Rocky Horror Show

Before I say anything, don’t expect a conventional musical story. The Rocky Horror Show is a “crazy” show that really isn’t in for the storyline but really for the entertainment factor taken at face value. Judging from how some of the audience joined in the fun, dressed up to match the show, you can expect a participative audience (although not so wild here in Singapore). We saw use of flashlights, rubber gloves and playing cards “raining” down. Jeremy already gave a synopsis of the show, so I shall not go into that.

From the name of the show, you can expect a rock-and-roll feature (of the 60s & 70s), and indeed it was, a raunchy one at that, in a retro setting. Well it’s “rock-and-roll” if you know how the phrase came about. It’s supposed to be a parody of science fiction and B-movie horror films (at least that’s what’s said for The Rocky Horror Picture Show), which I felt it did the job.

As a note, one must appreciate how the show opened. For someone who didn’t really know anything about the show beforehand (except a review by CNA), it prepares the audience of how the musical was “set”, like watching a movie double feature. Despite the difficulty in deciphering what was sung, one could catch the gist that it had something to do with science fiction and about a couple’s, Brad & Janet’s, strange encounter. If you have watched the old-school science fiction series of the 50s and 60s (think Twilight Zone), you’ll appreciate the way it’s directed or played out and why you even had a narrator as well. Well, at least that’s the way I saw it as I came out of the theatre. And ya, if you’ve watch those horror films too, it’s almost like the classic portrayal of such a couple.

The musical saw an excellent cast who performed very well. And a ‘performance’ it was. I couldn’t catch what they were singing for some parts, probably because the music was loud and also the echo mix? Nevertheless, there was great singing and acting all round as each was pretty much “in-character”. Riff Raff (Kristian Lavercombe) was amazing in the range he displayed. I was especially impressed by his ability to reach so high a pitch in the last scene when he appeared to ‘zap’ Dr Frank-N-Furter. The song list featured many a good songs too.

In a ra-ra moment, the show ended with the cast leading the audience in the “Time Warp Dance”, and before 10pm at that.