Variety extravaganza Shake Rattle ‘n’ Roll is not just your usual rock ‘n’ roll show, according to producer and director Adam Dion.
“When you hear it’s a rock ‘n’ roll show you think of 50s and 60s music, and it does have that, but we’ve rejigged everything,” Dion said.
“It’s an eye-candy variety show, with lots of dazzling costumes – there’s over 300 costumes in the production. We’ve got 10 sizzling dancers on stage, all championship ballroom dancers, some of whom are from Dancing With the Stars.
“It’s a dynamic production, there’s a lot of energy on stage and the scenes change from one to another spontaneously. A lot of thought’s gone into it.”
Dion, who has a long and storied international career in production including stints with the Great Moscow Circus, said the show had been received enthusiastically since it re-launched in August this year.
“After the pandemic we didn’t know how it was going to be received; will we have people coming out to see the show, are they scared to be out and about,” he said.
“But people are very willing to go out and have a good time, so that’s encouraged us to take it further. So we’re going to New Zealand now, off to Queensland, Townsville, Perth, Adelaide later on.
“There’s a lot planned for it, we’re also thinking of taking it overseas, so there’s a lot going on at the moment.”
This year’s relaunch coincides with the 30th anniversary of the show, which Dion and partner Nina Randall created in the 90s and has run off-and-on through the intervening years.
Their production company, Dion and Randall International, was focused overseas until the onset of COVID-19, which effectively put an end to their international work.
“We were doing a lot in South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, but when COVID kicked in, well, that was the end of it all,” Dion said.
“We thought, what do we do now? We couldn’t go and do these big multi-million dollar shows anymore, so we said alright, perfect timing. It’s the 30 year anniversary, let’s launch it, get a feel for the market and see if there’s a demand for it.
“And we found that yes, there is, people are loving the show. All the performances in Tassie sold out, so we’ll take it further at the beginning of next year.”
Dion said the faith he had in his cast and crew was instrumental in taking Shake Rattle ‘n’ Roll on the road again.
“In the beginning it was a bit challenging; being out of work for two and a half years, you’re going to lose a bit of flair,” he said.
“But when you get the right crew behind you they make your job easier. We were lucky enough to get good production personnel, lighting designers, sound designers.
“And the cast are lovely to work with, all of them are level-headed performers, no big egos. And they’ve been with us for a while as well, some since the original show, so they believe in it. And when you’ve got people who have passion for and believe in the product, everything falls into place.”
Shake Rattle ‘n’ Roll will be performed at Costa Hall on Saturday, September 10 at 8pm.
