Theater Review: The Rocky Horror Show

by John Garcia of John Garcia's The Column

I honestly think it is a rite of passage for any high school student to at least go one time to the midnight showing of the film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I know I did, dozens of times. I never had the courage to dress up, but I went so many times during my high school years that I lost count. I had no idea it was originally a musical until I got to college!

Now, I had no clue or real understanding why the main character was in full makeup, fish nets, pumps, and a corset-but I was glued to the screen. The songs were quite catchy with perfect, infectious hooks that kept you singing along.

But then there was the audience participation! That's what really made the weekly visits such fun. I don't know how many times I almost lost all bladder control because of the hilarious comments the audience would yell back at the screen. But then there was the throwing of rice, toast, toilet paper, and water guns!

As an adult, I have seen several productions of this campy horror musical around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, as well as Florida & Pittsburgh. I also saw the dazzling Broadway revival starring Tom Hewitt, Jarrod Emick, and Alice Ripley.

Over the weekend I saw The Rocky Horror Show at my alma mater, the University of North Texas. The Department of Dance and Theatre mounted Denton native Richard O Brien's cult classic laugh fest of a musical.

UNT's version is directed by local actor/director Bob Hess, who also helmed Contemporary Theatre of Dallas's Rocky Horror a couple of years back. As he did with CTD's version, Hess did a terrific job with this production as well. Kudos as well to his really splashy choreography, with additional choreography provided by Chelsea Kubiak. Several numbers had visually appealing dance creations. Serving as Musical Director was another local talent, Adam Wright. He had a heart-pounding rock band that really nailed the rock thumping score.

The best costumes of the night (by Barbara C. Cox & Suzanna Shockley) were the eye-popping, exquisite space confections worn by Riff Raff & Magenta. Kenneth Farnsworth's lighting design though could have used a bit more punch and pizzazz to give the ambiance of eerie Bela Lugosi castle. Although, the added swirl of blue during a ballad in the second act was a nice touch.

Disappointments in the visual elements though had to be the bland scenic design & the unbalanced sound design. For a massive stage like the one at UNT, you really needed a bigger than life castle, but instead it looked bare and painted in lackluster browns. The sound could never find a balance between vocal and band. The majority of the evening, the band overpowered the vocals, thereby losing key lyric jokes and set ups. Even with a large cast, I could not hear their voices because the rock band was pumped up so loud.

I was perplexed though as to why Rocky's only solo "The Sword of Damocles" was cut from this production. This number gives the character his purpose, thus it was odd not have him not sing this.

This may be a college production, but the talent shined brightly within the cast. Sure, some of the actors had a sharper sense of comedic timing, pace, & delivery than others. But as a complete cast, they displayed bouncing-off-the-wall energy and fun that you could not help but allow yourself to soak it all in and enjoy.

It should be noted that these performers stayed in complete character when the audience would shout out hysterical one liners, insults, and comments throughout the production. It is a Rocky Horror tradition when it comes to both the film and stage version. Some of the audience one liners are actually funnier than the stage and/or film scripts.

So while the packed house howled in laughter, these actors (especially Leland Miller, Kali Katzmann, Robert Linder, Gregory Wilson, Lisa Thomas, Whitney Wilson, & Nick Caldwell) never once broke character. Instead they stayed focused & in character, waiting for the laughter to subside. That assisted so much in making the musical that much more enjoyable.

Why? Some past Rocky productions the performers tend to egg the audience on to shout out lines, or gave the ole "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" to the audience. As though they were telling us, "Get it?! Do you get the joke here?" Thereby breaking character. It ruined the fun of the show for me when that happened.

So major kudos to this cast for never breaking character and staying true to their character's plight or journey within the musical.

The majority of the cast did a solid job, but there were a couple that stood out from the large company:

Leland Miller nailed the nerdy overtones as "Brad Majors". But what added an extra layer of laughs within his work was his body language & facial expressions. Even at times when he was in the background, he stayed completely in character, doing some hilarious reactions to the situations on stage. Miller also scored a winner with his tenor vocals around the second act solo "Once in a while".

Another laugh getter was Kali Katzmann as "Janet Weiss". A lovely blonde who also had a firm grasp on her characterization as the virginal wife of Mr. Majors. The talented actress also had a sweet soprano voice that completed her performance to a tee. She and Miller made a terrific team that achieved loud laughter.

Providing terrific work as well include Gregory Wilson (Riff Raff), Lisa Thomas (Magenta), and Whitney Wilson (Columbia).

A major round of applause to the hard working ensemble! This was the largest group of Transylvanians I've ever seen in a Rocky Horror production, and personally I loved it! It made the story more believable that the citizens of this far off land all were encased in this castle. Their energy and talent radiated throughout the evening.

The star performance though belonged to Nick Caldwell as "Frank N Furter". Now, as I stated before, I've seen this rock camp classic many times. I still today consider Hewitt's performance the best I've ever seen as this high heeled tranny that creates his own boyfriend.

Other past actors in the role have ranged from wonderful to copy cat recreations of Tim Curry's original performance.

Mr. Caldwell's hands down was one of the best I've seen. He works overtime to steer away from Curry's version, and succeeds. He fills the characterization with new comic overtones that were a welcome relief. I did however miss the red glitter lips that are so iconic of Dr. Furter. And can this guy work those pumps! Caldwell had a sexy, fashion runway walk that gave the character an added layer of sexiness that past actors in the role overlook. This college actor provided a fantastic performance that had delicious comedic timing & pace.

One of his finest moments was for the ballad, "I'm Going Home". The actor showed honest compassion and pain within the lyrics. But then to transpose his voice to go into his higher range for the second chorus within the song was sublime. I honestly cannot remember any previous actor in that role to do that. Bravo Caldwell, Bravo!

I am a proud graduate from UNT (I received by Bachelor of Arts in Drama there) and in 2005, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Theater from the department.

So I must say that these new students did an outstanding job that made this alumnus very proud. VERY proud indeed.

GRADE: B+

The Rocky Horror Show runs through April 5. Call 940-565-2428 for tickets.