[NEohioPAL]Berko review: ALL SHOOK UP (Playhouse Square Foundation/Palace Theatre)

[Roy Berko]

‘ALL SHOOK UP’ delights some and shakes up others at
the Palace

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

At the conclusion of ‘ALL SHOOK UP,’ now on stage at
the Palace Theatre, half of the audience was standing
and cheering.  The rest were sitting, looking at the
standees as if they were out of their minds.  One
well-known local theatre performer commented, “That
was charming.”  Another said, “What in heck (word
change to protect the conservative readers) were the
producers thinking...that was awful!”  

‘ALL SHOOK UP’ is writer Joe DiPietro’s attempt to
bridge together a story set in 1955 and the songs of
Elvis Presley.  The story line is trite, the
characters are caricatures, the dancing is stylized
(often done as if the cast was in an emotional time
warp), the songs are blended into the dialogue with a
shoe-horn, and the total effect is kitsch. 

Into a small midwestern town rides Chad!  He’s on a
motorcycle, wears skin tight jeans, clinging t-shirt,
has a twitching and thrusting pelvis, sings like a
mediocre Elvis, makes women faint and scream, and
causes general hyper-testosterone chaos.  Before he
leaves, he falls in love with a sexy female museum
director (Miss Sandra), who rejects him, and then with
a guy (Ed), who is actually a girl (Natalie).  Ms.
Sandra falls for the guy (Ed) who is really a girl
(Natalie), but then switches allegiances to Dennis, a
nerdy future dentist, who is in love with the girl
(Natalie) but not her alter-ego, the guy (Ed). 
Natalie’s father is in hot pursuit of Miss Sandra, but
winds up with Sylvia, the Black owner of a bar whose
daughter (Lorraine) is in love with Dean, the daughter
of the town’s up tight, racist mayor, Matilda. 
Matilda, in turn is in love with.....okay, this could
go on and on, but you get the idea.  ‘WEST SIDE STORY’
this is not.   It doesn’t even reach the literary
level of the “other” Elvis musical, ‘BYE, BYE BIRDIE.’
 But it is so ditzy, that it’s funny and lends itself
to moaning over the idiocy.

Wedged into the plot are numerous rock ‘n roll mega
hits, including “Jailhouse Rock (where the rocker
finds himself because he lead the local town boys
astray),” “Heartbreak Hotel” (in this case referring
to the graveyard at the end of the road) and “One
Night With You” (sung in all sorts of coupling
situations).  At one time or another almost the entire
cast wears and warbles about their “Blue Suede Shoes.”

The touring company covers the extremes of talent and
background.  Susan Anton, a long time Broadway star,
sings up a storm as Miss Sylvia, though her acting is
paper thin.  Her “There’s Always Me” stopped the show.
 She brought down the house with her one-liner
describing the parochial nature of the play’ setting:
“This town makes me miss Parma.”

Professional newcomer Joe Manddragona, who plays
rocker Chad, is shorter than would be expected for the
macho male lead.  All the females tower over him
(which may have been another of those unintentionally
intentional deeds of the director).  He makes up for
his height with smoldering good looks, a mobile pelvis
and a fairly good voice.  His dancing is so down pat
he almost looks like a robot and some of his lines are
on the same emotional level.  

Dennis Moench as nerdy Dennis, has the best voice in
the cast and wins over the audience with a
well-defined characterization (think Eugene in
‘GREASE’ and  Hugo in ‘BYE BYE BIRDIE’).  His “It
Hurts Me” is poignantly tender.

Jannie Jones whales as Sylvia, the bar owner, though
she goes off-key in spots.  Tracee Beazer is perky and
sings well as Sylvia’s daughter.  Jenny Fellner is
undistinguished in the roles of Natalie/Ed.  

The ‘ALL SHOOK UP’ band rocks, sometimes too loudly,
but that only enhances the over-all effect.

Director Christopher Ashley knows what he’s doing. 
Taking this material seriously would have highlighted
the weaknesses of the script.  By playing for
exaggeration, creating caricatures and making the
whole experience bigger than life he creates a living
comic book.   The results?  The audience laughs
through their moans and bewilderment.

Capsule judgment:   ‘ALL SHOOK UP’ is the kind of show
that audiences will love or hate.  It’s going to
depend on your mood and expectations.  If you go in
knowing there is a very slight story line (and even
referring to it as a story line is an exaggeration),
that is both unrealistic and obvious, and just let
yourself get carried away by the over-the top
performances, obvious choreography and transparent
means used to hook the Elvis Presley fueled songs
together, you’ll have a blast.  If not, you’ll leave
at intermission.   “C’mon Everybody” “Don’t Be Cruel,”
“Let Yourself Go,” and you “Can’t Help Falling in
Love” with ‘ALL SHOOK UP.’
 
The show runs through April 22 at the Palace Theatre
in Playhouse Square.  For tickets call 216-241-6000,
800-766-6048 or go on line to www.playhousesquare.com.


Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.  His reviews also appear on www.coolcleveland.com


       
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