Rock of Ages

Book by Chris D’Arienzo

Arrangements & Orchestrations by Ethan Popp

It is 1987, and the fabled West Hollywood club the Bourbon Room is the seedy, sordid, vibrant heart of the Sunset Strip. The music venue has seen better days, but is run by chilled-out former rock impresario Dennis Dupree, and tended to by Dennis’s mischievous assistant Lonny, it is the essence of rock and roll. When bright-eyed young hopeful Sherrie Christian, a small-town girl who wants to make it as an actress, arrives in town, she bumps into Drew, a Bourbon Room busboy with dreams of rock and roll stardom. Love-struck Drew convinces Dennis to hire Sherrie, and the stage seems set for their romance. But when the Mayor of West Hollywood, persuaded by a couple of scheming German real estate developers, announces his intention to demolish the Bourbon Room and the entire gritty Sunset Strip, the stakes are raised. Dennis convinces rock god Stacee Jaxx, lead singer of megaband Arsenal, to play the band’s last show at the Bourbon Room, hopeful that the money raised will stop the building from being demolished. But Stacee, a man of massive charisma and massive ego, leaves destruction in his wake, taking advantage of Sherrie and getting knocked out by his own band before the concert is over. In the midst of violent anti-demolition protests, Sherrie flees to a nearby strip club and Drew falls into the clutches of a boy band. Who can save the Bourbon Room, the young lovers, and the feuding Germans? Only Lonny, the “dramatic conjurer”, knows for sure. Rock of Ages is a big, brash, energetic tribute to classic rock, to over-the-top ballads and fierce guitar, to the gritty glamour and rough energy of the Sunset Strip. This jukebox musical features ‘80s hits such as “We Built this City”, “I Wanna Rock”, and “Don’t Stop Believin’”.