'Rock of Ages' includes work by Santa Rosa songwriter Jack Blades

The one thing Jack Blades loves most about the Broadway musical “Rock of Ages” is that the songs are the true stars of the show.

Two songs the Santa Rosa bassist, songwriter and singer recorded — “Sister Christian” with the band Night Ranger from 1984 and “High Enough” with Damn Yankees from the early '90s — are featured.

The musical, still running on Broadway after two years, is set on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip in 1987 and includes hits by Journey, Styx, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Poison and Asia.

“It was pretty crazy back in the '80s,” Blades recalled. “We were in LA then, recording our albums. The show recreates it pretty well, the whole style and the look.”

Next week, the touring company of “Rock of Ages” opens a month-long run at San Francisco's Curran Theatre. Blades won't be in the cast this time, but he did play fictional club owner Dennis Dupree in the show for three weeks in 2006 in Las Vegas. Even after several decades as a rock star, Blades found the gig a challenge.

“It's so funny because I've spent my entire adult life being onstage, right? Playing in a rock band, I could jump around and go anywhere I wanted onstage,” he said.

“This was the first time I acted in a play, where you have be on this particular spot at this moment, right then. That was probably the hardest thing for me. They said, ‘Here's your mark,' and I'm going, ‘What mark?'”

Blades first saw the show in a Los Angeles tryout production early in 2006. He went with Night Ranger bandmate Kelly Keagy and Journey guitarist Neal Schon.

“At the end, when they did ‘Don't Stop Believin,' we got up and danced with the cast,” Blades recalled.

The show's story follows the romance of an aspiring rocker and a would-be actress, but the show achieves an arena rock atmosphere, Blades said.

“People sing along with every song, because it's almost like a soundtrack of so many people's lives,” Blades said. “People are singing along, holding up lighters. It gets to be like ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show' on steroids.”

There's a bit of parody mixed with the nostalgia, but Blades doesn't mind.

“They poke fun at a lot of things, but if you can't poke fun at the past, then lighten up, dude,” he said. “This isn't rocket science. It's rock 'n' roll.”

Blades, who settled in 1980 on his 50-acre Taylor Mountain spread overlooking Bennett Valley, enjoys a local reputation as an easygoing good neighbor and regular guy. So it's natural that he greets the Broadway homage to some of his work with the innocent exhuberance of a fan.

“I have songs on Broadway. How much more fun does that get? When I was singing ‘High Enough' and ‘Sister Christian,' did I ever think our songs would be on Broadway? The answer would be no. Now they're in the mainstream collective consciousness,” he said.

After a five-year hiatus, during which Blades joined Teg Nugent and Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw in Damn Yankees, Night Ranger reunited in 1996.

“This year is a big year for Night Ranger,” Blades said. “We're going on a world tour. We're recording a new album right now, with all new material.”

Plans include concerts in Mexico and Puerto Rico in April and Japan in early June, followed by a European tour with Journey. Night Ranger will tour the U.S. from July through October.

Blades, who mainstains his own recording studio on his Santa Rosa property, also has recorded a solo album, and continues to record with Tommy Shaw as Shaw/Blades.

“We've had so many people up here to record,” Blades said. “We've have Ozzy Osbourne here at the studio. We've had Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper's daughter was almost born at Memorial Hospital, because his wife went into pre-labor and we rushed to the hospital. Ted Nugent's always up here.”

Blades, 56, and his wife, Mollie, have two sons. James, 30, is a manager for McGee Entertainment Management, which manages Kiss, Hootie and the Blowfish, Guns ‘n' Roses and Night Ranger. Colin, 27, is a singer, songwriter and performer and performs in the Northern California band Gravity Hill.

Even though he lives on a mountainside, Blades never has been aloof, often participating in local school events when his boys were growing up.

Last December, Blades and friends performed at the “Rockin' the Redwoods” benefit for the Redwood Gospel Mission, held at the Russian River Brewing Company in downtown Santa Rosa.

“We wanted to do something for our community, for everybody here,” Blades said. “It's great when people all get together and send money to Haiti or someplace, but we have issues here with people who need help, the guys living under the bridges.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at 521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. See his ARTS blog at http://arts.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.