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Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show
Malvern Theatres
***** A STEADY stream of people in basques and
fishnet tights flow through the centre of Malvern all heading to
tonight’s venue - this can only mean one thing Richard O’Brien’s Rocky
Horror Show is in town. The Rocky Horror Show tells the story of Brad
(Ben Freeman, Emmerdale) and his fiancée Janet (Diana Vickers, The X
Factor Finalist 2008), two clean cut college kids, who on their way to
visit a college professor Dr. Scott (Paul Cattermole, S Club 7) meet
instead Dr Frank-N-Furter (Liam Tamne, Series 3 of The Voice) by chance
when their car breaks down with tyre trouble outside his house during a
storm. It’s an adventure they'll never forget when the
transvestite scientist announces that he has discovered the secret to
life itself and unveils his new creation, a sort of Frankenstein-style
monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically
perfect muscle man named Rocky (Dominic Andersen) seriously shaking up
their lives. Right from the beginning when The Usherette,
working in a derelict cinema, introduces tonight's "film" in a song
"Science Fiction/Double Feature" a feel good party atmosphere is with
the audience.
With dancing in the aisles, glow sticks during
the slow numbers, umbrellas put up during the bad weather scenes and
plenty of innuendo shouting out from the audience, which on many
occasions flummoxes the excellent comic narrator Steve Punt (The Mary
Whitehouse Experience, Mock the Week, Horrible Histories) and of course
mass participation for the classic floor filler The Time Warp. It all
gives the show a real sense of excitement which must become addictive
for the actors to play each night. Great over the top performances come from
Kristian Lavercombe (Riff Raff) who has performed in the Rocky Horror
Show over a thousand times, Sophie Linder-Lee (Columbia), Kay Murphy
(Magenta) and a superb live band. Director Christopher Luscombe marking his tenth
year with Rocky hadn’t actually seen the show at the time he was asked
to direct it. With a passion for storytelling and liking to work outside
his comfort zone, sensing that he could explore the show and discover it
for himself he accepted without having any preconceptions about it. Richard O’Brien’s (The Crystal Maze) idea for
Rocky Horror Show came about after work one night, back in his flat with
friends; he picked up a guitar and suggested writing a musical about low
budget science fiction and horror B movies of the late 40s through to
the early 70s. It first burst onto the stage of a tiny 63 seater London
theatre in 1973 and by 1974 O’Brien and the original Frank-N-Furter Tim
Curry were playing the show in LA, with the film version shot and then
realised the following year. Soon after people were dressing up as the
characters in the show and singing all the songs. Today it’s the biggest
cult musical of all time, still electrifying after four decades and
still all about acceptance and being who you are. Wrping through time
until 14-05-16 Johnathan Gray 09-05-16
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