Book/Music/Lyrics: Richard O’Brien
Director: Christopher Luscombe
Having seen The Rocky Horror Show for the first time in the 1970’s when the production shocked audiences and made show-stopping headlines, one was looking forward to this updated version with interest. Writer, musician and television presenter Richard O’Brien, now 82 years old, is the mastermind behind the camp comedy horror musical which has been a global phenomenon for more than five decades; the piece has been seen by over 30 million people worldwide in more than 30 countries and has been translated into 20 languages.
This production includes 80’s heartthrob, Jason Donovan and Merseyside household name, Pete Price, the well-known Scouse radio broadcaster as The Narrator.
The show relates the story of two squeaky-clean college kids, Brad and his fiancée Janet, all-American high school sweethearts, returning from a wedding. When their car breaks down outside a creepy mansion, they encounter the enigmatic Dr Frank-N-Furter and other bizarre characters, resulting in an experience they couldn’t have imagined.
The draw for the show is popular actor and singer Jason Donovan who plays the main character, Dr Frank-N-Furter with aplomb; he masters the challenging role with its singing and dancing with energy and enthusiasm, albeit he did corpse a couple of times, but this made him even more popular with the audience. After the live band played the opening number, “The Time Warp”, his entrance was greeted with rapturous applause as he sang “Sweet Transvestite” shrouded in a full length velvet cloak and his fans in the audience were rewarded with a side they’d never seen to Donovan before as he paraded across the stage in a corset, suspender belt and fishnet stockings on 4 inch high-heeled shoes.
Pete Price (Narrator) is in his element, sharing jovial repartee with the audience who at times provided better jokes than those in the script. Scouse humour was at its best slating local football teams and current newsworthy events.
Lauren Chia (Janet) and Connor Carson (Brad) are perfect as the clean-cut American adolescents, both having excellent singing voices and Job Greuter (Riff Raff) is perfect in this zany role. Natasha Hoeberigs opens and closes the show as the Roxy Usherette and transforms into Magenta in-between with masterly stage presence.
The whole cast are energetic and versatile, all give 100% to their roles making them believable and thoroughly enjoyable. The score features all the renowned musical numbers that have made the show such a huge hit, including “Sweet Transvestite”, “Science Fiction/Double Feature”, “Dammit Janet” and the enduring popular “Time Warp”. The full piece live band provided excellent musical backing, shielded from the audience high up on the stage.
Clever use of lighting (Nick Richings) utilising strobe lighting from glitterballs across the auditorium and masses of dry ice help provide the required ambiance along with creative use of sound effects and excellent choreography (Nathan M. Wright). The set design (Hugh Durrant) and costumes (Sue Blane) add to the atmosphere and provide the required eery settings for this enjoyable piece of theatre.
The evening’s entertainment was complete with an encore of “Sweet Transvestite” and “The Time Warp” which had the audience itching to get up and dance along with Time Warp actions..
Runs until 4th January 2025.
The Review Hubs Score
Zany fun,
