By James V. Ruocco
Time-warping its way into Pantochino Productions, "The Rocky Horror Show" - the fan-friendly brainchild of sci-fi movie fanatic Richard O' Brian - explodes full-throttle across the Milford Arts Council stage in all its rip-roaring, cross-dressing glory, thus, producing a carnival-esque spark and dazzle where lace, drag and playfully overt sexual activities - gay, straight, gender-bending - go hand-and-hand with horror-film cliches, butter pop corn, ruby-red lips, thrift-store corsets, B-movie camp, tighty whitey's and back-row kissing and you-know-what.
This production - a change of pace for always effervescent Pantochino - takes audiences on such a wild, thrill-a-minute, roller-coaster ride, you wish you could hit "replay" and watch the entire 80-minute, intermission-less musical all over again. That's how much fun it is.
Appealing.
Devilish.
Physical.
Unpredictable.
Rhythmic.
Insanely Crazy
This is a musical, that despite its age - its been around since 1973 - still feels fresh, still feels inviting and still delivers the goods in all its oozy, gooey, timeless glory.
The story - which, pretty much everyone on this planet - RuPaul, Donald Trump, Susan Sarandon, Caitlin Jenner, included - and beyond knows - goes something like this.
As the musical opens, married couple Brad and Janet seek refuge in the middle of nowhere (their car breaks down during a rainstorm) at the Transylvanian castle of Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist and transvestite from the planet Transsexual whose lust for both men and women finds him back in the laboratory where he creates a muscle-bound hunk named Rocky for use as his own sexual plaything.
As devised by Richard O'Brien, the production abounds with plenty of other crazies that include that trusty, live-in butler Riff Raff, his oversexed sister Magenta, a groupie named Columbia and perplexed, put-upon Eddie, the unfortunate victim of a botched-up delivery that led to very troubled circumstances.
Also along for the ride are a singing Usherette who introduces and closes "The Rocky Horror Show," her trio of minions who pop up everywhere throughout the story, a smiling Narrator who addresses the audience with plot tidbits and reflections and finally, Dr. Everett Scott, the paraplegic science tutor Brad and Janet had hoped to visit at the start of the story.
Staging "The Rocky Horror Show," director Bert Bernardi puts the zing, snap, color and pulse back into this oft-produced sci-fi parody, offset by a creative mindset, oomph, stamp and paint-brush of originality, flavor and unpredictability that gives this incarnation a uniqueness that makes it fly, entice and run wild. Here, as in other productions he has directed including "The Gingerbreads of Broadway," "The Wicked Witch of the West: Kansas or Bust," "The Waffle House Five" and "Glitz! The Little Miss Christmas Pageant Musical," Bernardi crafts something that is not only special and hypnotizing, but dances to its own individual rhythm and beat. And that's exactly what puts him at the top of his game.
Here, invention and surprise is the key to the success of "The Rocky Horror Show" and that is what keeps it spinning and spinning and spinning. In one of the musical's most hilarious and memorable sequences, the towering Frank-N-Furter seduces Brad in the bedroom - a well-placed sheet (think "Two Ladies" from "Cabaret") camouflages most of the below-waist and rear-ended, X-rated action - but that doesn't stop Bernardi from creating an orgiastic sexual coupling where mind-blowing oral sex and hard anal penetration produce cries, screams and yelps that are amusingly orchestrated to the point of a celebratory climax that both actors toss off brilliantly. Immediately after, Frank N-Furter beds Janet using the same pent-up sexuality and energy that pushed Brad over the edge. Once again, sexual pleasures abound with the same, over-the-top frenzy and merriment as before signaling additional laughs as Bernardi imaginatively cuts loose without any form of censorship or hesitation.
Another fun bit of stage business finds Brad having trouble walking, moving about or lifting up his legs after getting boinked by Frank-N-Furter. Again, Bernardi prompts giggles in all the right places allowing his audience to witness Brad's dilemma as the character winces and tries to hide his discomfort after his first time, same-sex experience.
As with most productions of "The Rocky Horror Show," audience participation is encouraged and welcomed. Here, however, for the safety of the onstage actors and the audience, there is no throwing of rice, toast, water, flour or other objects. But that in no way spoils or derails the cosmic Technicolor feast that Bernardi has put on display. There's plenty to enjoy here from his vivid, immersive staging and choreography to his development of the wonderfully wicked plot, characters, dialogue and swiftly-paced scenario.
One of the show's hilarious pleasures - and there are many - comes from the "Call Backs" which, for anyone who has seen the show before are humorously and freely shouted back to the characters from the audience throughout the production. A clever bit of mayhem that began during midnight showings of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" movie back in the 70's at the 8th Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village, this playful conceit (used throughout the Pantochino edition by die hard "Rock Horror" fans) heightens the musical's frivolity, allure and impromptu silliness if only because you know who's going to say what to whom. In turn, some comments spring directly from the 8th Street Playhouse madness while others come from all different angles depending on the crowd and that particular performance.
As created by Richard O'Brien (music and lyrics) "The Rocky Horror Show" unfolds through sixteen musical numbers, much to the delight of the show's groupies, drag queens, straights, gays and die hard fans, many of whom have seen the stage musical or its 1975 film adaptation hundreds and hundreds of times. If given the chance, they'd probably welcome the opportunity to jump on stage and join the excited twelve-member cast for any of the show's catchy, high-energy songs.
In this go-round they are: "Science Fiction, Double Feature," "Dammit Janet," "Over at the Frankenstein Place," "The Time Warp," "Sweet Transvestite," "The Sword of Damocles," "I Can Make You a Man," "Hot Patootie," "I Can Make You a Man (reprise)," "Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me," "Once in a While," "Eddie's Teddy," "Planet Schmanet-Wise Up Janet," "Floorshow/Rose Tint My World," "Superheros" and "Epilogue/Science Fiction/Double Feature."
In this production, as in others, the kitschy, tongue-in-cheek, underground-inspired music - is pre-recorded. Nonetheless, music director Justin Rugg leads himself and the rest of the cast happily through the show's exclusively-tailored craziness with total involvement, right down to the smallest outrageous tick which everyone on stage communicates with wild, emotional craziness and Greenwich Village camp, paying close attention to the spirit and yelp of the original musical while at the same time, making it very much their own.
Surrounding himself with a "dream cast" of veteran performers - many of whom have contributed greatly to the success of dozens of hit musicals that have comprised the theater's acclaimed repertoire - the entire "The Rocky Horror Show" cast is well-suited for each of the particular roles they are asked to portray. All twelve are fresh, flashy and dynamic throughout, embracing the musicals' B-movie plotting, its sci-fi stylization, its campiness, its glitter, its free-wheeling sexuality, its famous one-liners, its songs, its heart, its soul, its choreography, its homosexuality, its surprises and its hilariously welcomed callbacks. There's plenty of emotion here, mixed with a love of performance, encounter and lace well worthy of a standing ovation or two - and so much more.
The perfect 70's musical to kick Pantochino Productions back into orbit following a very long intermission, "The Rocky Horror Show" is a refreshing, raunchy, sexy, rainbow-tinged confection that allows director Bert Bernardi to create a R-rated musical entertainment where anything goes (and does) much to the delight of everyone on stage and in the audience, all of whom share his love for this sort of unabashed B-movie flash, bang and wallop giddyap that's told with that special brand of knowledge, creativity and luster that Pantochino is known for.
This is a production chock full of glitter, glitz, glamour and fairy dust that basques and dances freely about with nothing on its mind except to whip you up into an excited frenzy and get you all hot and bothered over "The Rocky Horror Show" characters, their individual stories, their music, their gender-bending sexuality and the show's time-warped, sci-fi movie musical ending.
PS: In the 2000 Broadway staging of "The Rocky Horror Show," Dick Cavett, in the role of The Narrator was bland, boring, stiff and colorless. Playing the exact same role in the Pantochino production, Don Poggio delivers an amusing, playful turn that often leads to him breaking character, purposely cracking up, laughing madly or improvising bits and pieces of the story as "Call Backs" are hurled from him in every direction from rapid "Rocky Horror" fans throughout the theater. It's such a standout performance, you can't help but applaud and applaud his giddy, wayward, kitschy, show-stopping characterization.
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