The core ethos of The Heart of Rock and Roll might be best expressed in an early scene by the musical’s exasperated head of HR, played by Tamika Lawrence, who accedes to its peppy hero’s scheming by shrugging and saying, “Fine! What the hell. It’s the ’80s.” There’s a lot to unpack in that exchange alone. The Heart of Rock and Roll is about a cardboard-box company where the head of HR is a crucial character. And it’s set in the ’80s — like really set in the 1980s, in the same way that the French portion of EPCOT resembles actual Paris: There are tons of prop Walkmen, a profusion of crimped hair, and more shoulder pads than a Margaret Thatcher impersonator convention. The songs are all Huey Lewis and the News. The plot is a baroque fantasia of ’80s movie tropes. And fine! What the…
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