The Heart of Rock and Roll
Opening Night: April 22, 2024
Theater: James Earl Jones Theatre
Website: heartofrocknrollbway.com
Set in 1987 and jam-packed with Huey Lewis megahits like “Do You Believe in Love,” “Hip to Be Square,” and “If This Is It,” The Heart of Rock and Roll centers on a couple of twenty-somethings on the cusp of their futures—Bobby, a rock and roller who’s traded his guitar for the corporate ladder and his boss Cassandra who’s always put the family business first. When they both get a second shot at their dreams, it’ll take “The Power of Love” and a little help from their friends to figure out what kind of life they really want.
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April 22, 2024
“The Heart of Rock and Roll” is not going to be the subject of think pieces and graduate theses, but its easygoing good spirits are bolstered by solid craftsmanship, and it’d be silly to turn up our noses at that.
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April 23, 2024
Behold what surely must be the first Broadway musical crafted completely by artificial intelligence. That’s the only explanation for a show as rote and paint-by-numbers predictable as “The Heart of Rock and Roll.”
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April 22, 2024
Gordon Greenberg directs and Lorin Latarro choreographs, achieving some kind of immortality with all that bubble wrap. Around the edges of this production are a few inspired performances. Raymond J. Lee’s wacky rocker, Tamika Lawrence’s un-PC HR director and Billy Harrigan Tighe’s bleach-blond ukulele-playing male bimbo invariably deliver laughs despite the paper-thin material.
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April 22, 2024
To its credit, The Heart of Rock and Roll tries to get out before the buzz wears off. The second act lags and then accelerates around the point where Bobby’s choice between rock and cardboard gets obvious. While Abrams delights in adding new complications to the book, he seems to get bored of its circumstances about three quarters of the way through, and the show slams into its denouement at 90 miles per hour. There are a few lines of tossed-off explanation, right before the big finale, about why various threats to our heroes’ well-being are no longer an issue. You can pursue your dreams and also settle down! You can avoid the risk of a hostile takeover if you are … pure of heart and have some investment money from a Swede! The heart of rock and roll is still beating … as long as you don’t think too hard about it.
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April 22, 2024
Even more surprising is that one of those shows, “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” which opened Monday night at the James Earl Jones Theatre, has turned out to be an underdog highlight of the season.
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April 22, 2024
Huey Lewis’ discography is woven into the story with a looseness that makes Escape to Margaritaville seem downright Pulitzer-worthy.
READ THE REVIEWApril 22, 2024
Ideal fodder, then, for a modestly scaled and warm-hearted jukebox show that might prove to be one of the sleeper hits of the season. That’s thanks to an inestimably witty book with plenty of hard laughs and a suite of winning lead performances under director Gordon Greenberg.
READ THE REVIEWApril 22, 2024
I am neither an ‘80s kid nor a person with any outsized interest in Cott’s rugged good looks, but I had a good, old-fashioned great time for 2.5 hours.
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April 22, 2024
Like the best junk food, you won’t remember much about The Heart of Rock and Roll afterward, but at least you’ll have felt you had a fun time.
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