“One night with you, is what I’m now praying for.” In “All Shook Up,” every character sings this refrain after meeting someone they’ve fallen in love with, and one night with this show was all I could’ve asked for.

Cast N’ Crew, one of Washington University’s student theatre groups, performed their fall musical, “All Shook Up,” on Nov. 8, 9 and 10. Directed by senior Drama major Abigail Rosen, the jukebox musical tells the story of a small town longing for love, with the help of groovy music by Elvis Presley.

Cast N’ Crew performers act, dance and sing in their fall musical,”All Shook Up.” The show, directed by senior Abigail Rosen, featured Elvis Presley hits during its run from Nov. 8-10.

Essentially, the show centers around a quite complicated love circle and ends with a whopping four marriages. Freshman Brenna Jones starred as Natalie, a lovesick mechanic who falls in love with Chad, a roundabout who recently got out of prison. Jones’ performance was absolutely delightful, and as soon as she sang, “One night with you, is now what I’m praying for,” I knew I was in for a treat. Jones continued to dazzle for the rest of the evening, and her performance as the naive Natalie was simply superb.

“My favorite part about being in the show is working with this amazing group of people who are so awesome. And our community is super fun and energetic. I love it,” Jones remarked.

Junior Jonathan Kacvinsky gave a wholesome performance as Dennis, Natalie’s best friend—who also happens to be in love with her. His acting was both wholesome and hilarious, and he showed off his excellent singing chops in “It Hurts Me,” Dennis’ breakout number in the second act about how much seeing Natalie heartbroken pains him.

Another highlight of the show was senior Zoey Miller in her role as Mayor Matilda, the strict mayor who attempts to ensure love and rock ‘n’ roll don’t spread around town. Mayor Matilda ultimately fails at this and even gets married herself, but Miller’s embodiment of the character was hysterical. Imagine Effie Trinket singing Elvis Presley in a musical number featuring angels as background dancers, and you’ll have one example of Miller’s comedic genius and stage presence.

Grace Bruton | Student Life

Senior Kate Wardenburg performs as Miss Sandra in Cast N’ Crew’s “All Shook Up.” “All Shook Up” features Elvis songs, a mess of love triangles and an uptight town cutting loose.

Overall, Cast N’ Crew’s “All Shook Up” was wonderful. The choreography was simple yet enjoyable, and experiencing the cast’s singing and acting was a great way to spend my Friday night.

As far as staging goes, the set was quite impressive. It included double sided walls, a cardboard bus—which was cheekily driven across the stage by a chorus of actors—and a real motorcycle.

Rosen mentioned that integrating the actors with the staging elements was her favorite part of the show, because “all of the work people have been doing separately became one show that now we get to share with everybody.”

“All Shook Up” was an incredibly revitalizing and heartwarming show, and one thing’s for sure: I’m just a hunk, a hunk of burning (in) love with this production.