THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, LIVE AND ON STAGE!
A Review of the A.D.H.D. Productions' Production
Produced at Springfield's Hoogland Center for the Arts
by Rocky Horror Virgin,
James L. Seay
The Brits are a strange breed. The same society that gave us Shakespeare, John Osborne, Ben Johnson, Alan
Ayckbourn, John Gay, Noel Coward, Christopher Marlowe and J. B. Priestley have also given us Richard
O'Brien and his The Rocky Horror Show. Yes, gentle reader, it all began in Great Britain - London to be
exact, and, to be more exact, the Theatre Upstairs of the Royal Court Theatre in Sloan Square, while Sam
Shepard's Unseen Hand was playing below! And the Brits loved it!
When it came to the Belasco Theatre on Broadway in 1975, by way of the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles
where it opened on March 21st, 1974, the American critics hated it, panned it horribly, and it played for only
45 miserable performances. But then it was made into a movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and
suddenly it became the mother and father of all cult entertainments. Playing at late night cinemas, it
developed an audience, mostly college undergraduates, that would hoot and holler, dress up in costume,
throw things at the screen, and, in general, behave only as a late-night, mostly college student audience would
be able to do. From that point on, it became unstoppable. Believe me, if you show up for a production of
The Rocky Horror Show in a suit, you are in the wrong theatre!
In a way, attending the A.D.H.D Production, directed by A.D.H.D. Production's owner and operator, Mac
Warren, at Springfield's Hoogland Center for the Arts yesterday reminded me of my being in the cast of a
production of Luigi Pirandello's Tonight We Improvise, produced at the old Lincoln Hall Theatre on the U. of
I. campus in Urbana by The Roundhouse Players back more years ago than I am willing to admit. My role
was strict improvisation, as I was to sit in the audience and heckle the players on stage - anything went.
However, some guy the size of a wall, and his date, were sitting in the row in front of me, and they (A) did
not know I was part of the cast, and (B) did not care for my contribution to the play. I was invited to step
outside onto Wright Street where we would settle my behavior in a manly fashion. Obviously, I declined and
whispered to him that I was, in fact, part of the play. I don't think he believed me until I left my seat during
the curtain call to take my place with the rest of the company.
Virtually anything goes as far as audience participation is concerned during a production of The Rocky
Horror Show. Probably the fact that the script is so irredeemably bad is the reason for its cult popularity. It
isn't much fun to heckle something of real merit (as I found out when I was the designated heckler for the
Pirandello play), but to heckle and make fun of something really lousy - well that canreally be fun. And the
cast must understand this, expect it, encourage it and feed off of it, as well. In a way, it reminds me of the old
"showboat" mellerdrammers of the 19thCentury when the audience would cheer the hero, boo and hiss the
villain, and sigh over the heroine. It is not a terribly long jump from that to the audience reaction (and
participation) found at The Rocky Horror Show.
The current production, featuring Joshua Ratz as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the transvestite from Transylvania and
Shannon Lawler as Janet Weiss and Patrick Russell as Brad Majors, the story, such as it is, begins with Janet
and Brad being stranded by a blowout and seeking assistance at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who greets
them in a teddy with garter straps, fishnet hose and high heels. He is apparently in the process of making his
monster, Rocky Horror (Connor McNamara) who parades around in gold lamé jockey shorts, and the story
goes down hill from there - but nobody cares. I could not understand one word of the lyrics, and only the
dialogue when spoken by Jim Leach, the Narrator, but again, who cares? It was kind of like watching a
foreign language movie with no subtitles. Generally, you can figure out the story by just watching the action.
It worked in the days of the silent movies, and it still works.
The performance I saw had an audience composed mostly of Rocky Horror Virgins (those who had never
seen play nor film before) and I admit that I, who thought I was too old to be any kind of a virgin, fell in that
category, Consequently, it took the audience a while to get into the mood and flow of the audience
participation, despite pre-curtain instructions. They began to get the feel of it during "The Time Warp," as
the instructions for the step were included in the program. Pretty much the whole audience was on its feet
attempting, at least, to follow the step.
Things picked up in the second act. Several scenes of silly, simulated sex brought the hoots and hollers from
the audience that were expected. And during "The Floor Show/Rose Tint My World," even though I still
couldn't understand a word of the lyrics, Julie Ratz' choreography came into its own. And later on, Dr.
Everett Scott's (Steve Sykes) wheelchair wheelies brought screams of delight.
Damian Kaplan's on-stage band was great, although they often drowned out the singers, but, again, who cares,
as we could not understand them anyway.
The whole production was done in good fun, and it seemed appropriate that it was produced by A.D.H.D.
Productions. It was a wild and wooly ride, sort of like going over Niagra Falls in a Barrel; an experience not
to be missed, but generally not to be repeated, either. If you are up to a couple of hours of undergraduate
humor, this is probably the production for you. If you are looking for something with more dramatic merit, I
suggest you wait for The Laramie Project that will be opening in just over a month. As for me, I think I'll go
get a Chicago Hot Dog and a schooner of beer - or should I say "Frank and Stein?"
The Rocky Horror Show, Live on Stage! will continue at the Hoogland Center's L.R.S. Theatre on October 30
and 31. What a way to spend Halloween! For ticket information and reservations, call (217) 523-2787 or
visit www.adhdproductions.com on line.
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