My husband was down for a few days to soak up the rehearsal excitement of Plane Crazy. We had Saturday night off, so we decided to go and see a show. After a long day of rehearsal we ended up at the TKTS booth and we were able to get seats for All Shook Up! I had already seen the show in Chicago during its out-of-town try-out (see my previous post) but I wanted my hubbie to see it too.

The story is light but fun, and much more satisfyingly integrated with the songs than other jukebox musicals.

The cast appeared to be the same one I saw in Chicago, but boy -- the show had really improved! The whole thing was tighter, smoother and funnier! Especially "The Roustabout" character named "Chad", played by Cheyenne Jackson. His timing and vocals were great!

And they've made a big improvement in the "Jail House Rock" number. In Chicago, the number was sung by Alix Korey who plays the Mayor. It was more in keeping with the story (and she has a great voice), but it never really "rocked" the way you want it to, and that was frustrating. In the New York version, they've got Chad leading the song and have turned it into a wonderful big gratuitous dance number -- now it really rocks! I may be wrong, but the choreography seems greatly improved versus Chicago. Another one of my favorite performances is Dean Hyde who is played by Curtis Holbrook. Not only is he a great singer and actor, but an AMAZING dancer!

The whole cast is top notch, but other standouts (for me) are Mark Price as "Dennis" and Leah Hocking as "Miss Sandra".

From my "inside sources" I learned a couple of interesting facts about the show.

Cheyenne Jackson, who originated the role of Chad in Chicago and is currently playing on Broadway was actually the original understudy! They had originally cast Jarrod Emick in the title role, but at the last moment he asked for more money and was let go! So Cheyenne moved up into the starring role! Nice break! Also, Curtis Holbrook was also originally the understudy for Dean Hyde. When the guy playing the role got a movie, the producers auditioned the role again. But they couldn't find anyone as good as Curtis so he got moved up as well!

That's showbiz kids!

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