The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
By Richard O’Brien
Directed by Steve MacKinnon
Choreography by Spencer Morrow
Musical Direction by Spencer Croswell
Starring Adam McCabe, Dave Sierra, Alexa Langella, Jeremy Segers
Theatre Downtown, Orlando Fla</strong>
Somehow this cheesy little sci-fi parody has become a touchstone of our generation. It’s almost impossible to see this show once, most people recount double digit viewings of the film and the stage version is a holiday classic – this is at least my fourth experience of a live RHPS. The story differences between stage and screen are insignificant, but the core of the story is 1957 paranoia – outsiders in exotic garb take over The American Way of Life. They’ve infiltrated and scheme to have sex with all of us. Here’s the worst part: We’ll ENJOY it.
So did I enjoy it? Of course. The cast is largely newcomers, with a few “Rich Weirdoes” alums in the mix. (“Rich Weirdoes” does a long running shadow play at the film version down at Universal City Walk) The straight stooges Brad (Sierra) and Janet (Langella) seems a perfect Young Republican couple – while he has a warm nerd charm she’s a great screamer and looks stunning in her Sears’ foundation garments. Riff Raff (Seghers) shaved his head and even if he had to cheat on a few high notes, he carried the bitterness of someone who was passed over for a promotion by some less competent but more flamboyant. Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter (McCabe) sang well through a self satisfied smirk. He let you know his promotion was at the expense of a more qualified and but less flamboyant competitor. Veteran TDT director Tim DeBaun narrated and Stephen Pugh rolled onstage as Dr. Evert Scott, a dedicated hunter of commie and camisoles and arch nemesis of the Transylvanians. Give him a decade or two and he might make the classic “Pointy Haired Boss from Hell.”
While this production had great voices and clever staging, it flew along so fast it seemed like lines were missing McKinnon’s’ direction made the most of the available stage resources: the overture was done to clips of classic B&W Sci-fi, as originally intended. The “Time Warp” filled the stage with pelvic thrusts, and Eddie (Dorothy Massey) ripped on “Hot Patootie.” In the second act we saw Brad Majors sing “Once in a While’, a nice ballad that didn’t make the film version. Audience accusation of Brad as an “asshole” seemed mean spirited; he’s just a geek hoping for some hetro thrills. While we were given a plastic bag with a playing card and toilet paper and a lecture about water pistols and Minute Rice, the audience was well behaved and never really heckled the cast. Even when Frank ‘N’ Furter asked “whatever happened to Fay Wray?” no one offered up the obvious “She went ape shit!” We’re all now older and disappointingly wiser, and this might be your last chance to relive my childhood. In a few years Riff Raff will be carving the roast beef at a 4 pm matinee and the Transylvanians will offer you the cheese cake or the sorbet. It may not be shocking, but Fishnets and an Android seem like a suitable compromise.
For more information on Theatre Downtown, please visit http://www.theatredowntown.net
