Theater: Midtown Theater / 163 West 46th Street, New York, NY, 10036
Synopsis:
At Power Balladz you can celebrate the best music of the 70's 80's and 90'sand liberate the rock star inside of you. The formula is simple: start with some blood-pumping arena rock songs by Motley Crue, Poison, Guns 'N'Roses, Journey and other kick-ass arena bands, add some talented rock singers, give them a full band, lots of lights, a fog machine, a video projection screen, plenty of leather and long hair, and you've got a concert, indeed an extravaganza. And while the Power Balladz band knows how to rock, the show takes an unexpected turn when the high school sweetheart of one of the musicians stumbles into the show after ten years apart, raising the question -- will he be man enough to finally score the girl of his dreams?
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August 20, 2010: Is there room enough in Manhattan for two loving tributes to the heyday of the hair band? The creators of “Power Balladz,” a tricked-up karaoke extravaganza installed in a club space at the Midtown Theater, are surely hoping so. Here is an evening of nostalgia for fans of 1980s arena rock who might find the intellectual challenges of “Rock of Ages” too daunting.
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August 20, 2010: Power Balladz, the interactive concert designed for die-hard rock enthusiasts now at the Midtown Theater, proves to be an enjoyable evening for fans of that music, as well as genuine fun for those who normally find themselves watching Glee for their musical entertainment. In many ways, though, it's also simply Rock of Ages with a lot less plot and production values.
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August 20, 2010: The problem with so many of the "jukebox" musicals (as we've had to unfortunately accept them as being labeled) is that the creators try to come up with a lame plot on which to hang those familiar songs steeped in nostalgia or with enough pop music hooks, knowing full well we don't really care and that it's nearly impossible not to enjoy yourself. The great thing about Power Balladz, which opened last night in a little cabaret theater space near the hustle and bustle of Times Square commerce, is that it doesn't really try.
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August 20, 2010: Being a die-hard musical theatre fan made me initially skeptical of this new trend of interactive off-Broadway shows. I found myself wondering what they had to offer, if I'd have a good time, and what brought this to the forefront of the off-Broadway scene. Sitting down at a table reserved for us, surrounded by mist from the fog machines on stage and the waitresses serving drinks, I didn't know what to expect. What I should have thought to myself was, "This is going to be a really fun night," because it was.
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August 20, 2010: Consider "Power Balladz" to be the niche version of "Rock of Ages." Rather than strewing the stage with the corpses of '80s rock, creators Dan Nycklemoe, Mike Todaro, and Peter Rothstein have taken a more exclusionary approach, allowing only those songs they have deemed to be true power ballads. The book is negligible (the entire evening feels like an extended karaoke concert), and the performances barely exist, but I somehow found "Power Balladz" to be more entertaining than that other jukebox rock musical playing a few blocks away.
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