When my friend got me tickets to “The Rocky Horror Show” I had mixed expectations. I am a huge fan of the cult film and while I had no doubt the musical was going to be an entertaining experience I was quite dubious that it could turn out to be clichéd copy of the ‘best’, most shocking parts of said original film. None the less, I dug out my black jeans, chunky biker boots, I’m not quite brave enough to go down the lingerie route, and mentally assured myself that I would at least have fun doing the Time Warp.
Jayde Westaby provided an energetic and engaging start to the show and I found it very hard to take my eyes off of her throughout the whole opening number. Westaby’s excited portrayal of ‘The Usherette’ was endearing, and her flawless, conversational vocals were a warm welcome into the dark, decadent world that would consume us for the next two hours.
The next two characters we were introduced to were ‘Brad’ and ‘Janet’ played by Ben Forster and CBBC star Dani Harmer. Having grown up with Harmer on my television I had limited expectations of her musical theatre ability- these reservations turned out to be unfounded. Forster and Harmer were a hilariously well suited pairing and embodied the wholesome couple consistently well. I was pleasantly surprised to see the extent to which Harmer took ownership of her sexuality in Janet’s provocative solo “Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch-Me”. I was severely impressed also by how a midst all of the explicitly extrovert eroticism and excitement in the second act Forster still managed to gain the audiences rapturous approval in Brad’s slow paced, country-style ballad “Once In A While”.
The most memorable performer was Oliver Thornton who stunningly portrayed the role of ‘Frank-N-Furter’. He immediately commanded the most stage presence from his entrance and his use of luxuriously long pauses and air of control and dominance meant that his status as the most important character on that stage was never rivaled. Once the audience had got over the initial excitement caused by the image of his lingerie clad body we saw that underneath the lace and leather Thornton had constructed a rounded character with inspiration taken from Tim Curry’s film version but also with a certain freshness and individuality. The poignancy and genuine longing with which he sang the beautiful “I’m Going Home” showed a vulnerability towards the end of the show and caused widespread goosebumps and i’m not ashamed to admit I was on the brink of tears.
The only part of the show that left something to be desired was Ceris Hine’s portrayal of ‘Columbia’. ‘Columbia’s’ love for ‘Frank’ should be one of the purest elements of the show and although Hine had the eccentric characterization down to a tee ,which made her performance in the most part extremely enjoyable ,she failed to make a believable connection with the appropriate emotions when declaring her love and desperation to ‘Frank’.
Generally the whole ensemble worked with great continuity to create a seamless, spectacularly entertaining show. As ‘Frank’ would say ‘give yourself over to absolute pleasure’ and go see this show!
Liam Page- Theatre Blog 