The Rocky Horror Show @ Lyric Stage
—Review by Jill Sweeney
As I walked over to the Majestic Theatre from the nearby parking lot, hurrying so I wouldn’t miss the curtain for Lyric Stage’s production of The Rocky Horror Show, I fell in step behind a young woman wearing a corset and sequined booty shorts—and felt a warm wave of nostalgia. It may be more than two decades since I dusted off the ol’ fishnets, but for me and so many sheltered suburban theater kids, midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show were a silly, oversexed safe space to let it all hang out. Seeing the show live onstage, with a fantastic cast and an audience of hardcore fans, made for a real Halloween treat.
Narrated by comedian Jeff Swearingen (gamely playing along with the audience’s standard heckling), Lyric’s production is stripped down in a way that feels true to the campy, B-movie spirit that engendered the piece: it doesn’t sacrifice style, and the ensemble looks like they’re having a blast. Ryan Michel Friedman and Anna Pena are great fun to watch as hapless normies Brad and Janet, thrust into the chaos over at the Frankenstein place, and slowly succumbing to the exotic, erotic advances of their host, Dr. Frank’N’Furter (Jeff Wells) and his household of weirdos.
Wells gives it his all as Frank, with a great sashay and some top-notch belts; it must be tempting to just mimic Tim Curry in the role (he did originate it, after all), but Wells gives his own flair to the good doctor, with only a few vocal homages to Curry’s performance. Loved the twin scenes of Wells seducing the (only momentarily) unwilling Brad and Janet; the upright “bed” led to some of the night’s bigger laughs. Frank’s creation—the perfect man, here with “brown hair and a tan”—was the real surprise of the night: the titular Rocky is usually pretty and forgettable, but JT Snyder brought the funny along with the sex appeal, mugging gamely as he rocked some impressive upstage pullups off the set pieces and preened in his gold lame short-shorts.
Secret baddies Riff Raff (Ethan Rodriguez-Mullins) and Magenta (Tiana Shuntae Alexander), there to spoil Frank’s fun and return him to their home planet (yes, if you’d forgotten, Frank and several buddies are, in fact, aliens from the planet Transylvania) were a great duo. Alexander opened the show with a sexy, soulful rendition of “Science Fiction/Double Feature” and Rodriguez-Mullins gave a perfect, pelvis-forward performance as Riff Raff.
The ensemble as a whole was wonderful, executing the choreography (credited to Brandon Mason, Kelly McCain, with associate Ania Lyons) with verve and precision. Kudos to designers D’mariel Jones and Catherine Carpenter-Cox for the dizzying array of costumes on display, from Brad and Janet’s “square” travelling clothes (not that they keep them on long), to Alexander and the other usherettes’ lovely velvet jackets, and the wonderfully campy space outfits Riff Raff and Magenta sport by play’s end. And it was a pleasure to have live music for the piece, with the musicians (led by music director and piano/conductor Hans Grim) positioned at the back of the stage, and only rarely overpowering the singing (a balance many theaters seem to have trouble managing these days, she grumbled).
All in all, a blast for Rocky fanatics, and eminently accessible for any Horrow Show “virgins” still out there. So wiggle into a corset and platform heels, sashay over to the Majestic, pick up a Prop Bag ($2 in the lobby)—and grab a good seat for Lyric’s wonderfully campy show. It wraps up on the 30th; I can almost feel you shiver with antici…
WHEN: Through October 30th
WHERE: The Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm Street, Dallas, TX
WEB: lyricstage.org
