“The Rocky Horror Show” at Blackfriars Theatre

While I had never seen a live performance of The Rocky Horror Show, I have no idea how many times I’ve seen the movie version. I remember going to Georgetown in the late 70’s, to the midnight show, and knowing most of the audience lines, and, of course, all of the music by heart. That’s when I fell in love with Tim Curry (and I know I wasn’t the only one, regardless of gender!). I even bought a maid’s outfit so that I could dress up as “Magenta.”

I’m always a bit hesitant to see a performance of a show whose movie version has been indelibly imprinted in my mind (the recent Broadway version of Mary Poppins comes to mind as a huge disappointment, for example). But I hadn’t been to Blackfriars in a couple of years, and I loved both of the only shows I’d seen there (Grey Gardens and Assassins), and I’m a sucker for a musical, so… 

I went to a Sunday matinee, because I wanted to go to the post-show talk-back. Everything about the performance was first-rate – the cast, the set, the costumes, and the way it paid homage to the film but also allowed itself freedom for its own creativity. The production begins and ends with a brilliant bit of film and live interaction, and by the time “Brad” and “Janet” set foot on the stage, the audience knows it’s in good hands.

At this performance, there was, sadly, very little audience participation. Although the two women next to me knew their lines cold, they were practically whispering, because they were a bit shy. The three of us did manage to almost-shout “Say it!” when “Frank-N-Furter” taunts, “I see you shiver with anticip…” But so many of the audience “callbacks” are not really callbacks as much as they are callforwards– anticipating the next actor line (like asking “what’s your favorite science fiction TV show?” in the brief pause between the narrator’s “lost in time” and “lost in space.”) And as the Blackfriars’ website says, “it’s all in the timing!” So, the actors need to allow the beat, in case the audience chimes in, but also need to keep the pacing when the audience is unwilling or unable to contribute. And they did.

At the talk-back, all of the actors introduced themselves, and most had been performing since they were teens or pre-teens. The set, built in just four weeks, is apparently one of Blackfriars’ most complex and expansive. Unfortunately, it will not travel with the cast when they take the show to the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York City on January 11 (yes, they’re taking a concert/cabaret presentation to NYC!), because that dinner theatre is too small to accommodate it. But I’m going to encourage all of my city friends to go see this wonderful cast. And I’m sure they will all fall in love with Ed Popil, aka Mrs. Kasha Davis. (Now I must see Drag Story Hour with Mrs. Kasha Davis...)

The show has been extended to November 11, and is selling out. For more info about the show and the season, visit blackfriars.org