All Shook Up

A couple of weeks ago I made my way back to Cumberland County Playhouse to see the opening of their newest show All Shook Up. This musical is filled with well known Elvis tunes, along with some awesome dancing, color and laughs.

There are several familiar faces in this show (as usual), but many of them are less regular at the Playhouse, but were from last season's productions of Chicago and Dreamgirls. I love seeing the "regulars" but I also love when there are some new (or newer) faces on the Playhouse stage.

All Shook Up takes place in an unnamed American town in the 50s, who's fun has been outlawed by Mayor Matilda, played with great hilarity by Lauren Marshall. The young people in the town are all bored and want to leave the town, but then rebel Chad rides into town on his (REAL!) motorcycle and....shakes things up. :)

Chad is played by Playhouse regular, Austin Price. This is, however, the first time I think I've seen him in a lead role, save High School Musical and Camp Rock. He does a fantastic job with the role of Chad by playing is up as a cheesy, over exaggerated character (which it is), and his vocals are great.

Taken from the Cumberland County Playhouse facebook page

Chad catches the eye of Natalie, the tomboy only child of local mechanic Jim, played by Jason Ross. Natalie is played by Leila Nelson (who also choreographed the production beautifully) has grown up without a mother and wants to leave town to find her true love. Nelson has some impeccable comedic timing and plays the role of Natalie with a youthful exuberance that makes her character lovable and hilarious.

Of course any comedy wouldn't be complete without misunderstandings, misdirected romantic attention and mistaken identity. The entire town is soon caught up in the chaos that ensues. Some other stand outs in the show were Dee Hill as local diner owner, Sylvia (her voice gave me chills, in a good way) and Daniel Black as Natalie's friend Dennis and later Chad's side-kick.

The lighting for the show was beautifully done, especially during the slightly creepy museum scene. The set design was great and for the first time that I've seen at the Playhouse, there was a walkway built out over the first couple of rows of the audience, making the action even closer to you (especially me, since I sat very close to said walkway).

Call me a softy, but I love the clothing from the 50s. I even had a poodle skirt as a child. This made the costumes absolutely thrilling for me. Throw in some leather jackets and white shirts for the guys, along with an array of blue suede shoes, and I was a happy girl. Costume designer Renee Luttrell, thank you. :)

I won't lie, I was a little apprehensive of this show when I first heard about it. But it turned out to be way more fun than I imagined and had me in stitches for most of the show. Sometimes it has the feel of Grease, sometimes of Hairspray, and other times of a Shakespearean comedy. I am a huge fan of dance numbers and this show was not lacking in those. Each one brought a smile to my face. While I have no desire to give away the plot line of the show I can assure you that you will leave the show smiling and humming an Elvis tune.

All Shook Up runs on the Mainstage through May 12th. You can purchase tickets by calling the box office at 931-484-5000 or by clicking HERE.