The Rocky Horror Show | Crown Theatre | until August 26 | ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
When it comes to musicals the ever popular The Rocky Horror Show is in a league of its own. Many of us grew up in the age of VHS where the film version was played very often, it played in the background at parties, and it remained a late-night feature in cinemas for decades.
The stage production has also shown great longevity, to the extend I’ve actually lost count of the number of times I’ve seen it. It’s a show that tours Australia at least once, if not twice each decade. This time round the show is marking its 50th anniversary, and it’s time to do the Time Warp again, and as always – it’s a whole mountain of fun.
When the show first made its debut upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1973, it was an immediate sensation, but creator Richard O’Brien could never have imagined his wild and outrageous show about sexually liberated aliens living in a castle, that drew inspiration from B-movies and glam rock, would go on to eternal popularity.
If you’ve never seen The Rocky Horror Show (firstly, who are you?), it’s about a timid and slightly nerdy couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss who decide to get engaged after attending the wedding of some friends. As they travel down a remote road to visit their old school science tutor Dr Everett Scott, their car breaks down.
This leads them to the doorstop of a mysterious castle where they meet the home-owner Dr Frank-N-Furtner and his posse of oddballs. Among them there’s butler Riff Raff, maid Magenta and groupie Columbia. The arrival of the castle owner is one of the greatest theatrical entrances of all time. The cape clad leader of the mayhem arrives with a bold declaration that he’s just a “sweet transvestite from transexual Transylvania.”
It turns out Dr Frank-N-Furter has been doing some experiments up in his lab where the couple discover the newly created muscleman Rocky, and the brain damaged biker Eddie. The couple are then set off a course that will challenge their view of the world, open their minds to the diversity of sexuality and it’s all filled with great song and dance numbers.
Guiding us through the journey is the show’s narrator. The part is often played by a celebrity, I saw a production in the 1990’s with Molly Meldrum umming through the role, while Sydney and Melbourne audiences recently had radio and television personality Myf Warhurst in the part.
Perth audiences are treated to the marvelous Nicholas Hammond who is perfect in the part. Hammond, who appeared in the iconic films The Sound of Music and Lord of the Flies as a child actor and appeared in a revered episode of The Brady Bunch, as well as being Spiderman, has had an amazing career. He’s perfectly cast in this role.
WAAPA graduates Ethan Jones and Deirdre Khoo shine as Brad and Janet. Jones impressed us when he took on the lead role in The Boy From Oz and he delivers as the dorky Brad who is discovering that he’s a little freakier than he previously realised.
There’s not a weak link among the cast, Darcy Eagle is Columbia, Ellis Dolan plays the dual roles of Eddie and Dr Scott, Loredo Malcom is hilarious, sweet and loveable as Rocky, Henry Rollo makes a fine Riff Raff, and The Voice alum Stellar Perry is Magenta.
The star of the production though is David Bedella as Frank-N-Furter. He is sensational. His vocals are superb, you can crisply hear every word he sings, and he makes the role his own. The actor will soon celebrate his 61st birthday and he’s in fine form returning to the role he first played in the UK production back in 2006.
One of the challenges of The Rocky Horror Show is that all its most famous songs occur within the first 20 minutes of the show, but this talented cast held our attention all through the second half, and Bedella, Jones and Khoo’s delivery of the famous bedroom scene is the best I’ve ever seen.
The Rocky Horror Show is always an energetic party, and a big part of the fun is dressing up for the show! Make the effort and head down to this see this show during it’s very brief Perth run.
Graeme Watson
We recognise that some readers of OUTinPerth have previously expressed concern that phrases used in this musical may be outdated, and concern has also been raised about creator Richard O’Brien’s views on definitions of what it means to be transgender. You can listen to our 2018 interview with Richard O’Brien or read his comments.
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