytale looks about to end after German developers sweep into town with plans to turn the fabled strip into just another capitalist strip mall. Can Drew, Sherri and the gang save the strip before it's too late?

Only the music of such iconic bands as Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake hold the answer as ROCK OF AGES delivers a cornucopia of classics from the '80s, with the musical's characters belting out such unforgettable hits as Night Ranger's "Sister Christian," Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," REO Speedwagon's "Keep on Loving You" and the Twisted Sister anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It." The original Broadway production of ROCK OF AGES ran for 2,328 performances and is among the longest-running shows in Broadway history.

Directing and choreographing Circa '21's season-ending production is frequent director/choreographer Ashley Becher, whose recent productions for the Rock Island dinner dheatre have included "Chicago," "The Addams Family" and this past winter's Quad Cities debut of "Lucky Stiff." Area favorite Ron May serves as ROCK OF AGES' music director, with romantic hopefuls Drew and Sherry portrayed by Tate Hilton and Avery Gallagher.

Circa '21 Bootlegger and busy local performer Chase Austin (Quad City Music Guild's "Jesus Christ Superstar" and the Spotlight Theatre's "The Wedding Singer" plays rock legend Stacee Jaxx, while a baker's-dozen of additional talents complete the gifted ROCK OF AGES ensemble: Bobby Becher; Jordan Bee; Kyle DeFauw; Owen Espinosa; Hanna Marie Felver; Kelsey Sylvia Flowers; Bear Manescalchi; Nicolette Mayer; Chandler James; Elly Rebeka; Tristan Tayne Layne Tapscott; Aĭssatou Thiam and Tariq Woods.

The dinner theatre's entire staff is delighted to present the venue debut of this sweet, hilarious and exhilarating musical, and urges patrons to make reservations quickly for this 49th-season closer. Call the Circa '21 ticket office at 309-786-7733 ext. 2 for reservations, and plan on having "Nothin' But A Good Time" at Circa '21's ROCK OF AGES!

Photo Credit: Circa '21 Playhouse