The conservatism of the 1950s gets satirical treatment in All Shook Up , a Broadway tuner which contains elements of Bye Bye Birdie , Footloose , The Wild One , various 1950s rock and roll movies and even a bit of William Shakespeare. All Shook Up is the latest "catalogue" musical (tying a plot around songs from a single artist or group) to come to New York, this one using songs of Elvis Presley. It's a good effort that, after a somewhat rocky start, succeeds pretty well.
All Shook Up takes place in a square town filled with square people somewhere in Middle America in 1955. It's a town where life is so boring everyone is in bed by 9:30 at night. The main pastime is getting roaring drunk at the town's one bar, where everyone moans about their unhappy love life (a nice segue for "Heartbreak Hotel"). People are further oppressed by the Mayor's (Alix Korey) passing of the Mamie Eisenhower Decency Act, which forbids necking, dancing, loud music and generally all forms of entertainment in public.
Into this hotbed of oppression comes a twenty-something, motorbike riding, anti-hero named Chad (Cheyenne Jackson). Clad in jeans, leatherjacket, blue suede shoes, and having "jet black hair," Chad is a roustabout, a man traveling from town to town looking for adventure while spreading the gospels of love and music via his ever-present guitar and "jiggily wiggly" movements with his pelvis. He immediately catches the eye of grease monkey Natalie (Jenn Gambatese), who falls head over heels in love with him- this despite the fact that her best friend Dennis (Mark Price), a nerdy sort of fellow, is madly in love with her. As for Chad, he falls for Miss Sandra (Leah Hocking), the curator of the local museum, who brings to mind Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. In an attempt to get close to Chad, Natalie disguises herself as a man, but in a twist straight out of Shakespeare's As You Like It , it's Sandra who ends up falling for her. (In an amusing touch, whenever any of the characters are struck by love or passion, they launch into a chorus of "One Night With You.")
As Chad spreads his influence, more and more townsfolk find themselves falling in love, usually with the wrong people, until they each learn to listen with both their hearts and their heads, and to just be themselves- rather than what other people expect them to be.
For a musical peopled with mostly stereotypical characters, the cast does a good job in making them believable. There are a number of "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" moments, but nothing so over the top that it veers into camp. Making their characters the most believable are Gambatese, Price, Sharon Wilkins- as the local bar owner- and Jonathan Hadary as Natalie's father. High marks also go to Korey's comical turn as the Mayor. While Jackson doesn't have the angst of James Dean or even Elvis, he does possess the look of a "love him and leave him (and interestingly flawed) kind of guy" who learns a thing or two about life himself.
If there's a problem with the All Shook Up , it lies in the book. As with many catalogue shows, All Shook Up tries to shoehorn in as many songs as possible, (25 in this case), with little room for character development. This is especially true in the beginning, where the music comes quick and fast before one has a chance to really connect with any of the characters.
The music itself is delightful. Stephen Oremus (music supervision & arrangements) has orchestrated many of Presley's tunes to make them work in new settings. The only song that doesn't quite fit is the "Jailhouse Rock" sequence, which seems more of an excuse to work in another song rather than doing anything to advance the plot.
Direction by Christopher Ashley is enjoyable, as is the choreography by Ken Robertson. David Rockwell's sets fit in well with the atmosphere of 1950s small-town life.
The cast also includes Curtis Holbrook, Nikki M. James, John Jellison, Brad Anderson, Justin Bohon, Justin Brill, Paul Castree, Cara Cooper, Michael Cusumano, Randy A. Davis, Jennie Ford, Francesca Harper, Trisha Jeffrey, Michelle Kittrell, Anika Larson, Michael K. Martin, Karen Murphy, John Eric Porter, Justin Patterson, Jenelle Lynn Randall, Michael James Scott, Jenny-Lynn Sucking and Virginia Woodruff.
All Shook Up
The Palace Theatre
1654 Broadway
Tickets: $19.55-$100.00
Reservations: 212-307-4100/800-755-4000
Running Time: Two Hours: 5 Minutes
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