Austin Price Stars in ALL SHOOK UP! at Cumberland County Playhouse Closing Today

Get ready for a hip-swiveling, lip-curling, rock 'n' rolling good time as audiences at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse are transported to 1955 with All Shook Up!, closing May 12, and starring 2011 First Night Most Promising Actor Austin Price. 

A square little town in a square little state in the middle of a square decade is about to be changed forever as All Shook Up! takes over the stage. Natalie, a young mechanic, dreams of love, adventure and of one true love who'll take her away from her dreary surroundings. Natalie's best friend Dennis has long had a secret crush on her. Since the Mayor outlawed everything that's fun, it seems like the whole drab town is singing the blues.

Suddenly, the monotony's broken by the roar of a motorcycle as a handsome guitar playing stranger named Chad rides into town. Natalie's instantly smitten. Dennis is crushed. Chad's arrival has a dramatic effect on everyone. Old attractions are revived and new love blossoms like wildflowers in spring. Overnight, the whole town seems to transform from black and white to color. But the Mayor is not about to stand idly by and watch all her careful plans unravel. 

As multiple mistaken identities, romance, dancing and – gasp! – rock 'n' roll turn the town upside down, everyone converges on the abandoned amusement park - the symbol of the Mayor's obsession to ban all things fun – for a final confrontation. Will this small town in the Midwest survive getting All Shook Up? Fueled by dozens of Elvis Presley's greatest hits, this new musical is sure to please audiences of all ages.

All Shook Up! opens on The Playhouse Mainstage on March 16 and runs through May 12, where Cowboys is currently playing. Currently in the Adventure Theater is The Moving of Lilla Barton through May 25. 

Tickets may be purchased online at www.ccplayhouse.com or by calling (931) 484-5000.

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who's been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 25 years. He is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theatre in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly. He is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and is the founder/executive producer of The First Night Honors, held during Labor Day Weekend, which honor oustanding theater artists in Tennessee in recognition of their lifetime achievements and includes The First Night Star Awards and the Most Promising Actors. Midwinter's First Night, held the first Sunday in January after New Year's Day, honors outstanding productions and performances throughout the state. Further, Ellis directed the Nashville premiere of La Cage Aux Folles, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and An American Daughter, as well as award-winning productions of Damn Yankees, Company, Gypsy and The Rocky Horror Show, with Ellis honored by The Tennessean as best director of a musical for both Company and Rocky Horror.

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