The spirit of Elvis Presley was alive in the auditorium of Middletown High School North on Friday night during the drama club’s first presentation of their spring musical, All Shook Up.
All was well and plain in some Midwestern American town in the 1950s until the irresistible, guitar-playing, hip-swiveling bad boy Chad, played by senior Guy Rose, arrived to shake everything up. Soon after his arrival, an unfortunate love-triangle begins to form between a multitude of characters including Chad and auto mechanic Natalie, played by senior Nichole Bemko. In order to get the attention of the new comer, Natalie resorts to a dramatic transformation in an act of love at first sight. Bemko does an awe-inspiring job at committing to the vocals of both Natalie and her new identity of Ed that allows the audience to feel the emotions that her characters are torn between.
Elvis classics such as Jailhouse Rock, Don’t Be Cruel, Devil in Disguise, and, of course, All Shook Up rocked the house. Sylvia, played by junior Emily Welsh, preformed a stunning rendition of There’s Always Me in the second act that drew all attention center stage. The choreography was precise and clean giving the performance a professional touch that brought the Elvis classics to life on stage with every hip-swivel and swirl.
The orchestra pit did a fantastic job at keeping the musical, well, a musical. The pit, led by Mr. Isherwood on piano, was on key and lined up in sync with the actions going on stage. Their performance highlighted and gave credit to the rock music of the play as if the King of Rock ‘n Roll was there himself.
Overall, the dual force of the Midd North drama club and members of the band made the performance a delightful one and left the audience leaving content and happy to have confronted the cold winter-like weather on the first day of spring to have been there. All the cast members did an exceptional job at bringing the romantic comedy to life and put on a performance worth seeing. The commitment and hard work of Mrs. Geraldine Mahoney, Mrs. Tara Mahoney, Mr. Peter Isherwood, and all the cast, crew, and musicians is clearly seen in this stunning production that will surely continue to bring down the house for the upcoming performances. Of course there is much more to the plot of this musical than what is mentioned here, but this musical is two hours of blue-suede shoe-tapping, entertaining fun that is worth seeing and is anything but your stereotypical high school musical.
Tomorrow, performances of All Shook Up will take place in the MHSN auditorium at 1 and 7pm, ticket prices are $8 per adult and $5 per student.
