Rock of Ages may be the ode to the 1980s, but the show itself has passed the 10-year markβhaving first opened on Broadway in 2009βand its popularity only continues to grow since its Tony-nominated Broadway run.
When the big hair band jukebox musical returned in 2019 to its first Off-Broadway home at New World Stages, it was inevitable that the limited run would extend indefinitely.
βEveryoneβs got a story behind the music,β� says choreographer Kelly Devine of the jukebox score, which features songs like βDonβt Stop Believinβ�,β� βCum on Feel the Noize,β� and βWaiting For a Girl Like You.β� βThereβs nostalgia with these songs. People have made out, made babies, and broken up to so many of them.β�
Devine has experienced the musical from the audienceβs perspective a handful of times. She always notices a buzz in the room, and that first guitar strum ignites a sing-a-long that lasts the entire show. βItβs a combo platter of good times with a warm heart, great dancing, and rocking music. The fact that 10 years later it still has that effect is really awesome,β� she says.
Like a real rock concert, the audience is participatory in ways that might seem taboo for a stage productionβincluding the women throwing their bras onstage. While those behaviors arenβt encouraged, the choreographer says itβs all part of the atmosphere. βYou want the audience to feel that theyβre coming into the Bourbon Room, and I think it gives them license to just play along.β�
Itβs not just the nostalgia or party vibes that draw in a crowd. The creative team, book writer Chris DβArienzo and director Kristin Hanggi along with Devine, were trying to tell a great story with music, love, dancing, and humorβand succeeded. βThe way itβs weaved together, I think we did a really good job as far as the jukebox musical,β� the choreographer says.
On top of all that, the music of the β�80s is respected by those who lived it and simultaneously discovered regularly by younger generations. βItβs like the Beatles in a way,β� says Devine. βThey were so iconic at the time, and everything trends around again.β�
