Review: Rock of Ages at New Wimbledon Theatre for a rocking date night

On Tuesday night I realised I should have swapped my long floral print coat for a cool, black, biker jacket. It would have been the perfect outerwear on a warm evening out in Wimbledon celebrating the arrival of hit musical Rock of Ages, directed and choreographed by Nick Winston.

We had been invited to New Wimbledon Theatre to review the show, which is known for drawing fans of 80s music and is now on a UK tour. The musical comedy delivers a string of classic crowd-pleasing rock anthems, such as The Final Countdown, We Built This City and Can’t Fight This Feeling, while telling a love story about Sherrie and Drew, who have both gone to LA to pursue dreams of careers in acting and music.

After meeting, Drew helps Sherrie get a job as a waitress in music venue The Bourbon Room on the LA’s Sunset Strip, and soon after rock star Stacee Jaxx and his band are set to have a last concert at the place before developers plan to knock down the building.

In the middle of all this, there’s a narrator, Lonny, in The Bourbon Room. Lonny, played by Lucas Rush, regularly crosses out of the story and addresses the audience directly, which makes for some hilarious moments. At times, Lonny’s comments gave the musical a bizarre pantomime vibe, and there was a running joke with a member of the audience that cracked us up.

The cast includes audience favourites Zoe Birkett from Pop Idol, who plays Justice, the owner of a gentlemen’s club, and latin dance champion Kevin Clifton from Strictly Come Dancing, who plays rock legend Stacee Jaxx.

In this musical, however, there’s not just one or two lead singers doing all the big songs. There’s really an impressive number of actors delivering first-class performances, and this is what kept taking us by surprise as the show went on. ‘How many great singers are there?’

While the names we knew from TV didn’t disappoint on any level, I feel two noteworthy stars of the show are Jodie Steele, who plays Sherrie, and Luke Walsh, who plays Drew. Steele and Walsh both impressed with their vocals and delivered a smashing finish to the show with Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

In terms of costumes, the 80s style in the show is more hot pants than shoulder pads, and some scenes in the show are set in the gentlemen’s club where the female characters are wearing even less clothes.

For fans of 80s music, Rock of Ages is set to make for an entertaining evening out for parents – both in terms of the laughs and the live performances of a long list of well-known classics.

Photos: Richard Davenport

Rock of Ages is playing at New Wimbledon Theatre until 2 March

Tags: Date night, Musical, New Wimbledon Theatre, Rock of Ages, Wimbledon