Interview by Jeremy Kinser
Photography by John Skalicky
www.skalickyphoto.com

Squeeze into your animal-print spandex pants, apply your styling mousse, and hold up those cigarette lighters -- the hair band power ballad is back. The new musical production Rock of Ages (in which our models Lachlan McCarthy, Leo Moctezuma, and Marcel Wilson are featured dancers) is a loving homage to the era when songs like "Sister Christian," "Heat of the Moment," and "Don't Stop Believin'" filled the airwaves and the nightclubs on the Sunset Strip. The show is performed through Feb. 18 at the Vanguard, 6021 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd. For tickets, call (800) 595-4TIX, or visit www.rockofages musical.com.

Matthew Weaver, co-producer of Rock of Ages, discusses what inspired the show and how classic rock tunes translate to the theatrical stage.

Matt, describe Rock of Ages for our readers.

It's a book musical in the vein of a lot of traditional shows like Mamma Mia! (based on the musical catalog of ABBA) and We Will Rock You (inspired by the music of Queen). Our show encompasses hair bands from the 1980s -- power ballads ... arena rock. It's Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Poison, Night Ranger -- all that seminal music for anyone from 21 to 50. It touched a part of our lives in the 1980s. It's one of the few catalog musicals that doesn't use one catalog -- that was our angle. Nothing against Mamma Mia!, it's a wonderful show and (ABBA is) probably an exception because they probably do have 30 number one hits. What we found in going to these is a lot of the catalog musicals are wonderful bands, but they only had two or three songs that were hits, or more importantly, that work in musicals. You find yourself sitting through six or seven or eight to get to the one that works. We picked seminal songs from the era so during every song, you're in the audience slapping your neighbor's thigh saying, "Oh my God. I love this song!"

Who's your target audience?

This is a show that's getting guy's guys to go to musicals. He's not going to Pippin or Oklahoma!, but he's going to Rock of Ages because to him, he's at a rock concert. We're also getting the traditional theater crowd because they're coming and enjoying the book and characters and all that. You look at our show and there's punk rockers, and rockers, and gay people, and straight people, and men, and women -- everyone just loves the show. That's what's so incredible about it. It's touching all areas -- it is a theater piece and a rock-and-roll piece.

How did you decide which songs to use?

We knew right away that we wanted hair bands from the '80s. The whole thing started with the song "Don't Stop Believin'" from Journey. Carl Levin, my partner, and I were the first ones to listen to that music and think there was something. We passed it off to Chris (D'Arienzo, the writer) and Kristin (Hanggi, the director) and they came up with a brilliant show.

Do the song lyrics further along the plot and storyline?

Absolutely. We do a lot of story telling through the music. We picked these songs that worked so perfectly. There's lots of book and lots of story but we rely on the music to tell the story heavily.

How did you convince the musicians to give you rights to their songs, that you wouldn't hold them up to ridicule?

We did a very risky, ballsy presentation/workshop last July where we put on about 50 minutes of the show at an expense of about $100,000 of our company's money and we did shows primarily for the singers, songwriters, publishers, managers, and everybody involved with the music to come and look at it. We got the rights to every single song except anything by Def Leppard. The point is we're paying homage to the music. While it's a fun show and you have a great time and hold up lighters, and sing along -- it's not a silly, gimmicky show. We're not trying to do kitsch. We believe in the emotion of the music, the way they wrote it. Otherwise, why would they give us the rights? Laugh or say what you want about these people, but they've sold tens of millions of albums. They're major recording artists. It's fun, feel-good music. We're not trying to be too smart. We're not trying to be too cute. We just want people to have a fun time.