Rock Of Ages The Musical goes Country; Set to Open in Branson, MO

Smash hit Rock Of Ages The Musical has been enjoying constant sell out performances since its opening on Broadway a year ago, but after a successful year entertaining New Yorkers and tourists with its 80s rock nostalgia and monster rock ballads, the producers feel its time to reinterpret the production to reach their originally intended audience--country music.

Matt Weaver, Producer of Rock Of Ages, recalls in a recent interview in Country Weekly Magazine, "When we first came up with the idea for this production, of course it was supposed to be All Country Music, but along the way we were cooerced into changing it to a musical about LA in the late 80s, instead of Nashville in the 60s as the first script indicated."

Writer Chris D'Arienzo (sporting a 10 gallon stetson hat and titanium spurs) added "I love country music, I grew up watching "Hee Haw" and listening to Eddie Rabbit, Tammy Wynette and the Oak Ridge Boys and my biggest dream was to pen a romantic musical comedy set in a bluegrass bar in Nashville, where a young girl from LA comes to fall in love with a small town busboy. I was floored when they changed the concept. That whole rock thing is completely foreign to me, I had to read reams of issues of Kerrang Magazine and watch MTV reruns to even get a basic understanding of what rock was like in the 80s, and even still I just don't see the appeal, but at least some of the fans seem to like it."

But will the lead rocker, Constantine Maroulis, move to Missouri to join the cast there? Producer Janet Billig commented "Well, uh, we havent actually asked him yet, since we're waiting for Keith Urban to get back to us. Besides, Constantine may be "too ethnic."