Anyone who is an avid musical theater-goer knows the routine: House lights down a little past the time it says on your ticket, grandiose overture representing the music to come over the next 2 to 3 hours, curtain up and the show begins. Right?Wrong.

Let's rewind. I entered the theater amid swarms of people of all interests and backgrounds while hawkers wearing cooler bags around their necks sold beer and handed out LED concert lighters. As I approached my seat, I was greeted by a cloud of concert haze filling the welcoming interior of The Bourbon Room, surrounded by the exterior of the 1980s Sunset Strip. People scrambled to get to their seats as the band (which looks more like an AC/DC tribute band than any pit orchestra I've ever seen) took the stage. Lights and lasers flashed to a few chords before a rock legend was projected onto an LED screen, proceeding to satirically lecture the audience about theater etiquette.

Already, I knew that this was going to be unlike any other show I'd ever seen, and I was right.

Rock of Ages is not your typical Broadway show. Nor does it strive to be. In fact, what makes Rock of Ages such an enjoyable experience is that it, much like its audience, does not take itself too seriously.

Rock of Ages begins with Lonny (Patrick Lewallen), the sound engineer for The Bourbon Room and narrator of the show, addressing the audience, who, he assumes, has arrived to see a traditional theatrical story. So what better way to tell one of the oldest musical theater stories of all time than to do it the way he knows best-through rock.

Drew (American Idol's Constantine Maroulis) is a busboy at The Bourbon Room who dreams of one day becoming a rock star. Sherrie (Rebecca Faulkenberry) is a poor girl from the Midwest who has traveled out to the Sunset Strip in hopes of becoming a big-time actress. When the two meet, it is love at first sight, though each is too shy to tell the other.

What ensues is a series of ridiculous antics by the cast to telling this traditional story using arena rock songs. The show features classic hits such as Journey's "Any Way You Want It" and Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock," along with other songs from Bon Jovi, Poison, Slade, Foreigner, Whitesnake, Styx, Survivor, Jefferson Starship and many, many others.

I will be the first to say that I am not a fan of jukebox musicals. But rather than trying to squeeze a series of songs into a fairly weak plot, Rock of Ages acknowledges how ridiculous this process is and, instead, makes the audience laugh every time a new song is sung or musical reference is made. The show even takes it a step further, making meta references to its existence as merely a story within a theatrical show and constantly breaking the fourth wall.

What made the evening even more enjoyable was the vast talent pool that made up the show's cast. Maroulis's voice outshone his abilities as an actor and made the character of shy-guy Drew genuinely loveable. Faulkenberry was able to handle everything asked of her character, Sherrie, from the intense, more metallic songs to sweet ballads with very little effort, truly shone during her dance numbers. The man who deserves most mention, however, is Lewallen, whose sense of comic timing for Lonny was impeccable and in many ways carried the show. His interactions with the audience and cast made everyone roar with laughter.

Rock of Ages is not a concert, and it is not a Broadway musical (not like you've seen in the past, anyway). So what is it?

Rock of Ages is an experience unlike anything you have ever experienced before. Its combination of beautifully simple, yet detailed set and concert aspects (cue LED screen, grid full of moving lights and a half-dozen haze and fog machines)-along with a very funny storyline and some of the most famous rock pieces ever written-has created something that can be enjoyed by all, whether you like musical theater, like the music or just lived through the '80s.

So grab your jean jacket and lighter, leave your mullet at home, and see this show at Boston's Colonial Theatre before it closes on Oct. 17.