Rock Of Ages @ The Mayflower, Southampton
I was mildly disappointed to find the exterior of the Mayflower Theatre wasn’t shrouded by a cloud of hairspray and that nobody appeared to be wearing spandex when we arrived to see Rock of Ages last night, but the hair metal hits blasting into the auditorium soon got us in the mood to relive the excess of the early nineties.
I should state at this point that I’m generally not a fan of jukebox musicals and that I didn’t really enjoy We Will Rock You which is probably the closest show to this one in terms of tone. Immediately it’s clear that Rock of Ages doesn’t take itself too seriously though. The typical please turn off your mobile phones message is eschewed in favour of Whitesnake’s David Coverdale urging the audience not to be douchebags. Then the guitars kick in and the older members of the audience all wedge fingers in their ears in unison. This band is good! The first character we meet is Lonny, our narrator, played by Stephen Rahman-Hughes who has an infectious energy and a permanent grin from ear to ear!
The story, such as it is, of Rock of Ages is a simple one. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, girl has sex with rockstar in a toilet, boy gets messed around by music label, girl becomes a stripper, Germans try to destroy the sunset strip and all ends happily ever after. Nothing new here!
The plot is really only here to string together some classic eighties rock though and the whole cast wail their way through hits from Foreigner, Poison and lesser-known acts like Quarterflash. Noel Sullivan plays our “city boy, born and raised in South Detroit” (yeah, Journey are in there too) and he’s gone from strength to strength in recent years, with an engaging personality and a hugely impressive vocal range he commands the stage and doesn’t look out of place rocking away. His “small town girl” Sherrie is a mix of sweetness and sex appeal perfectly balanced by Cordelia Farnsworth.
Mixed up in the mess is down on his luck rock star Stacie Jaxx, two parts Poison’s Brett Michaels, one part Axl Rose and a dash of what appears to be glitter lipstick, he’s probably the most outrageous character in the show and Ben Richards is loving every second of playing him!
Other notable performances come from Jessie May as one-woman protest group Regina, Daniel Fletcher’s aging-hippy club owner Dennis Dupree – whose duet with Lonnie might be the best moment of the show, and Rachel McFarlane whose powerhouse vocals are a delight to hear!
This isn’t a subtle show and some of the jokes may offend, but go with the right spirit and you’ll have a great time – the cast already are!
