Review: Rock Of Ages at the Garrick Theatre

Rock Of Ages
Garrick Theatre
Reviewed on Wednesday 19th June 2013

Featuring the greatest 80s rock songs, Rock Of Ages provides a night like no other. The show is most certainly the loudest, sexiest and hottest musical in London. Following a 16 month run at the Shaftesbury Theatre, earlier this year Rock of Ages transferred to the slightly smaller Garrick Theatre. The Garrick is the perfect home for Rock of Ages as the show's design is fairly simple and it provides a slightly more intimate experience which works with the tongue-in-cheek humour.

Set in 1987, Rock Of Ages is about a girl (Sherrie) who moves to Los Angeles with big dreams. However, she ends up meeting an aspiring rock star (Drew) and they fall in love... 

The most important ingredient of Rock Of Ages is that it does not take itself seriously, if the show did it would be a disaster. Rock Of Ages is the perfect show for anybody who doesn't usually like going to the theatre as the writing makes fun out of how musicals usually feature cheesy love stories and the all-important 'jazz hands' (Andrew Lloyd Sondheim also gets a mention). The show is very adult and extremely sexualised, meaning it is most certainly not suitable for younger audience members. Often women dominate theatre audiences but it was interesting to see a male dominated audience who really warmed to the show and jumped to their feet at the end. 

Featuring some of West End's finest talent, the cast are out of this world. Despite being part of the show since it opened nearly two years, Simon Lipkin's performance remains very fresh. He plays Lonny who is the show's narrator. Every single time Simon opened his mouth the audience were in hysterics. Lonny's duet with Dennis (played by Daniel Fletcher) 'I Can't Fight This Feeling Any More' was my favourite moment of the show, both performers have perfect comic timing.

At the performance I saw the role of Drew was played by Tim Driesen (who understudies the role and usually plays Joey Primo). Vocally, Drew must be one of the most challenging roles in the West End but Tim makes it look like a walk in the park. Although all the characters are fairly shallow, Tim gives a convincing performance and portrays both the comic and more sincere moments perfectly. Later this year Tim will leave Rock Of Ages to originate the role of Frankie Valli in the Dutch production of Jersey Boys. However, I hope it's not too long before he's back in the West End leading another company.

Other stand out performances come from Natalie Andreou who shows off her stunning vocal talents as Sherrie and Sandy Moffat who also gives a ridiculously funny performance as Franz. 

The second act is much stronger than the first. When Rock Of Ages begins there is a lot to take in and the band overpowers the cast's vocals. The show is very funny, although some jokes work better than others. The second act is more fast paced, perhaps because it takes time to get used to the light-hearted tone of the piece. The story is very predictable but that's the point. Whatever you do, don't watch last year's awful film version of the musical as it does not do the show any justice.

For a fun evening filled with great music and an incredible cast book tickets to see Rock Of Ages. 

Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)

andrew@westendframe.com

Click here to book tickets to see Rock Of Ages (save £26 at certain performances)
For further information visit www.rockofagesmusical.co.uk

Read our interviews with Natalie Andreou, Tim Driesen and Ross Hunter.

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