12. June 2025
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Rock of Ages (Duisburg, 18th May 2025)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

I did it at the beginning – and I (almost) was there when it closed down. I was very thankful to cover the German Rock of Ages tour one final time in 2025, on 18th May 2025 at Theater am Marientor in Duisburg. After I had shared my thoughts about the very first show in April 2023 in Munich with you, there were only three shows ahead, all at the myticket Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt the following weekend. Time to say goodbye – these are my impressions and thoughts about my 40th Rock of Ages show with the German producing company ShowSlot.

This posting comes with 468 major size pictures as part of the concert gallery.

 

Theater am Marientor – About The Venue

The Theater am Marientor has been originally opened in 1996 to host the musical Les Miserables. However, the musical was played there for just three years, before the production company became insolvent. Thereafter, it was just for concerts, theaters and musicals, but also for some TV shows. It has a capacity of 1,524 seats and is rather centrally located. The walking distance from Duisburg Main Station is 15 to 20 minutes. There are also some underground stations not too far away from the theater. Steinische Gasse and Platanenhof are both served by line U79. You can also use bus and tram services. The theater drives a parking garage, which is majorly operating at events only. You can also use parts of their premises as a parking lot.

Rock of Ages – The Cast

Compared to the very first German Rock of Ages professional tour shows, just a few original cast members have stayed. Especially between 2024 and 2025, there was quite some change in the cast. The cast members on stage on that day were:

Character Actor
Drew Bowley Matthias Trattner
Lonny Barnett Benjamin Hauschild
Sherrie Christian Julia Taschler
Dennis Dupree Nicolas Tenerani
Stacee Jaxx / Father (Vater) Filippo Strocchi
Justice Charlier / Mother (Mutter) Amanda Whitford
Hertz Kleinmann Christopher Wernecke
Franz Kleinmann Lars Wandres
Regina Linda Rietdorff
Major (Bürgermeister) / Ja’Keith Kevin Reichmann
Joey Primo Liam Tiesteel
Waitress No. 1 / Kellnerin Nr. 1 Stephanie Löblich
Constance Sack Elies de Vries
Angel Destiny Michelle Berge
Angel Saphire Sophia Aregger

I was only able to take pictures during the first two songs of the show and the very last one.

 

Rock of Ages – The Show

I won’t go too much into the story of the musical any more. There are multiple postings explaining it, like Rock of Ages – my favorite Musical, which I released on my birthday in 2018. There are also the two Songs of my Life postings about Don’t stop believin’ and High Enough. The Sunday show in Duisburg started right in time at 14:00. Despite some first cast members are missing, the cast showed a really good performance, there were also just very little technical issues. The key character at the beginning of the show is definitely Lonny Barnett, which was amazingly played by Benjamin Hauschild. Compared to the Duisburg show before, the audience was significantly more passive – especially the Saturday shows have been really enthusiastic.

With Sister Christian, the second song of the musical (the first one is a medley, see my posting about the songs of the musical and their originals), Sherrie, played by Julia Taschler, appeared for the first time. Even though her appearances in the 2025 German tour were just scattered – she is THE German Sherrie in that production. I also loved swing Stephanie Löblich in that role, who covered Waitress No. 1 on that day.  Towards the end of the first act, the Duisburg crowd had warmed up. They were laughing and enjoying themselves throughout the show, but a bit of shy in interaction. The more, they partied at the closing track of the first act, Here I Go Again (by the way, the only Whitesnake original).

 

Act 2

The second act often sees a better and more active audience, also because it features some audience favorites. For example, the show starts this part with the Europe classic The Final Countdown. Especially Hit Me With Your Best Shot, in which Franz, played by Lars Wandres, dares to stand up against his father (Hertz, Christopher Wernecke), typically drives the masses. The song thereafter, Can’t Fight This Feeling, in which Lonny and Dennis (played by the lovely Nicolas Tenerani) confirm their love for each other, lead to increased love and support from the seats. This was also the case on this Sunday afternoon in the German Ruhrgebiet region.

With these songs, the show finally comes to an end. At Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Amanda Whitford as Justice again showed her amazing voice. She played in all three Rock of Ages years in Germany. Even though Duisburg was again a bit of slow and shy in regards of standing up at the end (Saturday, again, was much more energetic), they celebrated the love of Drew (Matthias Trattner) and Sherrie at the very prolonged final song Don’t stop believing. I saw many smiles and happy faces when the people left the Theater am Marientor. Nonetheless, Rock of Ages in Germany will come to an end soon. Maybe some amateur theaters will pick up the show in 2026 again.

 

Rock of Ages – The Gallery

Here are 468 major size pictures of the show. They are located in the concert gallery:

 

Rock of Ages – My View & Thoughts

Somehow, Rock of Ages is some sort of happy tragedy to me. In all three years, the production company managed to set up a good cast and very good musicians (lead by Pascal Kierdorf on that evening). The show is good and fun, even though it cannot fully connect to the professional performances in the United Kingdom before. Nonetheless, the show is so much better than its too low sales. The Duisburg theater did not use its upper ranks at all and even the stands on that Sunday were likely just half sold, despite some discount tickets. The cast and the crew would have deserved better. On almost any of my 40 performances I saw with them, I had a great and entertaining afternoon or evening.

 

Rock of Ages in Germany – My Thoughts

The rationals for that are difficult to put in a few words. First of all, Rock of Ages as such does not have a tradition in Germany. The ShowSlot shows were the first really good professional production I saw in Germany. Many people seem to know the (terrible) movie – I wonder why they bought a ticket for the show at all. Especially the U.K. tours during the last ten years also played a better community game. Having some sort of “fan club” people in the audience helps a lot to drive the experience. There are definitely also some circumstances you just cannot change. In the U.K., I met many people who saw the show multiple times. However, the tickets were also significantly cheaper. The six shows I saw in my home town Cologne (i.e. low travel expense, no hotel) in March 2025 in a row costed me much more than five shows in Peterborough in February 2023, where I had to pay flights to London, a rental car and hotel nights. Not a specific thing for Rock of Ages, I have to explicitly say. The costs of bringing up a musical in Germany feel significantly higher, somehow – at least if you are not talking about top notch musicals on the West End. The German or Dutch Moulin Rouge productions are cheaper in tickets than the London one, for example.

I am thankful for these three years, during which some cast and crew members became friends. Thanks a lot to those you treated me with a lot of respect! I told you already that we will meet again. Thanks a lot to the tour management, who made it possible that I can share my final show with that production in my Flyctory.com way with you. Hope you enjoyed this report. Oh, the musical, it never ends, it goes on and on and on and on. Look forward to that.

 

Rock of Ages (Musical)

Here are all postings related to the musical Rock of Ages:

 

Postings with Gallery 2025

Here are postings coming with a major size photo gallery published in 2025:

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