![Stack of handbills for UW Tacoma/Tacoma Little Theatre co-production of "Rock of Ages"](/sites/default/files/2023-03/uwtnews-sias-theater-rockofages-featureimage.jpg)
Getting Ready to Rock
A behind-the-scenes look at Theater at UW Tacoma's first musical.
Audience members sway in their seats to the music. Some mumble the words under their breath while others forget decorum and sing along at the top of their lungs with the cast members onstage. A few have turned on their phone flashlights and wave them in time to the melody. Others hold up branded lighters that read "Tacoma Little Theater" and "Rock of Ages." The lighters are free to season ticket holders; everyone else can purchase one in the lobby. It’s not clear who got one as part of a larger subscription and who just bought one, but it doesn’t matter. There is a lot of glowing light dancing in the dark to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
“Rock” is the first musical for the theater program at UW Tacoma. The jukebox musical is a collaboration with the Tacoma Little Theatre. The show is packed with hits from the 1980s including Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” and Foreigner’s “I Wanna Know What Love Is.”
The show is an hommage to the 80s. It is earnest and hilarious — it’s also massive. There are 26 actors in “Rock.” There is also a live band. Of those 26 actors, 11 are current UW Tacoma students and one is a recent alumnus. That’s just onstage. There are many more current or former UW Tacoma students working behind the scenes as crew assisting with everything from stage direction to lighting.
"Rock" opened March 3. The final performance is March 26. A show with this many moving parts (including at least one fog machine) took months to put together. "Rock's" director, Maria-Tania Bandes Becerra Weingarden, and the musical director, Kim Davenport, agreed to keep audio diaries. These diaries chronicle the ups and downs of bringing a musical to the stage. Listen along by clicking on the podcast episode below. Also, Bandes Becerra Weingarden agreed to let us take pictures of the final rehearsal before the show opened.
![The exterior sign for the Tacoma Little Theatre. It is dark outside. The letters are white and big.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage1_1.jpg)
![A poster for "Rock of Ages" on display outside the Tacoma Little Theatre](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage21.jpg)
![A darkened theatre stage. There are different silhouetted instruments on the stage as well as the silhouetted figure of a person. In the background is a projected image of palm trees, city streets and the sign "Sunset Boulevard."."](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage3.jpg)
![Several pairs of clothes with hangars are lumped over the top of a theater seat.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage4.jpg)
![A man with long hair and glasses helps a woman with blonde hair and a black dress. The man is holding a wire while the woman is holding the other end of the device. The device is a microphone.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage5.jpg)
![A group of people stand behind a window and look out over the stage at the Tacoma Little Theatre. The people are audio engineers for the show and are checking sound levels.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage6.jpg)
![Two woman stand talking. The woman on the left has curly black hair and is wearing headphones. She has a finger raised in the air. The other woman has long dark hair.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage7.jpg)
![Two men stand at the back of the theatre. One person has on a skull cap and is holding a brown wig in their hand. The other is turned away from the camera. He has long, brown hair and wears a dark colored shirt.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage8.jpg)
![On the left is a printed version of the Tacoma Little Theatre's stage and audience space. On the right is the script with pencil markings on it. In the middle is a blue mechanical pencil.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage10.jpg)
![Two women stand next to each other. The one on the left has short blonde hair and is wearing a t-shirt. The other has long brown hair and is wearing a flannel with a t-shirt underneath. The one on the right is helping the other one place a microphone on the side of her face.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage11.jpg)
![A woman stands on stage. There are people to the side of her. The woman has her arms raised in a V.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage12.jpg)
![A man hoists a woman up over his shoulders. The man is wearing a blue short sleeved shirt and jeans. The woman is wearing a black top and blue bottom.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage13.jpg)
![Three men jump off the stage at the Tacoma Little Theatre](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage14.jpg)
![A man stands on the stage at the Tacoma Little Theatre. He has short black hair and is wearing a gold colored shirt.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage15.jpg)
![A woman stands on the stage. She is wearing a black leather coat and has long black hair.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage17.jpg)
![A woman stands on a stage. She is wearing a short blouse and has short, dark colored hair.](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage18.jpg)
![A group of people perform as part of a rehearsal for the musical Rock of Ages](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage19.jpg)
![Two women look on as the cast of Rock of Ages takes the stage](https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/2023-03/uwtnews-RockofAges-StoryImage20.jpg)