OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
POWER BALLADZ OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
Reviewed by Sasha Pensanti
Published 2010-08-20
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.
The stars of the show, best friends from high school, Dieter
Bierbrauer and Scott Richard Foster open the show by promising "a journey
of memories" as well as "a journey of really fuckin' awesome
music!" Both are delivered with a side order of teased hair and spandex. They're
backed by a band of top-notch musicians who would probably never be caught dead
in a Broadway theatre, but look like they're having the time of their lives
rocking out on stage. Right off the bat you know this show is different
by the fact that it's interactive. The cast members are talking directly to the
audience, walking through the audience and pausing to give us lessons on what
makes a power ballad (in case you're curious, to be a power ballad, a song must
include an acoustic beginning--guitar or piano, it's gotta ride the back of an
amazing drum build, and have a face melting guitar solo--air or real). The
thing that makes Power Balladz stand out amongst it's off-Broadway
compadres is that it's not typical musical theatre. In other words, you can
bring your boyfriend to the show and you won't owe him for it later.
The truth about a lot of 80s rock songs is that they require quite a bit of
vocal prowess. When you're talking power-ballads, this is magnified times
twenty. Many of the greats of the past decades had amazing voices and vocal
ranges (Steven Tyler, anyone?). These guys are able to sing incredibly high
notes with a lot of strength, and they never end up sounding girly. It's an
extremely attractive quality that kept girls throwing their bras on stage all
through the 80s and 90s.
Is the show similar to Rock of Ages on Broadway? Only in the fact that
it uses some of the same songs. Power Balladz isn't a Broadway Musical,
it's a musical experience that doesn't try too hard to hit you over the head
with plot. If you're looking for a quiet night at the theatre, this show
definitely isn't for you. If you want to hang with your friends and rock out to
some amazing music? This is probably the place to be. One of the greatest parts
about the show is that the music is loud enough for everyone to sing along
without bugging the crap out of their neighbor, that's definitely not possible
at a Broadway show.
Power Balladz is a crowd pleaser. It's got everything from nerf gun
fights to "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi to everyone in the
audience getting up and slow dancing to the Journey hit "Faithfully."
They had a boat, and a make-shift music video, a t-shirt cannon and trivia.
What more could you want? Oh, yeah, a "is it a power ballad or not?"
medley, where we all got to sing along and give our input on whether or not we
thought a song fit into the category or not. Now, I said there isn't a hard-set
plot, but that doesn't mean the show is free from storyline. There's a little
somethin-somethin' to keep those of us who are used to regular theatre
interested, too. Two best friends, a girl, love, loss, what I...wait, no,
that's a different off Broadway show. But really, the audience just ate up
every moment of the show. The fact of the matter is, people like good music,
and this is really great music.
Go see Power Balladz. Take your friends, a huge group of them. Have some
drinks. Sing along. It'll be one of the best nights you've had in a long time.
Click here to buy group tickets.
