In the World According to Disney, the money-making movie comes first, followed by the blockbuster Broadway musical. “Beauty and the Beast” (1994) started it all, but “The Lion King” (1997) holds the record; it’s earned over two billion dollars on Broadway alone and is still going strong.
The exact opposite is true of the musical currently onstage at Cortland Repertory Theatre, produced in collaboration with SUNY Cortland Performing Arts. Fifty years ago on Broadway, it ran for 45 measly performances. Yet the film version is so entrenched in our culture that the existence of a stage musical surprised even our crack team of Post-Standard theater reviewers.
“Isn’t that a typo?” one asked at a recent meeting.
Our editor shook her head. “No, it’s the Rocky Horror Show.”
Not “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”— the film so famous for its cult following, boisterous theater screenings, interactive audience engagement, and callouts so specific that Playbill has a virgin’s guide for newbies. The film is such a perennial favorite at Halloween that the musical is rarely performed live onstage. Which is a shame, because the CRT/SUNY Cortland collab is proof that when done right, the live musical is SO. MUCH. BETTER. As PG-13 rated Halloween activities goes, I haven’t had so much fun since I gave up trick or treating.
Director/choreographer Bryan Knowlton uncovers a surprising sweetness to this comedic tribute to/gender-bending pastiche of 1950s science fiction/horror films. And he makes it less about shock since, over its 50-plus years, “Rocky Horror” has seen the emergence of LBGTQ+ advocacy and increased equity. His direction emphasizes the artistry over the campy-ness, and restores it to an ensemble show. CRT/SUNY Cortland’s production centers the Frankenstein story more than over-the-top Dr. Frank ’n’ Furter, the “sweet transvestite” role that made Tim Curry famous. In the lead, Ryan James Rodriguez breaks away from the curly-topped Curry look with a hairstyle closer to Eraserhead; his triangular eye makeup references the eighties New Wave look, and his vocal acting is less exaggerated posh-upper-crust-English and more breathy seductress.
While there’s a plot, it’s better to ride this schlock-wave than deep-dive for meaning. Uptight squares Brad (Everett Zellmer) and Janet (Lizzie Fitzpatrick-Carcamo), a newly-engaged couple driving home late one rainy night, blow a tire; they’re forced to walk two miles to a nearby castle inhabited by an odd assortment of hypersexualized characters. It’s the home of Dr. Frank ’n’ Furter, a mad scientist whose experimentation to create the perfect companion has already failed once with Eddie (Paul Daniszewski), but he’s hopeful that his new boy toy, Rocky (John Malagrida), will be more successful. Furter is assisted by his domestic staff including Riff Raff (Olivia Celis), Magenta (Vivien Reed), and Columbia (Athena Molina), a former lover.
Powerfully-sung and acted across the board, this is a show often played by older actors, so it was especially fun to see a young cast dressed like nineties goth extras from Edward Scissorhands. Zellmer and Fitzpatrick-Carcamo are marvelous as the shiny-squeaky-clean straights who are led astray by lust. As Riff Raff, typically a cadaverious older male with straggly white hair, Olivia Celis is wholly original; she’s more Sally Bowles-Cabaret with long black hair and wide expressive cat eyes. Reed’s Magenta is a blowsy vamp reminiscent of a female Beetlejuice in black-and-white; her gutsy solos soar over the madcap fray. And Molina as Columbia is a knockout vocal performer with a tap solo equally arresting.
Rocky, not typically a role played memorably other than being the token hunk, is elevated by Malagrida’s intensity; between his authentic six-pack and innocent-but-sexy smolder, he’s what you’d get if Nicolas Cage and Jeremy Allen White had a baby. And as Eddie (the role famously played by Meatloaf in the film), Daniszewski skews more toward Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day with a more punk-leaning aesthetic.
Demonstrating endless energy, the eight-member ensemble cast of Transylvanians swarm the stage like roaches, scuttling, leaping in a very much in-your-face performance — if you’re an audience member anxious about engagement, don’t sit in the front row. Although everyone gives it their all, the Standout Performer Award goes to Carlos Vasquez whose attitude and eye makeup would be right at home on a New York Fashion Week runway.
Music director Ben Kapilow on piano conducts a four-member orchestra that matches the energy onstage. Mark Reynold’s inventive costume design leans into spidery weaves and textures; especially notable are the impressive zipper-constructed bustier corsets for the big number near the end. Scott Holdredge’s scenic design, which begins with a romantic white wedding arch at the theater entrance, turns dark industrial-chic inside the black box space with plenty of metal, Edison lights, hanging cages, picture frames, and other steampunk-style elements. From the moment you walk in, you know what you’re in for.
At the end, my theater companion — a huge Rocky Horror Picture Show fan who learned the film’s callouts attending many a New York City showing — was invited by a Transylvanian to dance onstage; his performance I will graciously leave unreviewed, but he had the time of his life.
And that’s why, even after 50 years of gender-fluid frivolity, this show is wildly beloved with fans seeing it dozens, even hundreds of times. Barry Bostwick, the original Brad in the film version, on the occasion of the show’s anniversary earlier this year, told CBS News, “I think the Happiest Place on Earth is the Rocky Horror Picture Show on a Friday and Saturday night.”
For those accustomed to seeing Rocky Horror in the theater, the usual callouts and audience participation is encouraged, but CRT requests that no outside props, liquids, or solids be brought into the theater. Instead, they’ll have prop bags for purchase with all the goodies you’d expect.
If you want to get in on the mayhem, be warned; the run is practically sold out. Your best bet is to reserve tickets for one of two showings on Halloween at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Show Details
What: “The Rocky Horror Show” by Richard O’Brien
Where: Cortland Repertory Theatre, 24 Port Watson St., Cortland, N.Y.
When seen: Preview night October 23.
Length of performance: 90 minutes with no intermission
Family guide: Suitable for 16 and up
Runs through: Nov. 1
Ticket information and reservations: 800-427-6160, 607-756-2627 and cortlandrep.org
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