By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Tuesday 31 October, runs through 5 November 2023 Then touring Europe including the UK and booking currently until 31 March 2024 RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

It’s Halloween night, we’re in the middle of the 3rd row at this 1,700-capacity cinema/theatre celebrating its 100th birthday to watch a musical 1st seen upstairs at London’s Royal Court Theatre in June 1973.

• Read on for reasons including how it’s no effort at all to be swept away by the sheer love with which this production is both performed and received

The Rocky Horror Show has been performed in over 30 countries in every continent and translated into more than 20 languages.

Our last Rocky Horror was at the Playhouse in London in 2015 and Theatre Royal Brighton in 2018 and they were both of this production which has, perhaps incredibly, toured for the last 18 years.

Directed by Christopher Luscombe, it’s performed in English with Spanish subtitles and is perhaps a true test of the international appeal of a story of young lovers Brad and Janet whose car breaks down in the rain at night in the middle of nowhere and they knock at the door of the home of a mysterious yet charismatic scientist who will change their lives forever.

Rocky‘s plot is paper thin but its homage to 50s sci-fi is so lovingly rendered by creator Richard O’Brien that its perhaps easy to see why its celebration of transvestism and sexual exploration continues to strike a chord despite the work’s middle age which shows no sign of midlife crisis.

The 31 October date perhaps means there are more people dressed up in the crowd than would be normal and the audience rises as 1 to its feet during early ridiculous showstopper The Time Warp.

We 1st caught the musical when it was at the Playhouse Theatre with David Bedella especially memorable as Sweet Transvestite Frank’n’Furter and it’s a challenging pair of high heels to fill but we thought Richard Meek here did so brilliantly.

We especially enjoyed the saucy Spanish adlibs by our narrator Alex Morgan which delighted the audience and the way the crowd shout out their own one-line and filthier versions of the script at opportune moments reminds how respectful this cast is of performing a show that is truly owned and celebrated by its fans.

We’ve seen Kristian Lavercombe’s genuinelly spooky Riff Raff before and it’s impossible not to be thrilled by the insanity of the material and the sheer adoration and joy on display from its audience which is very much part of the fun of this production.

The message about being yourself is relevant now but must have been incendiary when Rocky was 1st staged upstairs at the Royal Court in 1973.

Half a century later its international appeal shows no sign of abating and when the cast return at curtain to repeat the show’s 2 most iconic numbers it’s absolutely no effort at all to be swept away by the sheer love with which it is both performed and received.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Teatro Coliseum Tickets
• Have you seen the Rocky Horror Show before or heard a song from it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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