This year Richard O’Brien’s legendary musical, The Rocky Horror Show, celebrates its 50th anniversary. Yet, it is clear by the opening night of Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre performance that The Rocky Horror Show is here to stay for many more years. With over two hours of fantastic rock n roll numbers, outrageous humour and fabulous costumes, this stage production is a must-see!
The Rocky Horror Show follows the story of two sweet college kids – Brad and his fiancée Janet (played expertly by Richard Meek and Haley Flaherty). When their car breaks down outside a mansion in the middle of nowhere, they meet the charismatic mad Scientist Dr Frank ’n’ Furter (West End star Stephen Webb).
Webb truly went above and beyond expectations as Frank, and was the star of the show. His stage presence was impeccable and he commanded the attention of every last one of us as we shivered with antici…. pation! As we held onto every last word he said and move he made, he encapsulated the sexual nature of Frank ‘n’ Furter perfectly and brought us all to our feet to revel in his chaos.
Equally, the whole cast engaged and kept the attention of the audience with tremendous wit and talent. Another highlight for me was narrator Jackie Clune whose current popular culture references went down a treat. From Prince Andrew to Boris Johnson, nothing was missed, and everything was met with raucous laughter.
Directed by Christopher Luscombe, The Rocky Horror show is the biggest theatre party and features timeless classics, including ‘Sweet Transvestite’, ‘Damn it Janet’, and of course, the ultimate favourite ‘Time Warp’ (led by Kristian Lavercombe as Riff Raff here at the Everyman Theatre). The choreography and musical pieces were flawless and full of high energy. The ‘Time Warp’ succeeded in getting every member of the audience to rise to the occasion and join in with arm movements, shimmying and plenty of hip thrusts.
With a high dose of innuendos and laugh-out-loud jokes, this five-star performance with a five-star cast is definitely worth a watch. Get your tickets now for the hottest show in town.
The Rocky Horror Show is showing at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham until this Saturday 8th April or catch it at another venue near you until October 2023.
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