Finding love in LA is the heart of ‘Rock of Ages’

Journey’s classic rock anthem “Don’t Stop Believin’” is the big, rousing closing number for the wild show “Rock of Ages,” and the opening night audience at Popejoy Hall showed its appreciation by giving the performance a standing ovation.

That 1981 song is oh so appropriate for the rock musical’s lead romantic couple, Sherrie and Drew, as well as for some key performers in the supporting cast.

Sherrie and Drew specifically could have been molded by the song’s lyrics that speak of “… a small town girl livin’ in a lonely world … Just a city boy born and raised in south Detroit … Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard/Their shadows searching in the night …”

	If you go WHAT: “Rock of Ages” WHEN: 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. today WHERE: Popejoy Hall, Center for the Arts, UNM campus HOW MUCH: Tickets are $35, $50, $60 and $65 at select area Albertsons supermarkets or at the door ADVISORY: Contains language, gestures, dancing and costumes that may be inappropriate for children. A strobe light is used

The musical’s story is set in the Hollywood of the sex-drugs-and-rock-n-roll ’80s. Sherrie (Shannon Mullen) is from small-town Kansas and is now in Los Angeles in search of a film career. Drew (Danny McHugh) is in LA from Detroit seeking fame as a rocker.

They meet in a nightclub, but thanks to Drew’s social awkwardness, his initial connection to Sherrie fizzles; they eventually reconnect. They’re surrounded by characters in this ensemble production that the audience is asked to cheer for, laugh at and, in general, accept because of – or in spite of – their outrageous behavior.

The character of Lonny (Justin Colombo) is the narrator and the manager of the bar where Sherrie and Drew meet. Colombo makes Lonny a fellow funny in his vulgarity; he’s the audience’s link to the action.

Lonny’s boss, Dennis (Matt Ban), is the affable, chain-smoking owner of the club; the egocentric jerk of a rock singer Stacee Jaxx (Universo Pereira) initiates Sherrie into LA’s debauchery; Hertz and Franz Kleinman (Philip Peterson and Stephen Michael Kane, respectively) are the German father and son who buy off the mayor and intend to clean up Sunset Strip in a self-aggrandizing urban renewal project; Regina (Megan McHugh) is the idealistic hippie protestor of the redevelopment who falls for Franz; and there’s Justice/Mother (Amma Osei). Osei, in her role as the owner of a strip club, stands out for imbuing her character with honest, maternal instincts and for her soulful singing. Her voice is extraordinary.

A highlight of the musical is when Franz, who dreams his own dream, breaks free of his father’s grip, rips off his business suit and exposes a bright blue Lycra outfit as he leads the ensemble in singing and dancing to “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” the song Pat Benatar popularized.

Hit songs by such ’80s glam-rock bands as Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Styx and REO Speedwagon are also performed.

At the rear of the stage is a five-piece rock band that powers the songs. Because of the music’s volume, patrons should bring ear plugs.