All Shook Up is a 2005 Jukebox Musical featuring the songs of Elvis Presley. Its story is essentially a re-telling of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with a Twelfth Night subplot.
When Chad, who is absolutely not Elvis Presley, rolls into town, he is appalled to hear that mayor Matilda Hyde has banned anything even remotely "indecent" — no tight pants, no public kissing, no loud music. He sets about loosening the uptight town, while getting caught up in a whopper of a Love Dodecahedron.
Notable for the show's licenser providing a two-option script for amateur productions: A key subplot can be focused on either racial or class segregation, with alternative dialogue provided for each version, depending on the resources of the production at hand.
For a jukebox circus take on Presley, see Viva Elvis.
All Shook Up contains examples of:
- All Love Is Unrequited: Until the end, everyone except for Dean and Lorraine.
- Ambiguously Bi: Chad, who professes "a love for the ladies," falls for Natalie while she's cross-dressing as Ed, decides that he loves Natalie after all, but admits that he kind of likes Ed better.
- Angry Mob Song: "Devil in Disguise", wherein Mayor Matilda whips the church council into an anti-Chad frenzy.
- Anti-Love Song: "I Don't Want To", where Chad desperately tries not to be in love with Ed.
- Beta Couple: Dean and Lorraine. While they do have major problems surrounding their relationship, the two are the only people who stay a consistent couple and manage to side step the Love Dodecahedron.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Sheriff Earl gets one near the end, having finally grown sick of Mayor Matilda's nonsense.
- The Brainless Beauty: Averted with Miss Sandra, who bemoans the lack of culture in the town.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Chad does this after kissing Ed.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Dennis to Natalie. But he ends up falling for Miss Sandra anyway.
- Counterpoint Duet: First, Chad sings "Teddy Bear" to woo Miss Sandra; then, Miss Sandra sings "Hound Dog" to show just how disinterested she is; finally, the two of them reprise their numbers in counterpoint, backed up by Dennis and Natalie.
- Dating Do-Si-Do: Chad loves Sandra but ends up falling for Natalie. Meanwhile, Dennis loves Natalie, but ends up falling for Sandra. And Jim also falls in love with Sandra, but ends up loving Sylvia. Not to mention how Sandra loves Ed, but marries Dennis when finding out his true identity. The only couple that didn't fall for other people the whole play were Dean and Lorraine.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sylvia tends to be this.
- December–December Romance: This could be Sylvia and Jim or Matilda and Earl, depending on the casting.
- The Dragon: Sheriff Earl to Matilda. Though only out of love, ironically.
- Epic Rocking: The arrangement of "Can't Help Falling in Love" which closes act one builds from a solo to an ensemble for the principal characters to an all-out gospel number for the entire company complete with several key changes and a big, long, high note at the end.
- Everyone Can See It: Lorraine and Dean. Chad points this out right before 'That's All Right'.
- Similarly everyone can see that Dennis is in love with Natalie. Except Natalie.
- False Start: This happens to Dennis a lot.
- Female Angel, Male Demon: The ensemble for "Devil in Disguise" depending on casting, but Matilda leads the angels against (a manifestation of) Chad and his devil troupe.
- Follow Your Heart: "Follow That Dream."
- Forceful Kiss: Sheriff Earl plants a big one on Mayor Matilda near the end. Exactly how forceful it is varies depending on the production, but it's always clear that Matilda doesn't have the option of backing out.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Sandra and Dennis. They even skip over the dating part.
- Freudian Excuse : Mayor Matilda justifies being the way she is because Dean's father was a musician who she had a one night stand with and ended up pregnant and later single mother when he was killed in the war. And, depending on the version, he was also black.
- "I Am" Song: "Roustabout" describes Chad's freestyle life riding on his motorbike through different towns.
- Insistent Terminology: Sylvia reminds Lorraine that the Honky-Tonk patrons are not "drunks" they're "alcohol enthusiasts."
- Juke Box Musical: Featuring the songs of Elvis Presley.
- Leaving You to Find Myself: Chad skips out on town unable to handle Natalie's confession and that she was "Ed." He comes back to the wedding at the end and returns her feelings after all.
- Living Statue: They sing backup in Sandra's "Let Yourself Go."
- The Lost Lenore: Natalie's mother is this for Jim. His arc is all about getting over her death and moving on.
- Love at First Sight: Practically the whole town... Natalie with Chad, Chad with Miss Sandra, Miss Sandra with Ed, Jim with Miss Sandra, Dean with Lorraine, Lorraine with Dean. This is the entire point of the song "One Night With You."
- Love Epiphany: Sylvia has one for Jim after he kisses her.
- Love Dodecahedron:
- Dennis loves Natalie
- Natalie is in love with Chad, and dresses up as "Ed" to spend time with him.
- Chad is in love with Miss Sandra
- Miss Sandra is in love with Ed
- Jim (Natalie's Dad) is also in love with Miss Sandra
- Sylvia is in love with Jim
- Lorraine (Sylvia's daughter) is in love with Dean
- Dean is in love with Lorraine, but his mother is Matilda, the mayor who has outlawed public indecency.
- And while it is more of a knee-jerk pairing at the end of the show, Earl, Matilda's (until now, SILENT) sheriff, confesses his love for Matilda.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: Matilda for Dean and Sylvia for Lorraine.
- Oblivious to Love: Natalie to Dennis, Sandra to Jim, Jim to Sylvia, Matilda to Earl.
- Off to Boarding School: Dean is about to be sent back to military school, but decides to run away with Lorraine.
- One of the Boys: Natalie takes it up to eleven.
- Pair the Spares: In the penultimate scene, the Love Dodecahedron gets solved neatly, with most of the pairings making some sort of sense. However Dennis and Miss Sandra, the two spares left over after all this (and who have barely even been in the same place before, let alone spoken) form an instant bond due to a love of Shakespeare.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Subverted with Natalie. She is able to fool characters like Chad and Miss Sandra with her Ed disguise because they're both new in town and barely know her. However she isn't able to fool people who've known her her whole life, like Dennis.
- Quarreling Song: "That's All Right" becomes one between Sylvia and Lorraine, regarding Lorraine and Dean's newfound love and Sylvia's disapproval.
- The Quiet One: Sheriff Earl.
- Running Gag: "One Night With You" (complete with a spotlight) when a character falls in Love at First Sight.
- "Blue Suede!" "Don't Step on 'em!"
- Say My Name: Several scenes contain passages of dialogue which consist entirely of characters shouting or saying each others' names, normally for comedic purposes. Each of the principals also yells out the name of their beloved during "Can't Help Falling In Love".
- The Silent Bob: Sheriff Earl
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Everyone in town is shocked at the sight of Natalie in a dress.
- Shipper on Deck: Chad for Dean and Lorraine. Lorraine is initially one for Dennis and Natalie.
- Shout-Out: The play makes several of these to Shakespeare's work, usually through Miss Sandra.
- "Is that a guitar I hear? Play on! Play on! Play on!"
- And when Natalie reveals her true identity, Sandra yells "Oh I am fortunes fool!"
- Small Town Boredom: Natalie
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: Natalie disguises herself as Ed in order to spend time with Chad. Miss Sandra promptly falls in love with this new 'guy' in town, while it takes a while for Chad to develop romantic feelings for 'Ed', eventually admitting that he prefers Ed to Natalie.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Natalie, natch.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Natalie and Lorraine, Natalie and Miss Sandra.
- Ultimate Authority Mayor: Mayor Matilda Hyde.
- Weddings for Everyone: The ending has the weddings of Sylvia to Jim, Sandra to Dennis, and Matilda to Earl.
- Wrench Wench: Natalie is a mechanic, who started working in her father's auto shop after her mother passed away. Because of this, Chad states that she could never be the right girl for him, calling her a "grease monkey".
