All Shook Up is one of the fantastically fun, fluffy, and flashy hallmarks of the early-to-mid 2000’s big jukebox musicals, and it’s difficult not to come away from the show with some burnin’ love and a couple of jiggly-wiggly, hip-shaking moves made just for your best pair of blue suede shoes. The show originally debuted on Broadway in 2005 with a 6-month run, and it features a cross-section of intermingled love stories in a small mid-western 1950’s town told to the iconic music of The King (Elvis Presley, not King Henry VIII–that’s a whole other musical…) with a book by Joe DiPietro. The book is loosely inspired by various Shakespearean stories such as Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and Midsummer Night’s Dream, making the show a lively combination of The Bard and The King.
Other Voices Theatre, in Frederick, MD does a bang-up job of assembling an incredibly talented and cohesive cast, adeptly directed by Steve Cairns, who is also the Artistic Director of Other Voices Theatre. Cairns does a remarkable directorial job of ensuring every character on stage delivers the laughs, tugs at your heartstrings, and makes an impact. He keeps the pace moving at a perfect speed, and the show never drags for a second. Every moment of the show is creatively staged, drawing the audience’s attention to exactly when and where it needs to be, using both levels of the set. Cairns should be proud of this production and his cast. The sheer enjoyment of the audience was palpable in the show we attended.
Music Director Marcie Shegogue has her hands full ensuring that the cast does the songs of The King justice, and she does it with masterful aplomb. The orchestrations have a surprising amount of harmony embedded, considering the music of The King is fairly basic in its Rock and Roll roots, and the cast nails the music and harmonies with ease, creating a solid wall of music in the ensemble numbers. The production uses tracks as opposed to live music, but the quality of the tracks is top-notch with cues well-executed by Sound Operator Abreana Porter. The only downside of sound in the space is the lack of body mics for the cast, which makes it hard to hear some of the cast with quieter vocals over the music at times. The vocals of the cast are enhanced by hanging mics (and maybe other mics around the stage), and while the sound is very well-balanced overall, there are times where even in the front row it was difficult to hear some of the vocals.
Set Designer Christine Levy uses the black box space perfectly with creative and well-designed set pieces that are sometimes minimal (which is almost a requirement for working in a black box space) yet take the audience exactly where they need to be in the moment. Set changes were efficient and flowed perfectly in the context of the show. Costumers Maria Boyce and Nancy Speck do an outstanding job at keeping the wardrobe of the cast in the period of the show, although perhaps the difference between the socio-economic classes could have contrasted a little better. Speaking of which, the show portrays an underscoring of discrimination either between racial lines or socio-economic status depending on the cast, and this version portrays a divide along socio-economic lines and not racial lines.
Production-wise, the choreography absolutely steals the show. Choreographers Kaitlyn McGuire and Riley Smith do a fantastic job highlighting the talented, young, featured dancers (Emily Spurrier, Kendel Wickline, and Kailee Akee) with their flips, continuous fouetté turns, and other surprisingly difficult choreography, while utilizing the rest of the ensemble and principle cast perfectly to their abilities. There was not a single missed step that we could see throughout the production, and it was refreshing to see such a high standard of choreography in a community theatre setting. The show kicks off at 200% energy with the fun choreography and music of Jailhouse Rock (with a little bit of tap included!) and sets the tone for the entire production. Breton Stailey, who plays Henrietta, can be found dancing alongside the above-mentioned featured dancers, and shines phenomenally. She danced her butt off, has a powerful set of pipes, and was a pleasure to watch in all of her moments.
The ensemble was packed full of energy throughout the entire show and features all age ranges. Cairns and the choreographers kept them engaged at all times, adding to all of the moments on stage and never distracting. It’s very clear that each person in the cast was dedicated, working hard, and most importantly, having fun. One of the best parts of watching any successful big musical production is not just having a strong principal cast, but also having a strong ensemble who works equally hard and shines in comparison to the principle cast. This is one of those cases, and everyone in the ensemble should give themselves a big pat on the back for everything they do.
Speaking of the principal cast, there are a total of 10 characters who fall in love (each time someone falls in love marked by a moment of “One Night with You” as a funny aside) and ultimately end up with whom they belong in the end. The story begins at Sylvia’s bar, triggered by the arrival of a young honkytonk roustabout Elvis-inspired character named Chad, who brings the broken jukebox to life with a touch, along with the hearts of the townsfolk. It’s really all fun and fluffy, and the only love story that has any dramatic underscoring is Dean and Lorraine’s. Dean Hyde, played by Ben Kincaid, is the upper-class son of the town’s Mayor, Matilda, and quickly falls in love with Lorraine, Sylvia’s daughter, played by Maurlea Long. Their love story portrays the “forbidden” boundary-crossing of socio-economic status, with Lorraine being lower-class and Dean being upper-class, but the forbidden love story almost has a Footloose-esque feel to it (no sultry dancing and necking allowed in this small town!). When Dean and Lorraine’s love is forbidden along racial lines, their story has a much deeper impact, but these young actors adorably steal all of their scenes in the context of class division. Kincaid’s comic timing is impeccable for such a young actor, and he’s able to hit some surprising tenor notes. He gets some heavy laughs throughout the show. Long’s Lorraine is sugary sweet, and she has a nice dulcet tone that blends well with Kincaid’s. They win the contest for cutest couple in a musical, hands-down!
Dean’s mother, Mayor Matilda, is constantly followed around by Sheriff Earl, both attempting to enforce the po’dunk town’s Footloose-ian laws. Matilda, played by Kerrey Lynch, does a great job with Devil in Disguise toward the end of Act 2, and her portrayal of the mayor is somewhere between a cartoonish villain and someone the audience can love to hate. Being the only real conflict in the show, Matilda should probably fall more toward the line of someone the audience can love to hate, but Lynch’s Mayor is still a ton of fun to watch and she is always full of energy. Mike McGraw plays Sheriff Earl, and while he is mute for most of the show, he gets a ton of laughs and is incredibly endearing when he finally gets his moment at the end of the show. He also sneaks in some funny bits as he follows around Matilda throughout the show.
Sylvia, who owns the local bar in which all of the shenanigans start, is played masterfully by Taylor Whidden. Whidden is clearly a very seasoned vocalist and performer and is one of the true highlights of the show. She commands the stage with each line, gets all the laughs, and has an incredibly powerful, controlled, and beautiful voice. Her solo toward the end of Act 2, “There’s Always Me”, is a true 11-o’clock power ballad and she nails it—we wouldn’t be surprised to see some teary-eyed audience members at the end of it. Sylvia, as a happily single woman, falls in love with the local mechanic, Jim Haller, played by Michael Abendshein. Abendshein is the definition of endearing, and it’s a joy watching the two of them eventually fall in love. You’re immediately on his side as soon as he speaks, and you’ll be rooting for him through the entire show.
Miss Sandra, played immaculately by Miranda Trautman, is the sexy, vivacious, and peppery manager of the local museum. The character itself is written to extremes—at first, Miss Sandra comes across as hard-to-get, highly intelligent, discerning, and doesn’t put up with anyone’s BS (mostly Chad’s), but as soon as she gets her “One Night Only” moment, the character becomes a giddy schoolgirl throwing herself at anyone who can quote a Shakespeare sonnet. The character’s behavior contrast is a little jarring, but Trautman handles it beautifully. She’s funny, has a gorgeous voice, dances well, commands the stage with her sex appeal, and is a perfect choice for the role.
Dennis, the dorky, slouchy, and lovelorn best friend of Jim’s daughter Natalie, is played by the multi-talented Danielle Comer. Dennis always gets looked over by everyone and is constantly trying to tell Natalie how he feels about her throughout the show. He becomes quite jealous of the new roustabout stealing away Natalie’s attention, but quickly forgets about it by becoming Chad’s sidekick, loving the validation of someone finally noticing him. Comer steals her moments, getting in laughs whenever she can, and is completely adorkable and lovable as Dennis. It’s clear that she worked hard for the role, gender bending and all, and is having loads of fun on stage. Like the character of Jim Haller, you’re immediately rooting for Comer throughout the production, and she is absolutely charming to watch. Comer’s casting of Dennis is also a nice alternate true-life reflection of the inherent gender-bending that is written into the script, widening the message of love and acceptance. Her solo, “It Hurts Me” is a highlight of Act 2, and she does quite well with the song in its original tenor key. It’s a touching, rewarding, and funny moment when Dennis finally finds his love at the end of the show.
Dennis’ love interest, Jim Haller’s grease monkey daughter, Natalie, is played by the young and vibrant MazieBelle Rosenfeld. Natalie is immediately smitten by the new roustabout in town, Chad, and theirs is the primary love story of the production. The character requires gender-bending about halfway through the show, and Rosenfeld does a decent job of tackling both Natalie and her alternate personality of “Ed”, which she creates to get closer to Chad as a friend. She portrays both the tomboyish and forthright personality of Natalie with ease, while also letting the audience see the softer and more feminine side of the character. When she dons “Ed”, Rosenfeld gets the laughs in and plays well off of both Chad and Miss Sandra.
The new roustabout in town, Chad, is played to perfection by Randy Stull. He has a beautiful baritone crooner voice, lands every joke, and brings the ladies to their knees with his hip-shakin’ Elvis moves. His charisma on stage is palpable, and that’s quite a feat considering the rest of the cast and ensemble is so incredibly strong. While the character itself is very clearly pigeon-holed to be a very specific archetype, Stull makes the character his own and brings it to life in a very identifiable way. It would be easy for an actor to play this role forgettably as only an Elvis archetype, but Stull’s triple-threat performance here is memorable and worth the price of admission alone.
The show runs roughly 2 hours plus a 15-minute intermission, and you are guaranteed to have a good night out. If you enjoy the music of The King, you’ll love All Shook Up, and Other Voices delivers an outstanding production that is worth your time. You’ll be swinging your hips and singing the songs for weeks to come!
Show dates are May 5th through May 14th, with Friday and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. There is one more weekend left, so get your tickets now!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours with one intermission
All Shook Up plays through May 14th 2023 with Other Voices Theatre at The Performance Factory— 244-B South Jefferson Street in Frederick, MD. Tickets are available by calling the box office at (301) 662-3722 or by purchasing them in advance online
