STYX and REO Speedwagon to Take the Stage at Rock of Ages

Life will imitate art at Broadway musical Rock of Ages on April 27, when real-life rockers Tommy Shaw of STYX and Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon will make their Broadway debuts by performing their new single “Can’t Stop Rockin’” live on the Brooks Atkinson stage. The performance will take place immediately following the evening show of new musical Rock of Ages, which opens at the theater April 7.

Cronin and Shaw’s appearance celebrates the recently announced Can’t Stop Rockin’ 2009 Tour, which begins May 12 at the Amarillo Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas, and presented by VH1 Classic and Rock Band. The music of both artists is featured in Rock of Ages, including STYX’s “Too Much Time On My Hands,” “Keep On Lovin’ You” and “Renegade,” as well as Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling.”

Rock of Ages is set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip, where a small town girl meets a big city rocker in L.A.’s most famous rock club. Their arena-rock love story is told through the hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and many more. Written by Chris D'Arienzo, Rock of Ages opened off-Broadway on October 16 at New World Stages and played its final performance on January 4. The show made its world premiere in Los Angeles at The Vanguard.

The cast features Constantine Maroulis, Amy Spanger, James Carpinello, Adam Dannheisser, Mitchell Jarvis, Michele Mais, Lauren Molina, Paul Schoeffler, Wesley Taylor, Ericka Hunter, Jeremy Jordan, Michael Minarik, Angel Reed, Bahiyah Sayyed-Gaines, Katherine Tokarz, Andre Ward, Savannah Wise, Tad Wilson and Jeremy Woodard. The show is choreographed by Kelly Devine, with scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Gregory Gale, lighting design by Jason Lyons, sound design by Peter Hylenski, projection design by Zachary Borovay and musical supervision by Ethan Popp.