September 6th, 2012 
Drew and Sherrie (Photo Credit: Scott Suchman)
Shannon Mullen is playing the sweet and sensitive character of Sherrie in the upcoming Rock of Ages musical. The show, which has been nominated for Five Tony® Awards, is a love story told through songs by artists including Foreigner, Journey, Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Whitesnake and more. There are 28 classic rock songs in the show, and the movie version of the musical came out earlier this year. When the show comes to town in late September it will Shannon’s first visit to Austin, we talked to her to get her thoughts on the show and traveling around the country.
Q: How does Rock of Ages compare to your two previous national tours, Hairspray and Legally Blonde?
A: Those two shows were great but they were definitely more pop, and very light. This show is more raw, the sound is a rock musical, not so much theatre musical.
Shannon as Sherrie (Photo credit: Scott Suchman)
Q: Have you seen the Rock of Ages movie? How does the show compare?
A: The movie was really different. It’s similar to reading a book than seeing the movie based on that book. The writes have to cut part of the musical, the story line develops in different ways. For instance one of the secondary characters in the musical becomes the main focus in the movie.
The movie team did do a great job of making it work for a full crowd and letting the musical appeal to a family audience.
Q: Did you go see the movie with the cast and crew?
A: We all went together to a midnight showing!
Q: Tell me more about your character.
A: Sherrie is almost from another world compared to the rest of the characters in the musical. She grew up very sheltered and is now learning the LA lifestyle.
Q: What do you do when you aren’t on stage during a performance?
A: Sherrie is a big part of the musical, she’s in about 85% of the show. But, during the times that I can take a break I will relax with the character ‘Dennis’ who is also free during the same time frame and we often enjoy tea while watching the show from backstage.
Cast performing ‘Here I Go Again’ (Photo Credit: Scott Suchman)
Q: Do you prefer dancing or singing?
A: That’s such a hard question! Even though I started dancing before I began my singing career, and love them both I’d have to say that singing takes the cake.
Q: Tell me a little bit about the traveling show and how you get to see the country while on tour.
A: Every city is very different and while we always have a very tight schedule between shows, practice and interviews we usually always have one day to explore each city. The cast, crew and I don’t want to miss anything and we always get the best tips from locals in each town on what to explore and even just the best restaurants to try.
Q: Anything else you want our readers to know?
A: The one recommendation I must give is that this is a guy’s musical. It’s a great show for a date and as guys aren’t typically the biggest musical fans this is great because of the fun music and bands in the show. It’s a perfect date activity!
WHERE:
The Michael & Susan Dell Hall at the Long Center
701 W. Riverside Drive at South First Street
Austin, TX 78704
Ph: 512-474-LONG (5664)
DATES:
September 25-30th
Tuesday-Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
TICKETS:
Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased here or by calling 512-474-5664.
