‘Rock of Ages’ a Tribute to ’80s Attitude

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Photo Credit: Haylee Baily

Glossy glam metal melds with musical theater onstage as Greendale Community Theatre presents Rock of Ages. A band of five backs up a large-cast tribute to ’80s rock ’n’ roll that was given a marathon workout on pop radio over the course of the decade. A fast-moving period drama is wallpapered by a big array of screens in a stage fusion with music video visuals set in Hollywood at the end of an era. The aggressive, pounding pulse of heavy pop rock muffles-out in a splashy, campy musical theater format.

Under the direction of Brian Bzdawka, passionate rock energy is shot into the production by an ensemble featuring beautiful badass Rae Elizabeth Paré, technically precise Stephanie Staszak and plenty of other attitude around the edges of the action.

Briana Lipor is endearing as a small-town girl living in a lonely world. As the story opens, she takes a midnight train to Los Angeles. There, she runs into an aspiring rocker named Drew, who gets her a job at the bar where he works. Eric Bergendahl has a humble, earthy, rock-and-roll quality as a city boy born and raised in South Detroit. The central romance between Lipor and Bergendahl is simple and sweet. The two go through minor complications and misunderstandings that twist through old, familiar rock hits that are capably brought to the stage. A subplot involving a rock venue threatened with closure adds a little bit to the drama of that romance. Justin Spanbauer periodically brings music and story together as a witty, somewhat addled, fourth-wall-breaking narrator.

Through Jan. 18 at Greendale High School’s Reiman Family Arts Wing, 6801 Southway.