Hellooo! On Tuesday night I went to see Rock of Ages at the Grimsby Auditorium! I was sat in seat CR 9 in the circle which was £18 including a 50% off opening night Grimsby Auditorium Theatre Card discount which is always a bonus! It was a decent view though the Auditorium isn't a huge place so wherever you sit, it's bound to be a good view! All I knew about the show going into it was that it featured a LOT of recognisable 80's rock songs but I didn't know anything about the story of the show.
Rock of Ages was definitely a show more for adults than children with the Auditorium website listing it as suitable for ages 14 and over which was reflected in the array of adult themes throughout the show. I enjoyed the story behind the show and the use of the narrator-style character, Lonny, to guide the show while directly addressing the audience (poor Jo!) and breaking the fourth wall.
Grimsby's Kevin Clifton played the role of Stacee Jaxx and I will say that if you plan on going to see Rock of Ages specifically to see him, he isn't in it as much as you might expect. However, when his character was involved in the show, I was VERY impressed with Kevin Clifton's performance. With it being the opening show in his home town, I think there were high expectations for his performance in the show and he definitely met them! The part of Stacee Jaxx required more singing and acting than dancing so I was interested to see how those aspects of his performance would be and he was really good! His singing was really strong and he played the part perfectly! As I mentioned earlier, Rock of Ages is definitely more suited for adults than children so if you want to see the show to see Kevin dance or if you have children that are a fan of him, I'd say give this one a miss and wait for one of his dance tours instead! If you're expecting to see the nation's favourite Strictly Come Dancing champion, you'll be in for a bit of a shock but if you go to the show being open to seeing him in a more mature but hilarious role, you'll have a great night! Oh and I couldn't stop laughing at his Spanish section at the end!
Jodie Steele and Luke Walsh played the show's sweethearts Sherrie and Drew and were both SO GOOD! I was looking forward to seeing Jodie Steele and she definitely did not disappoint! Her singing and acting were amazing and I loved her partnership with Luke Walsh as Drew. Zoe Birkett performed as Justice Charlier and she was perfectly suited to the role! It was hard to believe that Adam Strong, who performed as Lonny, was an understudy! He was hilarious from start to finish and I loved his performance! I also loved his onstage relationship with Kevin Kennedy's Dennis Dupree who was also great in his role. I also loved the pairing of Andrew Carthy as Franz and Rhiannon Chesterman as Regina and especially the moment they exploded into the rainbow sequence! As per usual, the rest of the cast were also great and I loved watching the whole cast perform. Oh and I grabbed a tour brochure for £6 and a house programme for £3.50!
That brings me onto the production of the show! I LOVED the lighting throughout the show SO MUCH! The amount of lights onstage was incredible and I loved the use of them throughout the production! The sets were quite simple yet effective but the lights made the sets feel completely different from scene to scene. I also liked that some of the band were on stage throughout the show and that they got involved in the story. I loved the music throughout the show and even if you're not a fan of musicals, I'm sure you'd enjoy the songs in Rock of Ages. Also, Grimsby normally gets a bit of a bad reputation but the audiences at the Auditorium are usually some of the best audiences I've sat in! The reaction to the humour in the show was great and the whole room was on their feet at the end of the performance!
All in all, the show was outrageous but hilarious and I loved it! It's definitely on the rude side but I enjoyed going to see something a bit different to other shows I've seen lately. The music and story blend well together and the whole cast were amazing! I was in stitches from start to finish but there were also some more emotional, heartfelt moments throughout the show and was a great night at the theatre!
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
