MTW Shakes Up the Carpenter Center

by Marchelle Hammack

OMG! You must, must, must go see Musical Theatre West’s latest production “All Shook Up.” Don’t even finish this review. Go straight to the phone (info at bottom) and get some tickets for this very short run (only three weeks and one week has gone by already), because I will be very surprised if this show doesn’t sell out. Luckily the performances are increased with Thursday night runs, as well as Saturday matinees and the usual Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday matinees.

I’ll start with the end. Standing ovation. Very rare. And in this case very deserved. It’s not a heavy intellectual show but it’s got some great songs and the cast is young and talented and they do it all: sing, dance and act. The concept was built around Elvis Presley songs, loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” And yes, the formula is pretty predictable, but there are some twists.

The lead performer, Derek Keeling, is to die for handsome but incredibly talented as well. His tongue-in-cheek deliveries of his narcissistic character, roustabout musician Chad, are spot on. He’s also a very dreamy singer. No wonder he was one of the finalists on NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want.”

Bets Malone plays the female lead Natalie Holler and in real life she is married to director Steven Glaudini, the person I am crediting with putting together such an impressive production. The actors are superb, and a particular standout is Tracy Lore who plays Miss Sandra. She is a wicked comedienne.

Also deserving kudos are Gwen Stewart (Sylvia), who brought down the house with every vocal offering, and Cynthia Ferrer who plays the uptight and upright Mayor Matilda Hyde of the town that is “all shook up” by Chad’s appearance. But all these young people (Danny Calvert plays Dennis and Sabrina H. Sloan plays Lorraine) are terrific, as are the veterans (John Massey plays Sheriff Earl) who grace the stage, including the ensemble who play a variety of roles, especially singing and dancing ones.

Musical Theatre West is the first regional theater group to receive rights to “All Shook Up,” whose book is the work of master comedy writer Joe DiPietro. This is such a first-rate production that so many people deserve credit: musical director Michael Borth, choreographer Lee Martino, and set designer David Rockwell, and the whole village of a crew that comes together to make a masterpiece like this happen.

The crowd was on its feet at the end, booties swayin’, feet stompin’. The camaraderie between performers and audience was a beautiful thing.

It was so wonderful to be transported for a few hours into a realm predicated on the King’s songs, a melodic fairytale that lifts us up and carries us away from this crazy, chaotic place we call reality.
Yeah baby! “All Shook Up” runs through Sunday, Mar. 9.

The box office number is (562) 856-1999 and you can receive more information by visiting www.musical.org.

The Carpenter Center is located at 6200 E. Atherton St. in Long Beach at the corner of Palo Verde.