Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...I’ve reviewed “Rock of Ages” a half-dozen times before (New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Chicago again, Aurora) and the new made-in-Chicago production at the Mercury Theater impressed me the most — at least since the original Broadway production with Constantine Maroulis playing the rock star wannabe Drew in love with the conveniently named Sherrie, fresh off the bus from Kansas and altogether too interested in the badly behaved rocker, Stacee Jaxx."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Under the direction of Tommy Novak and the musical direction of Linda Madonia, the Mercury cast - including a bodacious five-piece band perched upstage (Justin Akira Kono conducts) - "Rock of Ages" has amplitude and attitude that does right by the artists it emulates."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Reminiscent of the Emcee in Cabaret, rock club employee Lonny narrates this freight train ride of jukebox nostalgia (written by Chris D'Arienzo), and Michael Metcalf exudes charmingly sleazy charisma in the role. With lots of winks and breaking the fourth wall, he facilitates audience buy-in into a world that veers from depraved to cartoonishly sweet and back again."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...On most weekends, the Lakeview area is already rocking with people visiting shops and restaurants, but if you are looking for a rocking night of superb 80's music, head on over to Mercury Theater Chicago, where the Rock of Ages is a rad rock and roll extravaganza filled with incredible music and singing, and it's funny as hell! Participation in this musical is welcomed, and go for it!"
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...This is a rocking good production written by Chris D’arieno and features the music of some of the greatest rock stars. The story takes you back in time, to a world before computers, where big bands did their thing. The music is from folks like Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger, Jon Bon Jovi, and much more. While Chicago has seen the Broadway In Chicago production, what the Mercury has created under the leadership of director Tommy Novak is a simpler, more intimate version, making us feel more comfortable with the characters and creating closeness with them. To be honest, I doubted that they could pull it off, but they did it!"
WTTW - Highly Recommended
"...The show was written by Chris D’Arienzo and vividly directed by Tommy Novak with terrific music direction by Linda Madonia, dynamic arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp and highly charged choreography by Laura Savage. This unabashedly uncensored musical (which ran from 2009-2015 in its Broadway incarnation) is wild and flashy. And from time to time, it even plays teasingly with the audience as its story unfolds."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Exploding with a multitude of hit songs from the 1980's, this show is a pulsating, nonstop, rocking rapture of music and adult humor. Featuring songs like "Anyway You Want It," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Oh Sherrie," "Here I Go Again," "We Built This City" and "Don't Stop Believin'" this show is bound to be this Summer's smash sensation. I have to confess, "The Search is Over," "I Can't Fight This Feeling" and I know every future audience member will, like me, be in "Heaven," as they "Cum On Feel the Noize." This superlative show is "Nothin' But a Good Time!""
Chicago On Stage - Highly Recommended
"...Take a bunch of 80s rock anthems by groups like Whitesnake, Journey, Poison, REO Speedwagon, Quarterflash, and even a bit of Starship; mix in a ridiculously silly story about fighting a land grab and a predictable (though welcome) love story; add several high-camp stereotypical characters with Big Hair, a few character surprises, and some excellent singing and dancing-not to mention a kick-ass onstage band-and throw in some of the most outrageous fourth-wall breaking you'll ever see, and you will find that you have something very much like Rock of Ages, the jukebox musical now playing at Mercury Theater."
Life and Times - Highly Recommended
"...Rock of Ages is a wildly fun musical filled with some of the best metal songs from the 1980s that have been lovingly nail gunned to a script that is so silly it will make your toes feel like giggling. In a new production being presented at Mercury Theater through September 10, Rock of Ages is guaranteed to be the most fun you have this summer in Chicago."
NewCity Chicago - Recommended
"...Overall, it is fun. The band rocks, the singing is topnotch, the well-known tunes are either identical to their originals or sonically embellished and the entire cast gives maximum effort. If you’re in the mood for a raunchy rock concert but want to get to bed at a decent time, then check out “Rock of Ages.”'