Rock and Roll Man Interviews: Part 1 - Producer Rose Caiola & Director Randall Myler

Rock and Roll Man opens its UK tour at Salisbury Playhouse in February, and Salisbury Radio was invited to talk to some of the team behind the show.

Rock & Roll Man is described as a high-octane celebration of the sound, the struggle and the cultural revolution that changed music and society forever.  This is the original musical about a musical original - the man who gave rock & roll its name and inspired the generation that changed society forever.

First in our series of three interviews, Andy Munns spoke with Rose Caiola and Randall Myler, who are part of the American creative team that first staged the play in New York at the New World Stages theatre off Broadway in 2023. 

Listen to the full interview:

Book your tickets here - https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/events/rock-roll-man

Randall Myler, a Tony Award nominee, directs, as he did in New York, the show about the life of Alan Freed, a Cleveland DJ who heard the future and knew he had to let it sing. He named the genre "Rock & Roll", bringing music to the masses. Along the way, he became an icon to the nation's youth and a target of the nation's establishment.

Multi-Tony Award-winning producer Rose Caiola (Dear Evan Hansen, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Pretty Woman Musical) has teamed up with Wiltshire Creative and Julian Bird (Green Room Ents) to bring the show to the UK, with the UK premiere here in Salisbury. 

Award-nominated Broadway star Constantine Maroulis will lead the company. Best known for originating the role of Drew in Rock of Ages on Broadway - a performance that earned him a Tony Award nomination - Maroulis brings both powerhouse vocals and deep rock credentials to the role of the DJ who gave rock & roll its name. He first rose to international fame as a finalist on American Idol and has since built a celebrated career across Broadway, touring and recording.

Joining him is acclaimed stage actor Gary Turner, widely recognised for his portrayal of Frankie Valli in the West End and international productions of The Bodyguard, as well as playing Carlos Diaz in Emmerdale.

The cast also includes Jairus McClanahan (Hamilton, West End) as the flamboyant pioneer Little Richard, Joey James (Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, West End) as Chuck Berry, Marquie Hairston (Disco Inferno, UK Tour) as teen sensation Frankie Lymon, Cherece Richards (Shrek the Musical, UK Tour) as rhythm and blues powerhouse LaVern Baker and Joe Bence (Death Comes To Pemberley, UK Tour) as Buddy Holly. Mark Pearce (Groundhog Day, Old Vic) appears as J. Edgar Hoover, representing the forces determined to silence a musical revolution.

Marquie Hairston, Joey James, Anton Stephans, Jairus McClanahan (Image: Michael Berkeley)

Dominique Scott joins the production as Jerry Lee Lewis and Musical Director, leading the live onstage band that drives the show’s explosive sound and authentic rock & roll energy.

The ensemble is completed by Shelby Speed (Blippi, World Tour) and Anton Stephans (Little Shop of Horrors, UK Tour), with understudies Xorael Harrison, Jessica Ncube and Grant Zavitkovsky.

Stephanie Klemons leads the choreography for Rock & Roll Man. She is renowned as the Associate Choreographer and Original Dance Captain of the Broadway hit Hamilton and was an original cast member and Dance Captain of In the Heights. Christian Knight serves alongside her as Associate Choreographer.

Having designed the set for the UK tour of Dear Evan Hansen and Midnight at Sadler’s Wells, among other credits, set designer Morgan Large brings his visionary design to Rock & Roll Man.

Book your tickets here - https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/events/rock-roll-man