Rock of Ages celebrates and sends up the 1980s

Jim McMullen has an ideal background to be director and set designer for the Canberra premiere production of the 2006 jukebox musical Rock of Ages. Not only was he around during the era of the 1980s rock that provides the show with its score, but he played guitar and sang in a rock band during that time.

"It was here in Canberra – it was called Isorhythm," McMullen says.

He and fellow Daramalan teachers Peter J. Casey and Peter Forsythe spent several years together performing.

"It was mostly covers – Dire Straits, AC/DC ... It was great fun."

This time, though, others will be in the limelight. McMullen says he found the movie version of Rock of Ages disappointing – it made significant changes to the story of the stage show, which he enjoyed far more.

"It's very, very funny, a complete piss-take of the '80s – hair, costumes, music: everything is so over the top."

In Rock of Ages, Emma McCormack plays Sherrie, a young woman from Paola, Kansas, who's just arrived in Los Angeles with dreams of becoming of actress. She soon meets aspiring rock musician Drew (Dave Smith), who's been in LA a bit longer and works as a barman at The Bourbon Room, run by Dennis (Ian Croker) and his offsider Lonny (Tim Stiles). Sherrie starts working there too, as a waitress, and they tentatively discover they have feelings for each other.

But anything that might seriously develop is threatened by the arrival of charismatic rock star Stacee Jaxx (Will Huang) who will be performing with his band Arsenal for the last time at The Bourbon Room before they go their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Dennis and Lonny have problems of their own as German property developer Hertz Klinemann (Berin Denham) and his son Franz (Hayden Crosweller) have talked the city's Mayor (Pat Gallagher) into cleaning up the area and introducing a redevelopment that includes demolishing The Bourbon Room, much to the displeasure of the City Planner, Regina (Anita Davenport).

The nearby strip joint, The Venus Club, run by Justice (Shell Tully), that also figures in the story, probably wouldn't get off easily either if the Germans' plans came to fruition.

Some of the '80s costumes were made for the production, but others were the result of dedicated internet searches and op-shopping to add a genuinely vintage touch to the shoulder pads, Lycra, big hair, mullets and other fashion landmarks.

McMullen says his worst fashion faux pas in the era were flared cords, big belts and long hair ("I grew up in the '70s," he says by way of explanation: there was some bleed-over).

And, of course, keeping it well within the period there are the music and lyrics of the songs, billed in the score as being by "A bunch of really f---ing sweet '80s bands".

A partial list of titles and artists includes We Built This City by Starship, We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister, Don't Stop Believing by Journey, Waiting for a Girl Like You by Foreigner and The Final Countdown by Europe. Even the cast members too young to have lived through the original era (most of them) love the songs, McMullen says, and the music of the period still floods the airwaves.

He says 106 has the biggest demographic in Canberra. "And 90 per cent of the stuff they play is '80s rock. Every time I turn on the radio I hear a song from the show."

The reasons for this enduring popularity aren't too hard to fathom, he reckons: it's generally catchy, upbeat, and good to sing and dance along to, so it's survived changes in musical styles to maintain its appeal.

Both Smith and McCormack, in their different ways, faced similar challenges to their characters in pursuing show business dreams and working out how to reconcile them with reality.

After performing in Canberra, Smith moved to Sydney in 2014. He had good and bad experiences working with companies and says the divide between professional and amateur shows in Sydney is very marked.

The amateur shows are often "very amateur", in the worst sense, compared to the standard in Canberra. And getting a professional break was tough.

"It's difficult to get in professionally when you don't have an agent."

So he moved back to Canberra, where he can do what he loves doing with people he likes and feels proud of it.

This is McCormack's Canberra performing debut. She is from Euroa in Victoria, studied musical theatre at the University of Ballarat and has a master's degree in early childhood development. She ran a children's entertainment company in Melbourne and now works in Canberra as a preschool teacher.

But although she loves musical theatre, she doesn't love the industry. "It's less about talent and more about physical appearance and a name," she says.

"In Melbourne, you would see the same people over and over again and I didn't want to change the person I am to fit the brief."

She says, "My agent told me I was too fat to be a skinny chick and too skinny for a fat chick so I should lose or put on 15 kilograms.

"I said thank you, but no."

After a year in Canberra she saw auditions for Rock of Ages, a show she liked, and decided to audition. She landed the role of Regina but when the originally cast Sherrie had to leave, she was moved into that role.

And, like Smith, she's happy working with this cast and crew in Canberra.

"It's great to get back into it again ... It's like family."