'Rock of Ages'

Dominique Scott wails as rockstar hopeful Drew in the traveling Broadway rock musical "Rock of Ages."

Dominique Scott says he is playing the role he was born to play.

Cast as rock star hopeful Drew in "Rock of Ages," the Broadway touring rock musical that stops at the Tivoli Theatre on Sunday, the South Florida native says he grew up with a rock star dad, was trained in a variety of music genres, has his own rock band and has had an appreciation for musical theater since childhood.

"I am Drew," Scott says.

"Rock of Ages," which has what he says is a simple story of a small-town girl and a boy born and raised in South Detroit (hint, hint), puts the music in the forefront.

Filled with 28 songs -- "I do probably 26 of them," Scott says -- the five-time Tony Award-nominated musical takes the theatergoer to a time of big bands with big guitar solos and even bigger hair.

Among its songs are "We Built This City," "Don't Stop Believin'," "The Final Countdown," "Wanted Dead or Alive," "Here I Go Again," "Can't Fight This Feeling" and "I Want To Know What Love Is."

So sure was Scott that the lead role in the musical should be his that, after being turned down following auditions for the Broadway company and the national touring company, he sent a video of a wider perspective of his talent directly to the casting director. Soon, he was called back.

"It was so frustrating," he says. The part of "a young boy that dreams of being a rock star -- I played that in real life. I knew I had to fight for it."

The show, says Scott, is a musical that knows it's a musical with a "wink-wink and a nudge-nudge."

With a narrator who speaks directly to the audience, "Rock of Ages," one of the 50 longest-running shows in Broadway history, blurs the line between show and rock concert.

"The audience feels like they're a part of it," he says. "The lights are continually moving like at a concert, and the audience feels free to stand up, move around and raise their hands in the air. It feels like a rock concert."

Indeed, Scott says he feels it when he's singing his favorite number in the show, Quiet Riot's cover version of "Cum on Feel the Noize."

"I run down the stage, like a rock star," he says. "I break that fourth wall and really communicate with the audience."

Scott, who has his own rock-influenced band, Domin8trx (domscott.com) but is in his second year with the national touring company, is contracted to the show through the end of summer. But he says he'd stay with it as long as it would have him.

"It's never going to end," he laughs. "It's the little show that could. Sign me up [for another season]. I love it."

The rock-concert nature of the show keeps it fresh every performance, Scott says.

"There's the element of the audience going crazy," he says. "They infect us with energy."

Scott says he's also fortunate to have a "really great" co-star, Shannon Mullen, who plays Sherrie, his love interest.

"She helps make the scenes fresh every single night," he says. "Without her, it would make it a lot harder."

"Rock of Ages," according to Scott, is "not your typical musical" and, as opposed to traditional musicals, might even be called "a guy's show."

"It's a good time," he says. "You can sing along. You can let go. It's nostalgia. It's a lot of memories for people who grew up in the '80s."

Contact staff writer Clint Cooper at ccooper@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6497. Subscribe to my posts online at Facebook.com/ClintCooperCTFP.