When a character in the new musical “The Heart of Rock and Roll” tries to convince his ex to leave her job at a factory that makes shipping materials, he is stunned: “Oh, my god. It’s cardboard!”
But there can be real appeal to the humblest of materials — and the same can be said of this unpretentious, silly and, in the end, rather fun show. For all the familiar jukebox musical templates of thin characters, unsurprising plot developments and oldie pop/rock songs shoehorned into the narrative, there’s something to be said for simple packaging that knows what it is and does it well.
Mendoza), the Swedish furniture magnate, for a big contract while simultaneously competing with Cassandra’s ex-fiancee and Gordon Gekko wannabe Tucker (Billy Harrigan Tighe, a triple-threat performer, as well as a comic virtuoso in every scene and song.)
Humor and brightness is what fuels this engine whose musical repertoire is not infinitely varied. So “Hip to Be Square” is sung by the box factory workers with dancers doing tap on bubble wrap. “Stuck with You” becomes a hilarious fantasy of domestic doom. “I Want a New Drug” turns into Bobby’s love song to a seductive electric guitar.
Throw in a scene in a sauna and another in an aerobics studio led by a Richard Simmons-type (Tommy Bracco) and you have enough diversions to keep you from thinking too much about the story.
Adding sly comic asides is a very funny Tamika Lawrence as Bobby’s HR ally. She gets the biggest laughs with the subtlest of takes, and slays the show’s wind-up song, “The Power of Love” (a tune that also fuels Broadway’s “Back to the Future”).
“The Heart of Rock and Roll” only betrays itself when it dips its toe too deeply into the pool of seriousness with an overwrought 11 o’clock number (“The Only One”). Until then, Bobby is an appealing enough go-getter, but sudden father issues takes the show down a different road.
Cott, who was impressive as the lead in “Bandstand,” sings the hell out of the songs. But his striking good looks, not to mention his well-displayed biceps and abs, makes him perhaps too much of a slick outsider to be thoroughly credible in Huey’s working-for-a-living world.
Still, since the show keeps its ambitions in check with its sensibly-scaled production and low-stakes book, it doesn’t really matter that it thinks inside the box. After all, cardboard has its uses.
