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Lovers and fans of Elvis Presley packed the Kelowna Actors Studio as All Shook Up opened in Kelowna.
The 2004 musical includes music by the adored Elvis Presley.
Kelowna residents in the crowd were swept away into a 1950’s town that had an old school diner, a jukebox, and a shoe shop that sold blue suede shoes.
The town, somewhere in the Midwest, has a mayor who doesn’t want residents to be anything but perfect. This meant no “necking,” no dancing, no indecency, and absolutely no tight pants.
It all changes when Chad, a guitar-playing, hip-swiveling, “roustabout” turns up in town with a broken down motorbike.
Actor Erik Chirkoff embodies the sly and sexy character of Chad perfectly, with his dance moves and singing ability.
Once in town, Chad makes all the girls melt with his pelvis thrusts and gelled-back locks. One girl in particular, Natalie, falls madly in love with him. Natalie, played by Marisa Piattelli, is in charge of fixing the roustabout’s bike but feels like she is going unnoticed.
After realizing that Chad likes a good sidekick she ditches her grease stained dress and gets into some blue suede shoes and a man’s hat and transforms into Ed.
Natalie’s best friend Dennis, played by Mac Mackay, brings a touch of comedy into the more romantic musical. Dennis, who is a major nerd, is secretly in love with Natalie, but can’t seem to let her know. From his awkward dance moves and songs like “It hurts me,” he left the audience in stitches, while acknowledging the talent he has.
Chad eventually runs into Natalie’s dad, Jim, played by Mike Nordlund. Jim lets Chad know that he is love with a woman who doesn’t know it, so Chad teaches Jim how to be cool, while singing “Don’t Be Cruel”.
The play ends with the notion that love does conquer all, while touching on important subjects like same-sex love, segregation, and interracial dating.
The audience bobbed their heads throughout the whole musical, while clapping their hands and singing along to the well-known Elvis songs.
Cast members finished off the nearly three-hour play with some hilarious moments and another performance of “C’mon Everyone” where the singers went into the audience and danced and sang their hearts out.
All Shook Up will run through until February 27th. For more information on tickets and the show, click here.
You can also click here to read KelownaNow’s last review on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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