As the curtains pulled away, the Sunset Strip lit up, and junior Andre Lavoie broke into a rockin’ rendition of “Come on Feel the Noize”, the audience of Rock of Ages knew they were ready for this show to get wild, wild, wild. This past weekend, Hingham High School Drama presented the fall musical production, Rock of Ages, directed by Ms. Levy-Sisk

The musical takes place in 1987 Los Angeles and is told through famous rock and roll songs of the 80’s. It was certainly nothing but a good time, senior John Joyce says he “found himself singing along the whole time”. The show follows the story of aspiring rocker Drew Boley (freshman Devan Kushnir) and Sherrie Christian (sophomore Casey Hussey) who left behind her mom (senior Sam Leary) and dad (freshman Nick Capodilupo) to become a singer, working at The Bourbon Room, a bar on Sunset Boulevard, trying to make it big. The Bourbon Room, owned by Lonny Barnett (junior Andre Lavoie) and Dennis Dupree (senior Matt Rice), is actually soon to be demolished by the city of Los Angeles in an effort by Hilda Klineman (junior Greta Eustace) and her son Franz (junior Steven Reis) to clean up the Sunset Strip. City-planner Anita Bath (senior Steph Pett) is against this measure, and is fired by the mayor of Los Angeles (Senior) Meg Flanagan. To perhaps save The Bourbon Room, rocker Stacee Jaxx (junior Connor McGeoghegan) returns to The Bourbon Room and performs his band’s last show, with Drew as the opening act. Sherrie, who had feelings for Drew but feels rejected by him, falls for Stacee and eventually gets fired from the Bourbon Room. The first act ends with Drew on the cusp of fame, Sherrie turning to work at the Venus-a-Go-Go club owned by Justice Charlier (junior Shea Kushnir), Anita Bath protesting the demolition, and Dennis trying to keep The Bourbon Room alive.

Act Two follows the resolutions to the musical’s conflicts. Drew and Sherrie find each other again, fall in love, and realize being together is more important than their desire for fame. Anita helps Franz go against his Hilda’s redevelopment plan, and Hilda cancels the demolition of The Bourbon Room to make amends with her son, (Lonny and Dennis subsequently get their club back).

This musical was a behemoth of a project. Two and a half months of practice, vocal training advised by Christopher Landis, memorization, and choreography advised by Ms. Campbell, Maureen Fish, and Elizabeth Tronni all led up to a stellar final product. “The Arsenal Band”, directed and conducted by Mr. Cincotta, Mr. Doherty and I designed and painted the sets alongside our set construction crew run by junior Sarah Busby and advised by Mr. Malerbi. Backstage crew headed by juniors Sarah DeCola and Justin Hull went through meticulous practice to make sure all the sets were put up properly and on time to perfect the environment of the play.

Lights and sound crew headed by sophomore Ben Sisk and senior Emma Gilmore respectively worked tirelessly to produce the colorful lighting and excellent sound that really tied the show together. Senior Rose McDonald and her props crew put together all the items needed to tie the show together-what’s an 80’s rocker without his guitar? Myself, junior Grace Galko, and our costumes crew spent a lot of time finding perfect outfits for the cast, and the makeup crew headed by Anna Kay enhanced the characters’ looks with makeup trends of the 1980’s; hopefully our hard work sent the audience on a visual trip back to 1987.

I could not be more proud of this show and everyone in it. Drama club Co-President Matt Rice agrees, saying that he is “incredibly proud of how the show turned out. Everyone worked so hard and I’m going to miss everyone next year.” have been a part of this Drama Club for four years and I’m so glad my final HHS musical hear was one filled with hard work paid off, excitement, laughter, and tears. I am honored to have been a part of this show and I had a great time working on it.

Through a charming touch of cliche, Rock of Ages begs us to ‘don’t stop believing’. The show conveys messages about the importance of love, loyalty, and dedication to what you choose to believe in. Hingham High School Drama put together a little piece of rock and roll magic on stage this weekend, and I know they will continue to shine show after show.