Final countdown as AIS cast get ready to shake things up with ‘Rock of Ages’
It's the final countdown as we eagerly await the cast of Asian International School (AIS) to take us on the midnight train to Lionel Wendt on February 7 and 8 to watch them rock and roll as they perform ‘Rock of Ages.’
A play about dreamers, music and the 80s. ‘Rock of Ages’ if anyone is familiar with the classic, is a musical depicting the story of city boy Drew and a small- town girl Sherrie who have both travelled to L.A. to chase their dreams of making it big. Not just a love story, ‘Rock of Ages’ interweaves the plot of German real estate developer Hilda trying to convert the Sunset Strip of L.A into a strip mall while the other characters try to stop her.
An energetic ensemble, they were all smiles and laughter as they zipped around between getting their pictures taken, getting interviewed and rehearsing the play as the big day approaches.
There will be a few rotating characters solely due to the fact that Director Anushka Senanayake felt that each student should have the opportunity to showcase their talents. Lonny, Drew, Hilda and Franz will be played by two students whereas the rest of the cast will be played by one.
Playing Drew, the city boy whose dream of being a rocker quickly vanishes as he realises he needs to start from the bottom like every other dreamer in L. A. will be Chanchal Kapukoduwa and Radesh Vethakan. A classic musical theatre archetype, Sherrie played by Sade Greenwood is a small-town ready to make her mark in the big city. You see a huge character shift in her, from being this big dreamer to her transforming and adapting to the person she needs to be in order to survive in this new environment. Greenwood believes her character is empowering to women as the play progresses. Hriday Mohnani and Nismath Thasleem will be sharing the role of Lonny, whose dual role of omnipotent narrator and assistant Dennis Dupree has him being a constant lead in the story.
An outgoing personality with his charm and light heartedness, Thasleem describes his character to be a fulcrum to which the play revo l ves around. Hemali