Review: ROCK OF AGES at Axelrod Performing Arts Center

Rock of Ages, Chris D'Arienzo’s jukebox musical which runs from May 2-18 at the Axelrod Theater, has had many incarnations since its 2005 Los Angeles premiere, including Broadway, the West End, and a brilliant 2012 film starring Tom Cruise, and this current production plays it the only way it should be played – with high energy, a wink at the audience and a high caliber of talent behind and in front of the scenes.

The storyline of showbiz clichés (which persist because they remain universally true) is threaded together by the retro music of Foreigner, Styx, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister and other well-known bands that keep the audience bobbing along and as stoked as the actors.  The deep-rooted sexism and raunch of the heavy metal scene are allayed by good-natured humor and silliness and the conspiratorial breaking of the fourth wall.  More importantly, the characters are vivid and charged and involve you in whatever story they have to tell, each getting a chance to shine.  As The New York Times put it, “You don’t score five Tony Award nominations and almost six years on Broadway by being inept . . .there are brains under all the big hair.”

Set in 1987, the tale involves a Sunset Strip bar/club called the Bourbon Room peopled by sassy leather-clad groupies and long-haired biker types and run by Dennis Dupree and his assistant Lonny Barnett (who serves as the narrator).  Aspiring rocker Drew Boley works as a busboy there and when he runs into Sherrie Christian, an aspiring actress fresh off the bus from Paola, Kansas, he falls in love and convinces the club to hire her.  When German developer Hertz Klinemann and his beleaguered son Franz convince the mayor that the “sex, drugs and rock and roll” haven should be demolished, Dennis tries to save his bar by having rock star Stacee Jaxx and his band Arsenal give a final concert there.  Naturally, a spanner will be thrown into the relationship between Sherrie and Drew, and Sherrie, ultimately unemployed and desperate, winds up as an exotic dancer under owner Justice Charlier at the Venus Club.  City Planner Regina meanwhile is protesting the club’s demise and Drew winds up with a demoralizing contract to be a boy band singer.  Everyone is in conflict and turmoil, but some goofy, feel-good surprises are in store (“Don’t Stop Believin”). 

The Axelrod Theater is a great venue for this show with an intimacy that makes for a rousing, immersive experience.  The energy and fun are kept on a high with the choreography of Emmy-nominated director/choreographer Lisa Stevens (whose credits span the globe) and a wonderful ensemble of singer/dancers who execute the crotch-grinding, hair-tossing moves with skill and electricity and hit all the glory notes at the same time.  This is the world of glam metal rockers and strippers and although it doesn’t skirt the dark side of that world, which the film version more deeply explores and underscores, Rock of Ages – be it film or stage -- maintains a feel-good vibe and is designed to uplift and entertain.  (I confess, however, one of the highlights for me was seeing women-exploiting Jaxx get a well-deserved punch in the nose by Sherrie.)  Although set in the 1980’s, the aesthetic, for me, screamed the 70’s, especially with the glam metal scene and the posters of Farrah Fawcett and Led Zeppelin on the wall of the Bourbon Room suggest its roots in the 1970’s (and 60’s).   

The cast is uniformly excellent and seasoned with credits ranging from Broadway and film to Cirque du Soleil and cruise ships.  Landry Champlin, who was on American Idol Season 23, is perfectly cast as Sherrie, the young hopeful, with an innocence, sweetness and forthright sexuality that is engaging and the big pipes the role requires.  As Drew, Chad Marge is her compliment with a youthful sincerity beneath his rawness.  (Drew’s totally unaware of his own gaucheness as he writes lyrics “She’s got a killer rack as she’s reaching for my sack.”)  Chris Mauro and Christopher deProphetis play well off each other as Lonny and Dennis, respectively, and Jeff Williams and Jonah Gavi Schwartz as Hertz and his son Franz are delightful.  The long, lean Danny Drewes has the proper magnetism and sense of camp as Stacee Jaxx and his incredible vocals are featured in the film Wicked and its motion picture soundtracks.  Costume Designer Janine Loesch makes him stand out against the acid-washed denim and grunge with more florescent colors and furs that befit his rock god image.

As mentioned above, everyone in the cast gets a chance to shine.  Skylar Raye Noyes, a kickass dancer/singer in the ensemble, has a nice duet with Landry Champlin as her alter ego and other Ensemble members prove their mettle in multiple roles.  Robert Taylor Jr. delights as the Mayor and record producer Ja’Keith Gill; Caroline Purdy doubles as Constance; Audrey Taylor Floyd as Waitress #1; and Harrison Asher Smith as Joey Primo.  Ensemble members Dante Brattelli, Monica Matteo, and Annie Wogisch make strong impressions even without multiple roles in the intimate venue.  Of the principal roles my favorites include Chelsea Margaux Smith as the strip club owner Justice (with her own wistful back story) who injects a similar flavor to Mary J. Blige, her counterpart in the film version, and Ellie Kallay who amusingly looks like a wheatgerm hippie as Regina (pronounced like Vagina). 

As someone more into pop and show tunes growing up, I initially didn’t dig (with a few exceptions) a lot of rockers and heavy/glam metal music, such as Led Zeppelin, some of which is featured in this show, but fairly recently came to reevaluate it.  Lead singers in rock bands often have insane range.  And who wouldn’t wave a glowstick to tunes like We’re Not Gonna Take It, Harden My Heart and Cum Feel the Noise?  The tide of energy and talent and great tunes keep you rocking it out and a little pinch of musical debauchery and decadence guarantees “Nothin’ But a Good Time.”

Rock of Ages is playing at Axelrod Performing Arts Center, 100 Grant Avenue, Deal, NJ 07723 from May 2-18, 2025. (Top photo by Johnn Posada - Chad Marge and Landry Champlin)

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