**THE OPENING NIGHT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO THURSDAY, JULY 21, DUE TO SOME CAST MEMBERS TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID**
This summer, the 1980s-licious fan favorite from stage and screen Rock of Ages motors into the Athens Theatre in DeLand with a tunefully comic plot that involves saving (of course) young love and music itself from both big-star egotism and shopping-mall commercialism.
Stringing together glam-rock hits like “We Built This City,” “High Enough,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Oh Sherrie” and “Don’t Stop Believin,’” this musical, like Eddie Van Halen shredding on a Stratocaster, puts music and passion in the spotlight.
Appropriately backed by a five-piece band, Rock of Ages is narrated by Lonny Barnett (played by the absolutely hysterical Christopher deJongh, whom audiences already adore from Plaid Tidings and The Wedding Singer, and other shows).
Lonny’s saga combines two tales: First is the love story of Drew Boley (Omar Mulero) and the fresh-faced, L.A. newbie Sherrie Christian (Holly Fuller, who has wowed in Mamma Mia!, Jekyll & Hyde, and so many more) falling in, out of, and back into love, while mega-rock-star Stacie Jaxx, a vain, vulgar, egotistical womanizer (Robert Baldwin, often seen in DeLand as lead singer for the thrilling, local Pink Floyd tribute, The Surrogate Band) is constantly getting in the way of their young love.
The second plot focuses on the fight to save the Bourbon Room (a famous, or infamous, rock bar venue) from demolition and development into a dreadful shopping mall. Heading up this hostile takeover is German developer Hertz Klineman (Gregory Williams, who last had audiences in stitches during Mamma Mia!), and his not-so-fond-of-the-idea-son Franz (Jameson Stobbe, whom Athens audiences recently rallied behind in Ragtime). Leading the resistance are city planner Regina (Christie Young, a comedic genius recently seen in the Athens’ I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change), the bar’s owner Dennis Dupree (J.J. Bateman), his right-hand man Lonny, and a slew of die-hard rockers who chain themselves together in protest because “[they’re] not gonna take it!”
Don’t miss this midsummer jam session that director Frank Ramirez calls a “love letter to the ’80s.” Wear your own big, big hair, eyeliner and flashy rock-star outfits (and women, you can dress up too) as you sing along and headbang to this multiple-Tony-nominated, rollicking, glam-rock, jukebox musical.
Parental guidance is recommended for audiences under the age of 14 because of sexual content, suggestive dancing, drinking, smoking, drug use and raunchy language.
On opening night Friday, July 15, join us for a free champagne toast. Or come to one of the other incredible performances July 16-Aug. 7. The Athens Theatre invites hearing-impaired audiences to rock out at the special American Sign Language-interpreted performance Friday, July 29.
The Athens Theatre is at 124 N. Florida Ave. in Downtown DeLand.
Tickets cost $32 for preferred reserved seating (rows A-F, orchestra, and CC-DD center balcony); $27 for adults; $25 for senior citizens; $12 for students/children; $23 per person for groups of eight or more. A $3-per-ticket processing charge will be added to each purchase.
All tickets are available online at the Athens Theatre website (www.AthensDeLand.com), or by calling the box office at 386-736-1500.
Box-office hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, and 1 1/2 hours before live performances.
