The New Zealand Premiere

ALL SHOOK UP mixes a little bit of Shakespeare with a whole lot of The King, and guarantees that your entire family will be jumpin’ out of their blue suede shoes! The book by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change) sets the action in Smalltown, USA circa 1955. When “a rolling roustabout with a song in his soul and an eye for the ladies” rambles into town on his motorcycle, guitar slung over the leather jacket on his back, everyone eventually responds with new attitudes and welcome results.

Just as in Shakespeare’s lighthearted comedies, everyone falls under love’s spell, but with the “wrong” person. Dennis, the town nerd, loves grease monkey Natalie, who loves the roustabout, Chad, who’s fallen for the museum curator Miss Sandra, who’s a sucker for men bearing poetry, but not for Jim, the man who pines for her. It gets even more complicated, however, because - just like in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night - there’s a character who undergoes some gender-bending in order to get close to the one she loves. Add to all that the changing cultural climate of 1950s America and you get “The best retro rock show since Grease” (NBC).

ALL SHOOK UP is not a show about Elvis, but definitely is a tribute to his legend and his music, and uses the songs he made famous to give insight into the madness of falling in love. The show features 24 classic Elvis Presley hits including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Burning Love,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “It’s Now or Never,” “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.”