Show Review

Today, I saw "All Shook Up" at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. I decided to do my review on it while it's fresh in my mind. I'll cover ticketing/seating, food and the show itself.

As I had 1 more person than I had season tickets for, I had to pick up my extra guest's ticket at the box office. There was a little line but it moved well. When I got to the box office, the lady was prompt in finding my reservation as well as running up the charge so I could pay for it. Once I'd signed the charge slip, she gave me a card with our seating assignment which I gave to the seating assignment lady inside the theater. She promptly directed us to our table where we were able to be seated at once. The table was good one with excellent all around views.

Our waiter's name was Dave and he played the nerdy guy Dennis in the show. As a waiter, he did an outstanding job. As the nerdy guy in the show, he was great and he could sing! In regards to the food, it was plentiful and good. They had a full salad bar as well as cole slaw, pasta salad, green beans, potatoes, corn on the cob, spinach, tomatoes, some kind of pasta with cheese mixed in, shrimp, chicken, ribs, salmon, roast beef, ham and I think roast turkey breast. Each of the tables had fresh rolls. As you can see by the menu, if you didn't get thoroughly stuffed, you weren't trying. I made sure I had a light breakfast and, I didn't eat anything else the rest of the day in anticipation of their outstanding buffet.

The show were very funny and very well done. It was filled with great lines and the actors and actresses timing of the lines was smack on. The show has a number of great Elvis Presley hits. At times, they're used for comedic effect and other times for general audience pleasure. All the songs were well done. The show becomes increasingly Gilbert and Sullivanish as the love triangles get increasingly messed up. The biker Chad arrives in town and promptly falls for the stacked museum director. The grease monkey Natalie falls for Chad the biker who doesn't care for her and she decides to disguise herself as a man named Ed so Chad will get to know her/him. Dennis the nerd who became Chad's sidekick gives the job up to Natalie/Ed since he loves her though she doesn't love him. Dennis gives Chad a copy of Shakespeare's Sonnet 17 so he can capture the stacked museum director's heart. Chad has Natalie/Ed deliver the sonnet to the stacked female museum director and the director ends up falling in love with her/him. This is where things get kinky as you have the museum director in love with Natalie/Ed causing a potential lesbian romance though the director doesn't know it and Natalie/Ed isn't interested in her. She's still very much in love with the biker Chad. Things get more complicated and kinkier when Chad falls in love with Natalie's persona Ed causing what would look like a homosexual romance even though it isn't as Ed/Natalie is really a woman. Chad teaches his methods to Natalie's father who subsequently persues the same stacked museum director that Chad wants who doesn't want anything to do with Chad or Natalie's father. Natalie's father's friend Sylvia falls for Natalie's father and tries to get him to see that the museum director is going to leave him broken hearted. Sylvia's daughter Lorraine falls for the Mayor's son Dean who also falls for her and they have to hide their doomed love (he's white, she's black) from his mother. In typical Gilbert and Sullivan fashion, all ends well with a few surprises. I'll let you see the show to find out what they are.

My biggest complaint with the production was with the lead singer/actor who plays Chad but who we would recognize as the Elvis character. He can sing the songs BUT, he can't sing them like Elvis. He doesn't have Elvis's power and so really doesn't nail "Jailhouse Rock" down like he should. There were other songs where he is equally weak. In Toby's last show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, they had an actor who sang like Elvis. He did a great job. I can only guess that the actor was too old for the part of Chad. It's unfortunate as he would've done a lot better job singing the various Elvis songs.

Overall, barring the lead actor/singer, I found the show really nice. The actors and actresses did an outstanding job. Their timing was smack on and they have some great lines. They were also superbly supported by the folks in costumes, props, lighting and music. The show is filled with laughs and should be enjoyed by everyone. If you like madcap comedy, good music (Elvis still rocks!) and good food, this show is for you. All Shook Up runs until August 24th.