Review: The Rocky Horror Show

"Let's do the Time Warp again..." The refrain echoed through Moore Auditorium to applause, unabashed singing from audience members, and quite a few pelvic thrusts (including, some students were stunned to see, a few from the eminent Professor James Rice, the narrator of the performance). It was Saturday, November 14, 2009- or was it? Perhaps we'd travelled through time and space to a different universe. A strange universe, certainly...

Talene Monahon '13 and Jay Ben Markson '10 shone as Janet and Brad, a recently engaged, rather nice couple. Their chemistry and wide-eyed innocence were perfectly acted (and, later, perfectly corrupted). By unfortunate circumstance, as the Rocky tradition goes, the two were left alone on a rainy night near a convenient strange-looking castle. Who did the castle belong to? Why, Frank 'N Furter, of course, also known as David Mavricos '10, a self-described "sweet transvestite" from Transsexual, Transylvania- making his entrance from above wearing a rather sweet leather number.

There were a few crazy dance numbers right from the start, a couple of forays into the audience by Transylvanians, and introductions of some interesting characters. Among my favorites was Riff Raff, servant to Frank and played by Max Hunter '13 (do that Time Warp, Max!). Other rather appropriately (or, well, inappropriately) crazy performances were credited to Chiara Klein '10 as Magenta and the introductory Singer ("science fiction... double feature!"), Genevieve Adams '11 as Columbia (beautiful declarations of love and sacrifice are always welcome, especially from a Transylvanian version of Sandy from Grease), and Stephen Jangro '11 as the namesake of the show, Rocky Horror ("Are you sure you don't like guys with lots of muscles?"). Evan Ross '13 and Stewart Towle '12 made brief and hysterical performances as Eddie and Dr. Scott, respectively.

The ever-present crew of Transylvanians, of course, can't be forgotten: Neil Basu '11, Carol Brown '12, Amber Dewey '12, Anna Fagin '13, Samantha Knowles '12, Abby McCann '11, Max Moran '12, George Neptune '10, Nick Pulito '11, Cody Ruegger '10, Sidney Sands-Ramshaw '13, and Stephen Smith '13 sure made an impression on the audience. What would Rocky Horror be without a dedicated crew of dancing, singing Time-Warp-ers? And they fit the bill.

I certainly won't tell you that Rocky was appropriate for all ages, or any ages, for that matter- but I will say that it was pretty hysterical at times, complete with many additions from someone sitting up on the balcony ("Like weapons of mass destruction!"). It was incredibly fast-paced- intermission came very quickly and I don't remember being bored at any point in time. The set was obviously incredibly time-consuming to make and ended up very impressive; lighting and music were spot-on. All in all the production was masterful. The craziness, while certainly nothing short of all-out insanity, was choreographed perfectly. Kudos are due to Director Carol Dunne, Choreographer Gregory Daniels, and Music Director Louis Burkot.

Long story short, if you're up for being scandalized and whirling along for a crazy ride, give yourself up to the insanity and let the Time Warp take you over-- it's Rocky Horror time!

Performances are November 19, 20, and 21 at 8 pm as well as November 22 at 2 pm.