by Brandon Carter
Coastal Journal staff

“All Shook Up” the jukebox musical featuring the songs of Elvis Presley, had only limited success when it opened on Broadway back in March 2005, closing after six months and 213 performances.  It may not be “Lennon,” but then that isn't saying much either. 

This uneven middle territory that it has staked out since Broadway makes it even more appealing as MSMTs third production of the season.  As a show that has room for improvement, “All Shook Up” allows MSMT that room to make its own distinct impression on audiences.

The key to Donna Drake's knowing production of “All Shook Up” is Brandon Andrus.  Playing Chad, the Elvis-like character riding into town on his motorbike, you might be inclined to think that he is simply doing a bad Elvis impersonation.  With his All-American looks, beefy arms, and Johnny Bravo timbre, he is strikingly uncool, but as you acclimate yourself to the rest of the show, you realize this is exactly how an “Elvis-like” character should appear:  Utterly clueless.  Andrus skillfully navigates Chad from arrogant tactlessness to irony and self-consciousness in a way that allows his performance to blossom into its own revelation, a risky venture that pays off handsomely.

The townspeople are a little more gullible.  Set in Eisenhower’s Midwest, Chad is the coolest (and hottest) thing that has ever happened to the town.  The most affected resident is Natalie Haller (Alex Ellis), a tomboy auto mechanic who was raised by her father Jim (John Charles-Keller).  As convention demands, she has big dreams with nowhere to go, and it all changes when Chad arrives.

She is instantly stricken when he wheels his bike into her shop to be repaired, but alas, he has eyes for another woman in town, Miss Sandra (Amy Bodnar), the seemingly sophisticated museum curator (she turns out to be pretty wild).  Stung by rejection, Natalie turns to best friend Dennis (Brian Golub) for advice on how to get Chad's attention.  Dennis, who is madly in love with her but doomed to “friends” status,  recommends she become “one of the guys” to get closer to him, and she takes his advice literally.  Donning overalls and Sharpie facial hair, she succeeds in convincing Chad that she is “Ed,” a reliable, roughneck confidante persona.  Her Ed also inadvertently seduces Miss Sandra, the prize Chad is after. 

These are the first in a series of love triangles, forbidden loves, and mistaken identities that grip the town.  Mayor Matilda Hyde (the firecracker Charis Leos) frowns mightily upon all the chaos and demands law and order, all the more so because her son Dean (Andy White) has fallen for Lorraine, a neighborhood black girl (Starr Domingue).  Luckily for everyone, not even the mayor is completely immune to rock n' roll music. 

Based on Shakespeare's “Twelfth Night,” the humor is always conscious yet accessible, and the cast does a great job hitting all the big moments.  So much so that the overly familiar Elvis songs that follow tend to suffer a little in their wake, acting more as breathers than numbers to sit up and pay attention to.  No slight to the band, however, as it sustains a smooth rock n' roll groove throughout.

The production is also helped along by a set that achieves poetic grandeur with the smallest effects; in the Second Act, a tattered Ferris Wheel in silhouette serves as a back canvas to illustrate the fragility of the idealized romances playing themselves out on stage, and nothing says “two-star town” like a rundown Ferris Wheel.

Ultimately, though, the show's success, as it always does, belongs to the principles, particularly Alex Hellis and Brian Golub.  As Natalie and Dennis,  two whimpering, wide-eyed fawns, their energy is infectious, their innocence is inspiring, and they are very, very funny.