By Claudia Carbone
The Firehouse Theater Company explores the adage “Getting Old Is Not For Sissies” in an hilarious musical parody Rock of Aging now playing at the John Hand Theater in the Lowry neighborhood.
With a thin plot of three aging rockers from the 60s and 70s trying to make a comeback, the group Rolling Emotions take any gigs they can to stay alive. . .literally. They resort to singing commercials for companies like Botox and Preparation H with new lyrics to old classics adapted by Bill Paddock and Deborah Montgomery.
No topic is off limits. With the help of an on-stage live four-piece band, the three—Rickie D. Bones, Tina Tumor and Willy Withers—and their backup singers the Emotionettes (Rachel Findley, Tracey Sanderson and Steven Hartman) lament about aging issues like weight gain, memory loss, arthritis and passing gas, all sung to the familiar tunes of the boomer era.
“I Heard It Through The Grapevine, that her waistline is as big as mine,” sing Rickie (Debbie Montgomery) and Tina (Ghandia Johnson). Willy (Jay Louden) and Tina wail “Roids on Fire” to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Tina wonders where her glasses are in “I Can’t See Clearly Now, my readers are gone.” Willy and Tina, the married couple, moan “Bring Back That Youthful Feeling cuz it’s gone, gone, gone.” “Peeing All Night Long” is Tina’s rendition of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” One of the cleverest set of lyrics is Willy and the chorus singing about Willy’s colonoscopy: “Snake it up doctor, if you twist I’ll shout.” Ouch!
The second act finds Willy recovering from a heart attack, and everything looks brighter. Tina and Willy rejoice in “I’m Really Feelin’ Alright Now,” and everyone contributes to “Old Timer Rock and Roll.” Even the audience. By the time the group sings a rowdy ”A.A.R.P.” to “Y.M.C.A.” with all the hand gestures, the audience is loving it and joins in on “Dancing At Your Seat” to the tune “Dancing in the Street.” The house comes down with “Celebrate You’re Alive” to Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration.”
The clear show-stopper is Ghandia Johnson, a high-spirited, fully animated entertainer with a booming voice. Making her debut with this company, Johnson has been appearing in Colorado theaters since 2002 since a stint in the reality TV show Survivor.
Rock of Aging is a fun evening for grandparent-age folks. Firehouse Theater’s Helen Hand said it shows that “potty humor is not just for pre-schoolers.”
Rock of Aging plays Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 15 at John Hand Theater, 7653 E. 1st Place in Lowry. Tickets $25 Adults, $23 Seniors/Students/Military; to purchase call 303-562-3232 or visit www.firehousetheatercompany.com.