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It's astounding, time is fleeting as Dr Frank-n-Furter, played by Stephen Webb, warping time. Picture: David Freeman The Rocky Horror Show Coventry Belgrade ***** It’s perhaps not amazing that Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror show has been delighting audiences for half a century. It’s a hoot - great fun, a glorious lark, packed with laughs and hilarious idiocy. O’Brien, who wrote it, recalls ‘It was a very juvenile piece of work. I thought we’d have our fun and move on. None of us realised the show was going to touch such a nerve.’ That is, become one of the greatest hit Musicals ever: ‘the hottest of hot tickets’. It's easy to see why. The story is unbelievably joyous and corny. In fact, it’s like a classic pantomime. We meet young(ish) engaged couple, Brad and Janet (James Bisp, Haley Flaherty) tootling along quite happily till their dotty, deliciously childlike car has a tyreburst, and they set off to find help. The crazy crisis leads them, worse luck, to a huge, obscure and unalluring house, a castle in effect - with wonderful Set changes by Hugh Durrant - into which they are lured by the suitably awful Riff-Raff (Ryan Carter-Wilson), and a group of sinister phantoms (Jesse Chidera, Nathan Zack Johnson, Tyla Dee Nurden, Bethany Amber Perrins), wheeling round like zombies, adding amusing vocals offstage and serving as a preface for the in-house high jinks that follow. Plus David Peter-Brown and Lucy Aiston figure as the Dance Captains. Well worth a mention is the character who, front of curtain, begins the whole show (and also, by a neat turn, also closes it. That’s Laura Bird, initially clad in scrumptious pink as an Usherette, whose voice was one of the purest, most attractive and stylish of the whole squad. Christopher Luscombe, the Director and Nathan M. Wright, Choreographer (Resident Director, Annabelle Hollingdale, Resident Director/Associate Choreographer Stefania Du Toit), devised so many terrifically imaginative, intertwining – and finely executed – moves, or blockings, whether for a clutch of the principals or en masse, one was quite dazzled by the excellence, accuracy and proficiency of the performers. Nick Richings’ Lighting was a farrago of ingenious ideas, light effects splaying in every direction and endlessly varied. The costumes – many of them outrageous (Sue Blane) - were a triumph at every point. The cast’s enjoyment spilled out onto the audience, many of whom were excited enough by the historic hit numbers to get up from their seats and dance along in time. Indeed the singalongs, taking their fervent lead from the stage, were a highlight of the evening for most. But geeing up the audience with the most superb set of ad-libs was the ‘Narrator’ or compère, Nathan Caton. Here was an actor of supreme talent, a master of delivery and tremendous character, who held everyone in the palm of his hand. What a personality; what marvellous skill. Which must bring us to the undoubted genius of this production. Bizarrely named Frank -N-Furter, Stephen Webb’s authority and sheer command onstage (initially Devilish, but soon much more) was as exemplary as could be. His campery – and there was an awful lot of it – was pure joy; his range of facial expression was miraculous. At the start of Act 2, which benefited from featuring more straight verbal patter (rather more than the ultra-musical Act I) during an unbelievably raunchy het/gay high jinks in a notorious pink upright bed, his clever antics reached a high point. Astonishingly outrageous. But then everything Webb touched was amazing. A masterclass in acting; and in perfect OTT entertaining. One or two others – Laura Bird’s Magenta, and Daisy Stephens’ Columbia – were swell worthy of accolades. The two or three duets, especially later, between Brad and Janet, touched a nerve. But above all, Morgan Jackson’s Rocky, fabulously athletic, alluring on stage, utterly captivating, was a treat, and deeply touching. The band under Adam Smith delivered suitable, audience-pleasing aplomb, even if the numbers when thundered out seemed rather similar in places. What a joy it was when the music reduced to just a piano solo, or piano and soft bass, or where Dave Webb’s saxophone was allowed to peer through. Those brought a variety that was an unalloyed pleasure. The Science Fiction/Double Feature will be showing to 27-09-25 Roderic Dunnett 22-09-25 |
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