For those who lived through the 1980s, working up too much warm nostalgia for the era  especially its music, which tended toward anthemic, but aggressively silly and videocentric hair metal -- may seem nigh unto impossible.

But "Rock of Ages" -- the Tony-nominated musical, which runs through Sunday afternoon at the Fox Theatre -- pulls it off, albeit with a wink and a nod toward theatrical conventions and a rocking set of "show tunes" by the likes of Poison, Twisted Sister, Styx, Asia and Bon Jovi. (But not Def Leppard, which refused to let its songs, including "Rock of Ages," to be used in the show, earning the band a skewering in a hilarious taped introduction by Whitesnake's David Coverdale.)

The story lines are simple. Two Midwesterners, Drew and Sherrie, long for stardom -- he as a rocker, she as an actress -- and meet, but don't quite connect romantically, amid the seedy rock clubs and strip joints of Hollywood's Sunset Strip. The Bourbon Room, a dive bar where they both take menial jobs, is under attack from commercial developers and its hippie owner, Dennis Dupree, is plotting one final show, starring decadent rocker Stacee Jaxx. As "Rock of Ages" unfolds, the dreams of those characters and others are realized, or in some cases, changed dramatically.

Dominique Scott and Shannon Mullen capture the innocence, soon lost, of Drew and Sherrie. Matt Ban is a hoot as Dennis, and Justin Columbo scores as the show's nunchuck-wielding narrator, who adds plenty of fun to the action by frequently breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience directly. Right before intermission, he barked at a woman in the front row, "You, my dressing room, two minutes."

Even the secondary cast is full of scene stealers, including Stephen Michael Kane as Franz, one of the developers; Amma Osei as Mother, guardian angel of the strippers; Katie Postotnik as the development-opposing Regina, and Matt Nolan as Stacee Jaxx.

But the real star of the show may be the more than two dozen ‘80s songs that are seamlessly incorporated into the plot. Highlights include the developers and the denizens of the Bourbon Room doing a mashup of Starship's "We Built This City" with Styx's "Too Much Time on My Hands"; Franz and Regina's belting of Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"; Drew and Sherrie's duet on Damn Yankees' "High Enough" and the entire cast's romp through Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," which had much of the audience on its feet.

With all of its camp, irreverence, and ‘80s specific references -- wine coolers, anyone? -- "Rock of Ages" earns a thumbs-up -- although maybe throwing a devil-horns sign may be the more appropriate response.

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"Rock of Ages"

When: 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 4) and 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Fox Theatre, 527 North Grand Boulevard

Tickets: $30-$75

Info: 314-534-1111