Here They Go Again! ROCK OF AGES Cast Gets Pumped Up for National Tour

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

The hit musical Rock of Ages is kicking off its 10th anniversary tour

and we drop by the rehearsal room to bring you a sneak peek and meet the company

Here I go again on my own Ha, ha, ha, going down the old year old I never know

Rock of Ages is the best face-melting 80s jukebox musical you'll ever see in your life

I've been a big fan of the show for many years. I've seen multiple productions, so to finally be able to do it is super exciting

Yeah, I completely agree. For 10 years, I wanted to be a part of this show, and I finally get to do it. Okay, so when you saw this show and you got cast, what roles do you play

I play Dennis Dupree, the owner of The Bourbon Room. I play Lonnie Barnett, the resident narrator of Rock of Ages

So I'm sure when you saw the show, were you like, I want that role sometime, I would love to do that

Yeah, this is the role that I wanted to play. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I came in for a few different roles

so I wasn't quite sure where I would end up, but Lonnie is definitely home

What is it about this show? I think it's the music and probably the message

of anyone can kind of have their own dreams at the end of the day, and it doesn't matter

if those dreams aren what you really came in with or what you set yourself for that you can still be happy with your own personal slice of life right Yeah I think that the show really speaks to people because it reminds them of that time

It makes them feel like they're back in that place again. It really transports you

I think our production is going for a creative vision that's more about telling the story as opposed to feeling like you're at the rock concert from the second you get there

It's less of like, kind of like a farce and commentary on it, and more puts you like, in it

Yeah. Well, my audition experience was crazy in itself

I auditioned in March and I didn't hear anything until May, late May

So I was like oh my gosh I still being considered for this So I came in I sang at 9 in the morning belting sang through Regina Justice and Sherry music all of them And I came back at 4 o to dance and it was only me and four other guys

And I was like, okay, well, I got to dance now. So, that's it

How'd you find out? Oh, they called me two days later. He was like, hey, guess what? You're going to be Regina

And I was like, not a tree? I'm not going to be a bush? This is great

For you, what was your experience? I went to an open call on a very, very snowy day

And I had a good audition and then had a couple of callbacks and then went in for my final

And I sang once. And Martha was like, that's all we need. And so I was like, OK, great

And then I went to my restaurant job and was like, didn't get it, didn't get it. And then I was in a voice lesson the next day and got a phone call and promptly screamed for two minutes straight

as one does when you get a dream job. I really tried to look at it totally from scratch

It's hard. I know there are so many fans of this show, and rightly so

So we have a little of the pressure of like, will we deliver what they're expecting

But when we were casting and when we've been rehearsing, it's really been about getting the best people to do this

We did look sometimes if they had done it before could they change if we asked them to Because we don know how it was done before you know that kind of thing and they been amazing just an amazing group of people that are committed and funny and talented and it just it it been terrific

with them yeah for you mixing it all up with people who've done it before what it means to you

well the nice thing was that every one of these people that we hired have 100 jumped in to what

Martha and I are trying to do. And even the people who've done it before

there's no pushback. Everybody is completely willing to try some of the crazy ideas that we have

And so it's making for a very tight cast