Power Balladz at The Lab Theater on 5/30/09
By: Janet Preus
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The “whale tail” and tattoo featured in the publicity are about a decade off, spelling with “z’s” was more of a rap thing that rockers wouldn’t be likely to adopt, and costuming was, except for a couple of numbers, a little tame for the genre, but that’s all forgivable. The musicians were top-notch, the singers could belt into the stratosphere and there was enough schtick to fill the bumpy parts with laughs.
There is much to poke fun at in the era, but with all of its excesses, the ‘80s rock ballads were just so good – well-written, performed by people who could really play and sing, and recorded impeccably in professional studios. This band was more than up to the challenge of taking on these iconic rock recordings, slamming out one classic hit after another with ease.
It couldn’t have been that easy to hear perfectly with the drummer encased in Plexiglas; even so, there were moments where that band absolutely locked in, creating the excitement so necessary to push the singers fronting the show to the max. And, no, we weren’t peering around, or getting our heads blown off by, stacks of Marshall amps. Thanks to some intelligent mixing by Chopper Black, the music had the power and presence it had to have, but you could still hear yourself laugh.
And there were plenty of jokes, from big hair to a silly t-shirt cannon, to a well-deserved parody of “Come Sail Away,” which launched the second half of the show. I laughed through the whole song. (Styx just took themselves too seriously.)
Three powerhouse singers, Dieter Bierbrauer, Randy Schmeling and Katy Hays, shared the leads. Stuck with the sideman role for much of the first half of the show, Hays got her moment when she absolutely nailed Lita Ford in “Close My Eyes Forever.” I couldn’t wait for her to step out in front again. Amazingly, she almost outdid Heart on “Alone,” punching high notes that would make a lesser talent just pass out.
Randy Schmeling was so good at adopting another persona that I actually enjoyed seeing his technique. Normally, if I think you’re waving your acting chops in front of my face, I’m done, but when a guy maybe half the heft of Meat Loaf can make us believe “I would do anything for love…” I’m won over. Yes, Meat Loaf rules.
Finally, the spandex showed up in Bierbrauer’s smooth turn as Freddie Mercury in a camped-up finale, and the greatest power ballad of them all.
I had the sense, though, that director Peter Rothstein had not lived this. If I’m wrong about that, then I’m betting that Rothstein didn’t really identify with the music. Every once in a while (it was either his heavy theater background, or it was that Bierbrauer was also steeped in that genre) it got too musical theater-y and lost its grounding in “this is rock, man!”
There was little pretense of a story, which surfaced a couple of times, made perfect rock sense in The Scorpions reference and then, more or less, disappeared. The short bits of narrative connecting the songs was only slightly above the level of improvised. Had it been pushed as far as the songs, and balanced parody and respect as the songs did, it might have worked better. They just weren’t badass rockers.
But nobody came to listen to them talk anyway. In fact, half the fun was an audience confidently playing the “power ballads or not” game, and ready with their lighters as each song launched into a familiar chorus. If you honestly don’t know who Aerosmith is, this is probably not the show for you. Everybody else should go, just for the fun of it.
Location Info:
The Lab Theater
Artist Info: The Producing House
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