Cast and crew members are excited for Teche Area residents to relive their 80s nostalgia with the opening of the Iberia Performing Arts League’s production of “Rock of Ages” this week.

The show, which opens Sept. 2 and will run until Sept. 11, is a rendition of the original Broadway production that ran for 2,328 performances and was built around classic rock songs of the 1980s.

Director of the IPAL production Kaleigh Lay said “Rock of Ages” is the opening of the IPAL season, and board members wanted to open with a comedy that would be familiar to IPAL patrons.

“We definitely wanted to open with a comedy, and this is something I think people have heard of and is a lot of fun,” Lay said.

The production features a live band performing familiar songs that Lay said will be sure to invoke an 80s atmosphere for those attending.

“Gen Xers will especially love coming out to hear the music they love,” Lay said. “We have lots of dancing and the goofy 80s storyline to go along with it.”

Along with a set that is modeled after the Whiskey A Go Go at the Sunset Strip, cast members have adopted more wigs than average for an IPAL production to give the atmosphere for the musical.

Musical Director Ian Bonin said the musical quality for the show is top notch, and was also especially fun to produce thanks to the familiarity of the songs.

“Compared to most of the shows I’ve directed, it was a lot more fun and almost easier because everyone knows the vast majority of these songs,” Bonin said. “It was really fun to come together and really learn the harmonies of these songs.”

Bonin said he especially loved the ensemble pieces of the show that have a “fun and chaotic” energy that will be sure to delight those attending.

“When we get to these big whole group ensembles and everyone is having the time of their lives rocking out to this music and living in the chaos, that was really cool for me,” Bonin said.

The production, which Lay said is somewhere in the “PG-13 to R” category, will also have Jell-O shots served by waitresses interacting with audience members before the musical starts.

“It’s really silly and funny,” Lay said. “There’s a lot of 80s humor and references, we had a lot of fun trying to immerse people in the experience of going back to the 80s.”

For more information on purchasing tickets for the show, go to www.ipaltheater.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the door. “Rock of Ages” will run Sept. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 at 7:30 p.m. as well as two matinees on Sept. 4 and Sept. 11 at 2 p.m.