ROCK OF AGES - THEATRE REVIEW

ROCK OF AGES AT THE BIRMINGHAM NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE

Theatre Run: Monday 12 - Saturday 17 May 2014
Performance Reviewed: Monday 12 May 2014 (Press Night)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Rock of Ages is a difficult beast to pigeonhole. It doesn’t so much suffer from an identity crisis as an identity overload, jostling with so many characters and subplots that can’t seem to decide if they’re being deliberately parodic or so-satirical-it’s-ultimately-sincere, and a fiercely postmodern approach that bandies around with tone so schizophrenically it sometimes feels more akin to musical theatre whiplash than anything else. The smash hits of the 80’s are in there too, and are plentiful, though some of the arrangements are disappointingly short and the whole ‘Rock’ through-line sometimes feels more of a clumsy afterthought than a titular McGuffin. Fortunately, for all the tonal incongruences and haphazardness of it’s plot, Rock of Ages does at least crucially make good on it’s promise of a fun, infectious and ultimately rather irrepressible evening of solid music and vibrant, high energy (see: super-charged) entertainment.

20TH CENTURY BOY - THEATRE REVIEW

20TH CENTURY BOY AT THE BIRMINGHAM NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE

Theatre Run: Monday 28 April - Saturday 03 May 2014
Performance Reviewed: Monday 28 April 2014

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

In decidedly meta fashion, the life and times of T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan were of such superstardom, hedonism and excess that by today’s standards it all seems ironically quite atypical and overly familiar. Talented, aspiring musician from humble beginnings does good, becomes rock ‘n’ roll wunderkind, devolves into heady life of drinks, drugs and dubious extra-marital relationships before ultimately leading to an untimely, some-would-argue tragic death. It has all been played out on film, television and, indeed, on-stage, to such an extent that 20th Century Boy, be it based on true events as it may be, won’t be bowling anyone over with its originality. And even within the confines of actuality, being thankfully a biographical piece rather than an original story inspired by his life, it is at times difficult to locate any palpable drama, and Bolan’s own murkier periods seem notably underplayed and fleeting, as though nobody involved wanted to tread too damagingly on the man’s memory and legacy.