How do you get to The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway? It’s elementary, my dear Janet — just take a jump to the left and a step to the right. The latest revival of Richard O’Brien’s fishnets-filled ’70s cult musical, directed by Sam Pinkleton, opened at Manhattan’s Studio 54 on Thursday, with a star-packed cast belting out such beloved tunes as “Science Fiction Double Feature,” “Touch-a-Touch-a-Touch-Me,” and, of course, “Time Warp.”
The roll call of famous faces starts with Luke Evans as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the sweet transvestite from Transesxual, Transylvania, that previously made Tim Curry a household name. Meanwhile, Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu and Tony nominee Andrew Durand play our nominal heroes, Brad “A–hole” Majors and Janet “Slut” Weiss; Golden Globe winner Michaela Jai Rodriguez, Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis, and Tony nominee Amber Gray are Frank’s assistants, Columbia, Magenta, and Riff Raff, respectively; and Harvey Guillén plays the dual role of Eddie and Dr. Scott, with Rachel Dratch serving as Narrator and Josh Rivera as the titular Rocky.
That’s a lot of talent for one stage, but Gold Derby can confirm that this raucous revival is worth the anticip… ation. For starters, Studio 54 has been transformed into a low-fi sci-fi paradise, tricked out with singing mannequins, cobweb-covered skeletons, and snaking tubes covered in green lights. And the ensemble prove themselves “Super Heroes” by committing to O’Brien’s heightened homage to B-movies, gamely putting up with audience members accustomed to the participatory elements that accompany screenings of the musical’s cinematic counterpart, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
For the most part, Broadway critics similarly enjoyed their time “Over at the Frankenstein Place,” with only a few bringing “The Sword of Damocles” down on the production. Here’s a sampling of the reviews.
The sweet
Time Out New York‘s Adam Feldman gives Rocky Horror the full four-star treatment, writing: “It’s a little camp and a little weird — and then, suddenly, a lot camp and a lot weird, as a pair of outlandish creatures slide down the aisles like showgirls that just happen to have giant eyeballs for heads. …Through Frank, O’Brien has created a safe zone for oddballs: a sexual dreamland of default pansexuality where deviance is the norm. No wonder the show and the movie have attracted such passionate fans.”
In Deadline, Greg Evans says the show remains as “pliable and oddly charming” as ever in its latest form. “The sci-fi twists and turns mount up and best not to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to make logical sense of anything,” he writes. “Better to just enjoy the castle’s liberating effects on the prudish Brad and Janet, or luxuriate in the the louche, dangerous decadence of Frank-N-Furter… and a roster of musical numbers that never disappoints and often thrills, most notably the crowd-pleasing “Sweet Transvestite,” the retro “Science Fiction Double Feature,” and, of course, “Time Warp,” in which choreographer Ani Taj adheres to the familiar in-lyric instructions while pumping up the energy.”
And New York Times critic Helen Shaw was tickled to see audiences getting into the fun, dancing along to O’Brien’s music as if Studio 54 was still a nightclub. “Evans … rasps his songs with palpable emotions,” she raves of the new Frank. “Instead of imitating the glam-camp evil of Tim Curry from the original, Evans becomes the show’s romantic Heathcliff, abandoned by his great loves loves, all of whom are dead or disappointing. His magnetism is off the charts: Pinkleton can, more or less, point him at the audience and fire him like a cannon.”
The sour
Variety‘s Frank Rizzo was less of a fan, damn it. “This Roundabout production at Studio 54 — the site of glittering debauchery of another era — just isn’t all that much fun, being mostly effortful, maddening and finally exhausting,” he writes. “That might not make a difference to its faithful cos-playing fans but Rocky newbies attending the show’s first return to Broadway since the 2000 Circle-in-the-Square revival, might wonder what the fuss was all about.”
People critic Dave Quinn also thinks the Rocky revival lacks a certain element of transgressive danger. “There’s no denying that Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show remains one of the most gleefully subversive pieces of musical theater ever written: a cult phenomenon built on sex, absurdity and a streak of mischief that makes audiences feel like anything could happen,” he allows. “This starry production leans fully into the show’s campy pleasures, delivering plenty of laughs, strong performances and visual flair. But it rarely taps into the provocative, more unpredictable undercurrent that gives Rocky Horror its countercultural bite. And without that sense of risk, much of the evening feels curiously weightless.”
And the New York Stage Review‘s Bob Verini has the harshest words for poor Rocky and pals — words like “overcooked” and “superfluous” — in his two-star pan. “It’s time to bid the sucker farewell, particularly as staged here: large, loud, and expensive in a setting utterly unsuited to it,” he sniffs. “Virtually everything that “made” the Rocky Horror experience is traduced or ignored at Studio 54.
“Rocky Horror comes across as not just quaint, but as downright geriatric as a Sigmund Romberg operetta,” he adds. “The movie remains to charm us. But there’s no longer a place for Abie’s Irish Rose or Getting Gertie’s Garter on our legitimate stages, and I have no qualms about nominating The Rocky Horror Show to join them as a theater history relic.”
