Review: ROCK OF AGES at THE PALACE ROCKS!

Belly up to the bar, and recall the days of power cords, perfectly coifed locks, pelvic thrusts, and garter-belted babes.

Dennis (Brian Ashton Miller) an older former rocker owns and manages the grimy Bourbon Room, an LA dive bar that has seen better days, along with his faithful sidekick Lonnie( Andrew Sklar). Drew, (Anthony Nuccio) a loveable busboy with dreams of stardom, secretly falls for the fresh-faced, newly arrived Midwestern girl Sherrie (Laurie Elizabeth Garden) who has star-filled dreams of her own. Faced with the demolition of the Bourbon Room, Dennis calls upon the sexy, self-absorbed swoon-worthy, panty dropping Stacy Jaxx, (Sam Harvey) whose career began at the Bourbon, for one last epic face-melting performance.

The opening night crowd initially seemed a bit pensive. Endearingly, the song that brought them fully out from their shells was Extremes harmonic More Than Words. The audience gently, yet immediately joins in accord as Sherrie sings the first bar.

A perfect balance of humor is found through a cohesive cast, clever laugh-out-loud one-liners and direct interaction with the audience creating a symbiotic relationship. As a result, everyone is in on the joke. Well placed top hair band hits like, Don't Stop Believing, Wanted Dead or Alive, Every Rose Has It's Thorn, Come On Feel The Noise and the like move the story along at an even pace and by the time the show is at its close, the audience is on its feet. Produced by NH resident Carl Ragoutte, Rock Of Ages is a "Nothing But A Good Time", (yes, that song is in there too) sentimental, devil-horned, aqua netted romp that delivers on its comedic nostalgic depiction of the licentious Sunset Strip.