ALL SHOOK UP – Book by Joe DePietro; Music and Lyrics by various composers; Directed by Nancy Evans Begley; Musical Direction by Trent Hines; Choreography by Piper Lindsay Arpan. Produced by Parker Arts (Presented at the PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Avenue, Parker) through July 19. Tickets available at 303-805-6800 or ParkerArts.org.
Joe DePietro works both sides of the musical fence. He writes original music for shows like LOVE/PERFECT, MEMPHIS, and THE TOXIC AVENGER. He is also gifted in writing juke box musical books that utilize the best of other composers and lyricists. He collects the music which made someone like Frank Sinatra popular or a sampling of the music of George Gershwin and wraps a musical like NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT into a cohesive musical joy. ALL SHOOK UP is also a compilation of the music Elvis Presley made his own in movies and albums. (Tiny bit of trivia, however, illustrates how tough it is to get a hit every time. His latest musical DIANA lasted only a month on Broadway and won the Razzie for that year.) But Mr. DePietro and Ms. Begley both have a hit on their hands with this production of ALL SHOOK UP currently in residence at the PACE Center.
A troupe of amazing singers and dancers have been put together and put through their paces to bring a rock ‘n’ roll banquet to the hall. Starting the evening off with “Jailhouse Rock” and finishing with hunka hunka “Burning Love,” the pace slows down only to tell a story that still needs to be told 20 years after it debuted on Broadway.
Matthew Austin Combs embodies the soul and dance moves of our hero Chad (the Elvis doppelganger) in a performance that barely gives him a moment off stage to breathe. He swoops into a small town in the vast Midwest (which SO reminded me of my tiny Illinois hometown with its backward beliefs) and provides a breath of fresh air to the depressed population. He invites them to sing, to experience a fresh look at the life they could be living, and then “intends” to move on as soon as his motorcycle is fixed. However, the female mechanic Natalie (Marisa Dinsmoor) is one of the women bowled over by him and she has different ideas. The plot gets convoluted as hidden romances bloom all over the stage, and no one ends up with who they thought they would. The plot – while funny and easy to follow – is not as important as revisiting all the great music from the 60’s and 70’s that we associate with the late great Elvis.
While everyone involved in this production deserves a pat on the back, outstanding work from cast members needs to be recognized. Matthew Combs provides the star quality necessary to carry this role to the end. His voice, his dance moves, his cockiness are all fun to watch and exciting. His bewilderment at his never-experienced-before failures and feelings is genuine, which makes it all the more touching. Other men in the cast who find themselves in the same sort of puzzling dilemmas include George Zamarripa , playing the man blind to the woman who has loved him all along; Adam Kinney, who has loved all along but is forced into being the faithful best friend; and Zachary Lee Boswell, who finds first love despite a domineering mother. Experiencing new feelings for women they have known all their lives or for twenty minutes puts each of them in awkward situations that are fun for the audience to watch. But – Jim Honiotes , who has performed in nearly every theatre in town, lands the greatest line of all. The whole theatre erupted! Wait for it!!!
The women hold their own as well. I wondered where Marisa Dinsmoor came from with her pixie-like quality, her Broadway belt voice, and her cute-as-a-button persona. But she’s been in town all along, working her way up to this role. A rose-filled curtain call for you, my dear – can’t wait to see what you do next. Arabella Beaubrun and Suzanne Connors Nepi are familiar faces to those who follow theatre in Denver. Both are solid performers, no matter the role; but it’s nice to see them have fun as Sylvia, the local bar owner, and Mayor Matilda, the prudish strong woman mayor. The unwilling seductive museum director, Sandra, gives Shelby Varra another fun role on the PACE stage after performing in last year’s ROCK OF AGES. Jessica Czapla, who plays the other half of the young love couple, is another actress who has been waiting in the wings for a chance to show us what she can do on stage . . . and what she does is sing like an angel!
It’s also worth noting that a dance ensemble of ten talented performers, in addition to dancing their booties off each show, has also signed on as covers for the main performers. In addition to learning parts of FOURTEEN dance numbers, they have also learned the lines and blocking for one of the main characters, should they need to go on for them one night. I call that dedication of the highest order.
That’s also the kind of loyalty Nancy Begley gets as a producer. She obviously takes good care of her people to generate that kind of return. As a director, she found all the moments of both humor and significance in the script. Coupled with the brilliance of long-time musical director Trent Hines and the sparkling choreography of local favorite dancer Piper Arpan, the cast is in good hands. It shows. A good time was had by all.
A name I’m seeing all over town as a Scenic Director is Matthew Crane whose deceptively simple set for this show moved in and out of place easily, gave the dancers plenty of space to move their feet, and used subtle projections and light (thanks to Brett Maughan) to create the time and mood of the moment. A yeoman’s job was performed by Alicia Pope as the Wardrobe Coordinator for this production. We enjoyed sparkly dance garb, leather jackets (both black and white), and MULTIPLE changes of clothing throughout the performance. Just getting everyone to get their costumes back on hangers and in the right place at the end of the day must have taken hours.
Are you getting the picture that I had a good time at this show? Obviously, part of my personal fun was revisiting the music of my young adulthood. I’m not sorry to say I was in high school when LOVE ME TENDER premiered at the local drive in; I saw Elvis in performance from backstage in Vegas; and he passed two days before my birthday in 1977. Some things just live in your memory.
A WOW factor of 9!!
I absolutely agree that this was an amazing show! We are so thrilled our son was apart of this wonderful production! Your write up was amazing!