Choices: A Rock Opera with MiG Ayesa in Armonk

Choices: A Rock Opera with MiG Ayesa in Armonk

Broadway’s Rock of Ages star MiG Ayesa will play the lead role in the world premiere of Choices A Rock Opera at Armonk’s Whippoorwill Hall on April 1. The production from Armonk’s John Krupa will run for three performances through April 3 before it moves on to larger venues in Westchester and New York City.

Choices A Rock Opera, that follows the arc of a spandex wearing frontman for a successful 1980’s hair band called Choices, is Krupa’s second rock opera but the first he has penned since his college days at Lehigh University. The story follows his own life from his on stage days as a rocker playing bass for Meat Loaf and Paula Cole through the choices he made to marry and support a family as an owner of a pro-audio business that supplies equipment to music venues, bands and touring companies.

Choices A Rock Opera takes audiences from an authentic 1980’s arena rock experience complete with smoke machines and lasers to more traditional operatic sequences as the young musician makes “what I did for love” life choices. A musical journey that can be traced back to Krupa’s real life experiences as well. John grew up in a classical music household in Rye with his mother, a pianist, and his jazz aficionado father. In fact, rock and roll didn’t cross the Krupa’s threshold until John’s teens when his parents finally relented and allowed him to buy a Kiss album. And it was all big hair, power chords and heavy shredding after that.

Signing MiG

All of which explains MiG Ayesa’s natural affinity for the project. And why Krupa was able to attach such a big name star to his project and ultimately to Armonk’s Whippoorwill Hall. The Australian born, Ayesa has sung and danced in London’s West End in Buddy, We Will Rock You, Rent and Grease. And was a finalist in The Voice producer Marc Burnett’s 2005 Rock Star INXS, a competition singing show to find a new lead singer for the Aussie band INXS that sold over 80 million records in the 1980s. But he got his big break in 2011 when he was cast as the lead character Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages on Broadway. The juke box musical featuring songs from such 80s glam metal rockers as Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar and Twisted Sister.

MiG, who told us that Choices is like one big song with thirty movements, was attracted to the project because of the range of Krupa’s score that follows his own musical career. From epic rock anthems that you can hear in a stadium to intimate romantic movements that follow the journey that life takes you. A range of music that will demand he perform in three octaves. “It’s also the first chance I’ve ever had to create an original character on stage rather than replacing a character” as he did with Stacee Jaxx and his other stage roles.

Further cementing their bromance, Krupa and MiG, whose musical interests range from 80’s rock to Motown and Billy Joel, are HUGE Beatles fans. And were blown away by Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary that premiered on the Disney channel last year. “Get back, Loretta…”

Attaching the musical talent

Choices A Rock Opera features five leads including singer and actress Layla Davias who plays Ayesa’s wife, Nick Celio, Joe Leo, Christina Labrador and Krupa himself. Plus a supporting cast of six and an ensemble. They are backed by a seven piece band with two guitars, synthesizer, piano, drums, percussion and bass. The band features the Grammy Award-winning producer Bill Whitman who is also Cindy Lauper’s musical director and bass player. And Artie Dylan, who is musical director for Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge, and also worked with Rod Stewart’s Faces. The band also includes Hank DeCora, Mike Rosenman, and Tommy Vinton.

Tickets went on sale on March 1 beginning at $20 and the show is recommended for ages 12+ due to explicit language and mature subject matter; children under 4 are not permitted in the theatre. Get Tickets Here.