"All Shook Up" - by Joe DiPietro - Reagle Music Theatre (Waltham, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: The CAST of the musical "ALL SHOOK UP" by Joe DiPietro now playing at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA. through July 21, 2024. Photo Credit: Robert Pascucci)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world."
– Elvis Presley
Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston
Presents the Musical
"ALL SHOOK UP"
Book by Joe DiPietro
Music and Lyrics by Elvis Presley
Based on the play "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare
Directed by Arthur Gomez
Music Direction by Mindy Cimini
Choreography by Larry Sousa
Cast Includes: Christopher Lewis as “Chad,” Gwynne Wood* as “Natalie Haller,” Carolyn Saxon* as “Sylvia,” Jean-Alfred Chavier as “Jim Haller,” Jackson Jirard* as “Dennis,” Tader Shipley as “Miss Sandra,” Amarís Ríos as “Lorraine,” Preston Karp as “Dean Hyde,” Janis Hudson as “Mayor Matilda Hyde,” James Turner III as “Sheriff Earl.” Ensemble: Holly Bourdon, Ts Burnham, Maggie Clark, Aimée Coleman, Carly Corsitto, Audrey Curdo, Jackson Daley, Miki Grubic, Elias Robles, Brendan Sheehan*, Shai Wolf.
Additional Creative Team:
Producer - Jay Pension; Prod. Stage Manager - Vanessa C. Hart*; Asst. Stage Manager - Pat-rice Rooney*; Production Associate - Em Ross; Company Manager - Erica Jurus; Asst. Director - Shira Helena Gitlin; Assoc. Music Director - Dan Rodriguez; Assoc. Choreographer - Holly Bourdon; Asst. Choreographer - Lily Lindstrom; Orchestra Contractor - Jeff Leonard; Intimacy Director - Olivia Dumaine; Dramaturg - Sarah Gruber; Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Consulting - Art & Soul Consulting; Dance Captain - Jackson Jirard*; Technical Director - Lori E. Baruch; Set Construction - Wooden Kiwi; Sound Design and Audio 1 - Sebastian Nixon; Audio 2 - Ryan Pereira; Costumes Construction - Emerald City Theatrical; Wardrobe Supervisor - Brian Simmons; Stichers - Olivia Lancellotta, Raegan White; Wig Supervisor - Johnny Cagno; Run Crew - Adam Assarian, Valerie Molina, Seray Kauffman, Isaac Ferguson Cucchi; Electrician Lead, Staffing Consultant -Craig Robertson; Electrics Crew - Sophie Boucher, Larry Dysart, Martina Grein, Sebastian Nixon, Ryan Pereira, Crystal VanArtsdalen; Follow Spot Operators - Em Ross*, Roz Umbrell; Scenic/Electrics Support - Sebastian Nixon; Props Design - David Allen Prescott; Set Design - Janie Howland**; Lighting Design - Franklin Meissner, Jr.**.
* Appear through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
**Credited as a member of United Scenic Artists
Performances:
July 12, 2024 through July 21, 2024
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
Robinson Theatre, REAGLE MUSIC THEATRE, 617 Lexington St. Waltham, MA 02452
TICKETS:
https://www.reaglemusictheatre.org/
By Phone # 781-891-5600
Box Office Window: Located under the Reagle Music Theatre marquee at Waltham High School. Box Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00am until 4:00pm
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
Reagle Music Theatre rocks the city of Waltham with "ALL SHOOK UP" an American jukebox musical featuring songs by Elvis Presley.
The show, with the main attraction being “the King’s” songbook, features a book by Joe DiPietro which also borrows extensively from “the Bard,” William Shakespeare.
It is likely neither the deceased conservative Christian Elvis nor the Renaissance era Shakespeare would endorse the merged property that is "ALL SHOOK UP," but there's plenty of entertained audiences who have and do.
The musical features 25 Elvis Presley hits and revolves around the repressed residents of an unnamed American town in the 1950s who experience a grand awakening when a gyrating, guitar-playing, leather-clad “roustabout” named Chad (Christopher Lewis), rolls into town on his motorcycle.
From the moment Chad arrives, all hell busts loose and nothing will be the same by the end of the story.
DiPietro's story borrows elements from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” but goes a step further by delving into themes of equality, oppression, and sexual and gender acceptance...to varying degrees of success.
After a tryout in Chicago, "ALL SHOOK UP" debuted on Broadway in 2005, where it ran for a respectable run of 213 performances and 33 previews.
(Photo: The CAST of the musical "ALL SHOOK UP" by Joe DiPietro now playing at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA. through July 21, 2024. Photo Credit: Robert Pascucci)
Opening with the obligatory "Jailhouse Rock" Chad is released from jail and kicked out of town.
Chad winds up in a small town where the roustabout (how the character is most referred to in the story) meets a young mechanic named Natalie (Gwynne Wood), who agrees to work on his busted bike.
Lewis does exactly the right thing in approaching the “Chad” character as vapid, self-centered and cartoonish, because that is exactly what virtually every character is in this musical.
The only character that seems to provide any real exploration is Natalie as we see in the fine elevated performance by Wood.
Natalie falls heavily for what Chad represents – a life of rock and roll, adventure and emotional abandon…the things one never gets to experience in small town life, a mundane, routine life currently lived by Natalie and some of the other locals.
(Photo: The CAST of the musical "ALL SHOOK UP" by Joe DiPietro now playing at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA. through July 21, 2024. Photo Credit: Robert Pascucci)
Natalie is unaware that her best friend, Dennis (Jackson Jirard), is secretly in love with her.
Jirard perfectly executes some of the musical’s funniest moments as Dennis fluctuates from feeling threatened by Chad, to doing a 180 degree turn by becoming the roustabout’s “sidekick,” to watching and aiding in Natalie’s absurd plan to win the affections of Chad by pretending to be Chads new best bud named “Ed.”
The humorous, recurring use of the song "One Night With You" in "ALL SHOOK UP" to convey all the many declarations of love is very cleverly positioned throughout the story.
Chad learns that the town’s Mayor Matilda (Janis Hudson) has instated the Mamie Eisenhower Decency Act, outlawing "Loud music, public necking, and tight pants."
The Mayor's teenage son, Dean (Preston Karp), who attends a military academy, declares his love for Lorraine (Amarís Ríos), who is the daughter of local honky-tonk owner, Sylvia (Carolyn Saxon).
Both Karp and Ríos have wonderful chemistry together, shining in some of the musical numbers, “It’s Now or Never” (featuring some clever choreography) and “If I Can Dream.”
Saxon impresses throughout, and knocks one out of the park as Sylvia singing the Elvis classic, “There’s Always Me.”
(Photo: Carolyn Saxon as "Sylvia" in a moment from the musical "ALL SHOOK UP" by Joe DiPietro now playing at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA. through July 21, 2024. Photo Credit: Robert Pascucci)
Chad meets and falls for the town's museum owner, Miss Sandra (Tader Shipley) and the two banter back and forth in the pleasing mash-up of two Elvis hits, "Teddy Bear” and “Hound Dog."
Unbeknownst to anyone but Sylvia, Natalie's widowed father, Jim (Jean-Alfred Chavier), also falls for Miss Sandra.
Both potential suitors are out of luck as Miss Sandra only has eyes for one man and it is…you guessed it…“Ed.”
Shipley and Chavier both give fine performances but, with the plethora of characters and sheer volume of preposterous sub-plots, their characters (among other character subplots), tend to become forgotten as the main story continues.
Other performances that tend to get overlooked are the hilarious Hudson as Mayor Matilda - accompanied by the silent Sheriff Earl (well-played by James Turner III) - who demands that Dean forget about Lorraine and return to the military academy.
Soon, everyone in town is "ALL SHOOK UP" and on the fast track to prove how only “Fools Fall in Love”… but also the importance of how everyone needs to “Follow That Dream” whatever that dream may lead.
(Photo: The CAST of the musical "ALL SHOOK UP" by Joe DiPietro now playing at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA. through July 21, 2024. Photo Credit: Robert Pascucci)
There is a LOT to recommend in the Reagle Music Theatre production of "ALL SHOOK UP" - from expertly executed lighting and sound to fun, frolicked costumes to a luminous and well constructed set design to the collective performances. All outstanding.
The book by DiPietro, however, as it tends to "shoehorn in" as many Elvis tunes as it can, is not as laudable, especially as some songs make no literary sense (lyrically) for what is going on in the story.
While the subject matter is well-intentioned for what the story clearly wishes to explore, the frivolous, two-dimensional, cartoonish nature of all the characters makes that virtually impossible, especially by the time we get to the show’s rambling second act.
Even those who might well-appreciate the attempt by DiPietro’s book to elevate certain societal conversations will be asking for “A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action” by the end of the show.
While the story may be weak… and it is exceptionally weak…the performances in "ALL SHOOK UP" certainly are not.
Also, the staging by the show’s director, Arthur Gomez, is solid, with exceptional choreography by Larry Sousa, keeping things lighthearted and fun, especially in some of the big Elvis numbers such as the show’s opener, “Jailhouse Rock,” “C’mon Everybody,” “That’s All Right” along with the second act’s, “If I Can Dream” and the show’s closer, “Burning Love.”
Another high point is the live "ALL SHOOK UP" orchestra, meticulously led by the show’s music director, Mindy Cimini.
"ALL SHOOK UP" continues in Waltham, MA. until July 21st, 2024 and, if you want to have fun and hear some great Elvis tunes performed by a truly talented cast, then “Don’t Be Cruel” to yourselves by missing out on seeing this show.
Reagle Music Theatre is pleased to announce an Affinity Night for members of the LGBTQIA+ community!
All are invited to don their blue (or pink or rainbow) suede shoes and attend the Friday, July 19th 7:30pm performance of "ALL SHOOK UP." Use code ASUAffinity for 25% off tickets at www.reaglemusictheatre.org/shows/11/all-shook-up
Coming up next at the Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA. will be the Four Time Tony Award-winning musical, "AN AMERICAN IN PARIS" by George and Ira Gershwin beginning August 9th, 2024.
For tickets or more information, check out Reagle Music Theatre by visiting them online at https://www.reaglemusictheatre.org/ or by calling them at # 781-891-5600.
Approximately two hours, 30 minutes with one intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
The music of Elvis comes alive in "ALL SHOOK UP."
Inspired by Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night,""ALL SHOOK UP" follows a small Midwestern town that is thrown into a frenzy with the arrival of Chad, a good-looking, motorcycle-riding roustabout, who rides from town to town with a guitar on his back, blue suede shoes on his feet, and a song in his heart.
Repressed by their conservative mayor, the town begins to come alive once more under Chad’s influence. Lovers meet, woo, pursue, and more, all in one zany night that will change the town forever.
"ALL SHOOK UP" is a rocking, heartwarming tale about following dreams, opening up to love, and the power of music. (STAGEAGENT)
ABOUT REAGLE MUSIC THEATRE OF GREATER BOSTON
REAGLE MUSIC THEATRE OF GREATER BOSTON's mission is to present the highest quality of musical theatre productions by combining talented regional performers with professional performers and technicians, thus providing an unusual learning experience for its regular members and more enjoyable experiences for its audiences. REAGLE MUSIC THEATRE is committed to using the skills of its company to strengthen and enhance teaching and learning in the Waltham Public Schools by educating youth to the joys of theatre, and by using theatre techniques to enhance learning in other curriculum areas. Our offerings include musicals, concerts, revues, educational programming, New York theatergoing trips, and more.
REAGLE MUSIC THEATRE OF GREATER BOSTON, INC.
617 Lexington Street
Waltham, MA 02452
PHONE: 781-891-5600
FAX: 781-701-0750
