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Another Musical for Adam Shankman with 'Rock of Ages'

by Ethan Anderton
October 19, 2009

Director/choreographe Adam Shankman is no stranger to Broadway musicals as he brought the peppy 60's musical Hairspray to the big screen back in 2007. While the film was certainly a step away from the usually controversial cult classic work of John Waters that the musical was originally based on, the soundtrack was an absolute delight and almost made up for John Travolta's hideous drag of a performance (pun intended). Now Variety reports than Shankman will jump from the upbeat pop rock of the 60's to the eclectic rock anthems of the 80's, as he will direct an adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock of Ages.

The musical tells the romantic tale of a couple who meets at the club Rock of Ages, right on the Sunset Strip, and the ups and downs of their love as it struggles to survive amidst their rock and roll lifestyle (it already sounds so exciting, ugh). So it's essentially like every other musical we've seen about the seemingly hopeless love that blossoms out of a flamboyant and flashy chorus line. However, this musical has a soundtrack that has me changing my negative tune. Rock of Ages includes songs from 80's rock artists like Journey, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Steve Perry, Poison and a whole lot more where that came from.

Here's what Shankman had to say about his desire to bring Rock of Ages to a whole slew of new audiences:

“I had the best time of my life making "Hairspray" and badly wanted another musical, and when I watched "Rock of Ages," I was struck by the fact that not only had much of the audience seen it more than once, every guy in the audience knew the words to the songs. I thought, this is Mamma Mia! for dudes. What an extraordinary opportunity to open the genre to an audience that otherwise wouldn’t go see a musical.”

Despite my dig into the cliche nature of the musical romance, I certainly still have a soft spot for them in my heart. I absolutely adored Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, thoroughly enjoyed Rob Marshall's Chicago (and can't wait for Marshall's Fellini-inspired musical Nine to hit theaters this years) and especially love musicals from the past like Grease, West Side Story, Newsies, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But I'm especially excited because this musical combines all those predictable romantic elements with the popular 80's rock that I love anyway into one package that I, personally, can't wait to see. Are you ready to rock?

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