‘All Shook up’: Elvis meets Shakespeare at Reagle

By Rich Fahey

WALTHAM – Elvis is not in the building. At least not a full-fledged Elvis Presley impersonator, the kind you’d find in a Las Vegas lounge or even marrying you in a wedding chapel there.

But his music is in the building in the Reagle Music Theatre’s rousing production of the musical comedy “All Shook Up” now at the Robinson Theatre through July 21.

Love is where you find it, and after much chaos and confusion , the love-starved residents of a sleepy Midwestern town in 1955 will indeed find it.  The plot is loosely based on Shakespeare’s classic comedy “Twelfth Night.”  Yes, In the 16^th Century, The Bard was already using the issues of gender fluidity and gender identity to great effect in his work.

The book is by Joe DiPietro, who won a Tony Award for his book of “Memphis” and has also written crowd-pleasers such as “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”  Alas, here his work is often both silly and slight, but it does abound with humor, quirky characters and a  positive message throughout when it comes to interracial and same-sex relationships as well as class differences.

His book serves as kind of a Christmas tree, upon which the show can add 25 “ornaments” from the Elvis songbook. They are all here, from the opening strains of “Jailhouse Rock” to the final notes of “Burning Love.”

And to be honest, the plot of “All Shook Up” is upstaged by both the music, performed beautifully by music director Mindy Cimini and her orchestra, and Larry Sousa’s energetic, athletic choreography; kudos to the ensemble that made it possible. Every character will get a chance to shine and show off their inner Elvis, and the voices are uniformly strong.

Overseeing it all is director Arthur Gomez, a familiar face at area theaters as both an actor and director. He allows the characters to wring every last laugh in DiPietro’s book.

Th storyline concerns a “roustabout” named Chad (Christopher Lewis) who rides his motorbike into town attired in tight pants and blue suede shoes.

As the women swoon, he is immediately identified as a threat to common decency by uptight Mayor Matilda Hyde (Janis Hudson), who has already issued a “Mamie Eisenhower Decency Proclamation” to try and keep things in check. OK, “Footloose” did  get there before this show.

The mayor has Sheriff Earl (James Turner III) under her thumb and schemes with him to rid the town of Chad, all the while keeping her son Dean (Preston Karp) in military school prison while he tries to woo Lorraine (Amaris Rios), the daughter of the owner of the local honky-tonk

Carolyn Saxon is quite simply a pro’s pro and a welcome presence on any stage and here is Sylvia, the widowed owner of the honky-tonk who has not kissed a man in six years and is as love-starved as the rest of the town. Her rendition of “There’s Always Me” in Act II is a show-stopper.

At the center of the piece is Natalie Haller (Gwynne Wood), a good-hearted mechanic, who works in the garage owned by her widower father Jim Haller (Jean-Alfred Chavier). Natalie has a good friend named Dennis (a fine comic turn by Jackson Girard), who wants to be more than a friend but has never told her that.  

Instead, it’s Chad who captures Natalie’s heart and attention when Chad asks her  to fix his motorbike.

The ongoing joke is   “One Night With You” is sung whenever one character is smitten with another; Chad and Jim Haller, for instance, both have eyes for Miss Sandra (Tader Shipley), who runs the town museum.

Wood as Natalie has great comic chops, which they use when she dons a leather jacket, moustache and cap to become Ed, in a bid to push Dennis aside and become his sidekick.

It works — perhaps too well. Chad begins to look at Ed as more than a just a sidekick, and a quick kiss confirms there is something there. But Chad is attracted to Natalie as Ed, and not Natalie.

Even the downtrodden Sheriff Earl will find the courage to let his true feelings about Mayor Hyde be known as part of “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

There will be matches and mismatches aplenty among the characters, and comic confusion and chaos will reign until everything – and all the couples – are sorted out in the end. Just like Shakespeare did it.

In keeping with the show’s positive vibes on all kinds of relationships, Reagle will host an Affinity Night for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, who are  invited to don their blue (or pink or rainbow) suede shoes and attend the Friday, July 19 performance of “All Shook Up”  at 7:30 p.m. Theater-goers can use the  code ASUAffinity for 25 percent off Friday, July 19 tickets at www.reaglemusictheatre.org/shows/11/all-shook-up

The Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston production of “All Shook Up.” Inspired by and featuring the music of Elvis Presley. Book by Joe DiPietro. Produced by Jay Pension, Directed by Arthur Gomez. Choreography by Larry Sousa. Music direction by Mindy Cimini. Set design by Janie Howland. Lighting design by Franklin Meissner, Jr.  Costume design by Emerald City Theatrical. Sound design by Sebastian Nixon. Production stage manager: Vanessa C. Hart. Technical director: Lori E. Baruch. Props Master: David Allen Prescott.