AMERICA’S HIT MUSICAL “ROCK AND ROLL HEAVEN” FINALLY PREMIERES IN LOS ANGELES AT THEATRE 68 ON JUNE 24
Have you ever wondered what all those lived–fast/died-young rock and roll legends have been doing since they’ve entered those proverbial pearly gates?
Does Heaven have a “hell of a band” as the Righteous Brothers once musically asked in a song?
Well, those questions and more are answered as America’s new hit musical comedy, Rock and Roll Heaven, finally makes its Los Angeles Premiere June 24 at Theatre 68 in Hollywood.
“Guilty, un-politically correct pleasure”; “A highly entertaining, funny spoof on Heaven”; “A funny musical with some real good tunes”; “The writing and insight were loaded with puns and sexual innuendoes that kept me laughing the entire time”…are just some of the quotes from reviewers from Boston to San Diego.
It’s December 25th in Heaven, and after decades of all the talk about a Rock and Roll Heaven, it’s finally been agreed to allow the rock legends of yesteryear to perform their greatest hits at the annual birthday celebration.
Naturally, Jesus is excited about the concert as he feels he has a lot in common with the rock stars (being a Superstar himself, after all), but Heaven’s veteran ambassador, Moses, is completely against the concert.
Besides hating rock music, Moses doesn’t understand how many of the rock stars made it into Heaven after leading such destructive lives on Earth.
Moses’ negativity allows Satan (who’s frustrated because many on Earth have always blamed him for the rock and roll) to crash the birthday concert and raise some hell up in Heaven.
Topical subjects such as copyright infringement, music piracy, right-to-publicity laws and the proliferation of celebrity impersonators are humorously lampooned as Satan impersonates an entertainment attorney and tries to use current laws to cancel the concert.
The Hollywood cast of Rock and Roll Heaven: The Musical Comedy includes John Moschitta, Jr. (America’s favorite fast talker in ads for Federal Express, Micro Machines, and over 100 commercials in 37 countries); Smokey Miles as Moses; Jake Magnuson as Jesus; and Karen McClain as The Burning Bush.
Actors portraying the pop icons include: Thomas Garcia (Elvis, John Belushi); Jose Sinatra (John Lennon, Freddie Mercury); Allison Lynn Kramer (Janis Joplin); Wilkie Ferguson (Jimi Hendrix); David E. Taylor (Jim Morrison); Alex Spencer (Judy Garland); Alla Green (Marilyn Monroe); Brenna Graziano (Gilda Radner, Mama Cass); and Jaci Adams (Karen Carpenter).
The parody includes over 15 new and original songs composed by author and director Jason Mershon who for the past 35 years met, worked and partied with dozens of rock and roll legends----many of whom are regretfully now in Rock and Roll Heaven.
Beginning as a rock music critic for a Los Angeles newspaper in the early 1970s, Mershon would later produce concerts and shows with some of the top acts in the music business. He also became known as one of the premier nightclub promoters in America, producing parties, shows and pageants at over 150 nightclubs, including Studio 54 (NYC), Gilley’s and Billy Bob’s (Texas) , The Limelight (Chicago and Atlanta), 2001 Odyssey (in Brooklyn where Saturday Night Fever was filmed) and almost every major nightclub in all 50 states.
Mershon even became a sometimes rock star himself, touring nationally as the lead singer of the hit-making group The Box Tops (“The Letter,” “Cry Like a Baby”), replacing original lead singer Alex Chilton.
By the 1990s, seeing that many of his former friends and acquaintances had passed on, Mershon originally thought of penning his Rock and Roll Heaven idea as a screenplay, but then realized it could first make a fun musical comedy live on stage.
There seemed to be hundreds of celebrity impersonator shows popping up around the country that always recreated the “dead celebrities” live in concert, but no one was showing how these “dead celebrities” were carrying on now and today in the afterlife.
Originally titled Heaven Rocks, Mershon premiered his new musical in Palm Springs and would later produce versions in Boston and San Diego.
Acclaimed musical director Ron Snyder’s previous Los Angeles credits include The Ballad of Little Mikey and Pinafore!
Ovation Award winning choreographer (for “Oliver!”) Brian-Paul Mendoza also includes among his many L.A. credits Xanadu Live!, As It Is In Heaven, Raisin, Corpus Christi and more.
Rock and Roll Heaven: The Musical Comedy offers you the most entertaining fun you’ll have outside of, well, Heaven! |
