Rocky Horror Show

There is no musical quite like Richard O'Brien's cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show and this is one of the many reasons as to why it is still so popular today, forty four years after the film's release. The latest production of this musical arrived at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow where it was playing from the 12th to the 17th of August and it was every bit as mad and fun as I had been anticipating. Having seen only part of the movie beforehand, I wasn't 100% sure of what the live version was going to be like but I love live theatre so I was excited nonetheless. 

The musical tells the story of Brad and Janet, a squeaky clean collage couple, who go to seek refuge from the rain when their car breaks down while on their way to meet an old college professor. They end up at a castle where they meet Doctor Frank'n'Furter and an assortment of eccentric rock n' roll characters. It becomes an adventure they will most likely never forget.

In this production, the characters are played by various stars. The famously eccentric Dr Frank'n'Furter is played by Duncan James (known for being a member of the band Blue and playing Ryan Knight in British soap opera Hollyoaks). He does a brilliant job in his portrayal of the character - a job that I'd imagine is pretty hard to do when having to follow in the footsteps of Tim Curry's original depiction. He brings the character to life and has the audience completely captivated and in awe from his first entrance to the stage. 

The characters of Janet Weiss, played by Joanne Clifton (known for being a professional dancer on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing) and Brad Majors, played by James Dargh were both great choices for their respective roles.

The narrator was played by Philip Franks (known for his roles in English television series' including The Darling Buds of May and Heartbeat). He improvised many lines and went off-script to interact with the audience. He made references to Scottish culture and current events. He also made references to other shows which would be occurring in the Kings Theatre itself (specifically to Jack and the Beanstalk which comes to the theatre in November) which the audience also loved.

If you're watching for the first time, the plot of this musical make take a little time to get as it is rather bizzare and extravagant (if a little weird, but that's what makes it so great). The creator of the musical described it as an "alternative pantomime" which sums it up pretty well especially considering the audience also participated by calling out to the narrator throughout and sang and danced along to the songs. This is one reason why I think that this show in particular stands out when performed live. Many people came fully dressed as the various characters which is of course to be expected when seeing live shows, however the fans of this particular musical take dressing up to a whole new level and I loved it.

This show was filled with brilliant costumes, a wonderful stage design as well as fantastic dancing and singing. It still manages to captivate old and new audience members. The singing and dance numbers were also fantastic and had the full audience up and dancing along to the 'Time Warp' at the end (even shy little me was up and joining in).

It was a great night that I would definitely recommend.

What is a show you would love to see performed live?

Bye for now, xo