Flanked by guitarists Korbyn Tucker and Zach Jewell, Paul Kuhn appears as lead singer Stacee Jaxx in a nightclub scene from “Rock of Ages,” a musical being staged by the Ilwaco High School Drama Club at Hilltop Middle School for two weekends, beginning March 15. The large cast of students will be performing music of the 1980s.

“Rock of Ages” had been on drama director Rachel Lake’s radar for some while.

Then Ilwaco High School junior Hayden Gentry made a pitch for the 2024 spring show.

If You Go

If You Go

“Rock of Ages”

Musical by Ilwaco High School Drama Club

Directed by Rachel Lake

Hilltop Middle School, Ilwaco

7 p.m. March 15-16, 22-23; 2 p.m. March 16-17, 23-24.

Admission: $10, at the door.

The musical, with songs like “Don’t Stop Believin’,” will be performed the next two weekends at the Hilltop School Auditorium in Ilwaco. It opens Friday night.

“It’s fabulous!” exclaimed Lake, as she marshaled dancers during a late rehearsal. She and her student performers believe much of the draw will be heart-pumping, familiar rockin’ music from the 1980s.

“It’s going really well — it’s really fun to do,” said sophomore Aliyanna Hudson, who appears as the lead role opposite Gentry. “And older people in the audience are going to really like it because it has a lot of really popular songs.”

‘Amazing’

“Rock of Ages” is set in Los Angeles in 1987 and features two outsiders, played by Gentry and Hudson, who arrive on the Sunset Strip with dreams of breaking into show business. However, the nightclub where they work is threatened with destruction by a corrupt politician (Keira Watters), acting secretly with European property developers, portrayed by Ophelia Wise and Hayzel Sagar.

Julian Frazer and Blake Bell play the club managers, Toby Kraynak appears as a rival music promoter, Alycia Figueroa is the owner of another club, while Jessica Garcia and Giselle Gardner play key roles in the action.

Paul Kuhn has the role of Stacee Jaxx, lead singer for a successful band. “It’s amazing music,” said Kuhn. “The songs are awesome. It’s definitely a show you are going to have fun with.”

Fellow senior Kyleigh Koehler agreed. She hadn’t appeared in plays since she was much younger, but has enjoyed this experience. In the show, she portrays a waitress in an early scene, then later is a dancer. “I love singing so much, and this has great music — and I like to dance!”

Like Koehler, other students play multiple roles. Kara Meinhardt and Logan Siewert play a mom and dad. Protestors are portrayed by Meinhardt, Siewert, Garcia, Kai Cardenas, Avalon Hildebrandt, Jay Schenk and Evan Metzger. Other nightclub dancers are played by Dani Earls, Lyla Inskeep, Juliet Perez, Emma Smith and Chase Vasquez.

The IHS production will feature recorded instrumental music, although actors, including Vicente Bautista as a drummer and guitarists Zach Jewell and Korbyn Tucker, appear as band members.

Dates

The Ilwaco students will be performing a family friendly script that adapts the original work, a Tony-nominated 2009 Broadway show which was made into a movie in 2012 with Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alec Baldwin.

It features the music of Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar and Twisted Sister. Two of Hudson’s solos, “Harden My Heart” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” were hits for Portland band Quarterflash and Joan Jett.

The show opens Friday, March 15 and runs two weekends. There are Friday and Saturday night shows at 7 p.m. plus Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Assistant director is Marlena Trujillo and stage manager is Olivia Rohrer. Backstage workers include Ray Barella, Jaxon Fisher-Pinto, Lucas Prest, Eden Savelio and Ethan Shaw; Ruary Schimelpfenig manages the lights and Brent Curry is on sound.

Admission is $10, at the door.