The Rocky Horror Show - Tour / Dominion

Touring again next year. Guess it'll be the same old production that's toured for the last few years but I guess theatres are playing it safe with popular choices for opening back up.

Mayflower hasn’t gone on sale yet but is listed as socially distanced

Just gone on public sale at The Mayflower and it’s definitely in socially distant setup. Lots of 2s, 3s and 4s and a few 1s.
I’ve booked the first night which should be something special

So I caught this yesterday afternoon at The Mayflower, Southampton.

Firstly, what a beautiful, old theatre. I was very impressed.

I wasn't in Southampton to see the show. I was in Southampton for a few days because I had only ever driven trough briefly and had never actually visited.

So the barcode on you ticket was scanned for initial entry, then you had to ask through some barrier type thing which measured your temperature for Covid.

I sat on the aisle in row L in the stalls and the next eight seats to my right were not available to accommodate for social distancing.
I know people were sitting on the upper balconies but to what extent and how many, I don't know.

The show itself was very good. Very slick.

No phantom is the audience or the aisles as there traditionally is- maybe this is because of Covid. But they were visible on stage, dancing in the ensemble numbers and playing the Transylvanians.

Condition of entry was no water pistols, toilet paper, rice or toad to be thrown- though dressing up was strongly encouraged.

I saw a lot of Columbia's- lot's of gold sparkly top hats, glittery shorts and face masks, one or two Magenta and it was only and I was leaving the theatre that I saw (at least two Frank'n Furters.

You two leads are Ore Oduba and Hayley Flatherty as Brad and Janet. Both are very good. At one point I actually thought she was Helen George.

Ore Oduba still has the sharp dance moves and quite a strong singing voice, especially when he sings 'Once in a While'.

I mean Brad and Janet are both stock standard characters.

For any one interested, traditionally Brad gets down to his Y-fronts before being offered a lab coat to help him feel 'less vulnerable'. Ore gets down to his y-fronts and a vest.

Though he goes go the full costume with the corset for the floor show.

There is much fun to be had in each seduction scene.

Stephen Webb make a very confident and believable Frank'n Further. He's very tall. When Magents screams "Oh, I grow weary of this world! When shall we return to Transylvania, eh?" I thought his accent changed. But vocally, he was strong.

He also sings"'I've been making a man, with blood hair and a tan"- well Callun Evans as Rocky is not blonde, so the line was changed to brown hair and a tan.

Interestingly he wore gold boots- like the movie- but leopard print pants.

The 'birth' of Rocky was done with a large disc with Vitruvian man and flashing lights

Now, in terms of the storyline, it's because Frank chose to split Eddie's brain in two, that Rocky resists him. In this version Rocky went so far as to tell Frank to P**s off! Twice.

When it came to the floor show, the moves with the feather boas were exactly like the movie. I think the only one that was different was Ore.

The live band were great and the sound and lighting were also excellent.

Phillip Franks as the Narrater was also good. Lots of room to ad lib. There is also a surprise reveal in the end.

The Time Warp- half the theatre go up.

Both the half the Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite were the encores, by which stage, everyone was up.

My only little nit-pick of criticism that when the whole case were on stage, it sometimes looked a little crowded- but that's just me.

It was astounding. As if time were fleeting and madness took control. Lol!

It was great when it all began.......

Great to head your review of the show. One thing though - Callum Evans is injured with a ruptured achilles tendon 1 week before the show opened. Swing Danny Knott has been playing the role and had his hair dyed blonde/gold for the role of Rocky however he was off since last Thursday so you saw Reece Budin, the 2nd cover for Rocky who has brown hair, hence they change the lines to match.

The Mayflower seem to like keeping it a secret, I didn’t get a programme and didn’t see any signs or a cast board. It really is getting hard nowadays, no cast board at joseph and Les Mis you can’t see it if you sit in the upper circle.

Is this the Chris Luscombe tour again, with the film reels? It just leaves me so cold.

I think a lot of fans would agree with you Jon. Much as we love Chris Luscombe’s production it is time for a new set and costumes at the very least please for the 50th Anniversary Tour.

Ive still booked for Dublin and Belfast though. Will be interesting to see if Ore stays for West End dates as he was only contracted till Llandudno 

I agree.  I came to Rocky as a big fan of the film originally, and subsequently saw the theatre show three times in 35 years and was amazed at how identikit each production was.

This is a show crying out to be reimagined.  It needs to be a lot darker and more adult.  Frank is an uber fascist and eugenicist after all.  The audience should be captivated by him/her but ultimately horrified.  I don't think we ever get to truly dislike Frank.

The pan-sexuality and hedonism need to be turned up several notches, and the insurrection led by the incestuous siblings should be given more context.  As it is, Riff Raff and Magenta are presented as villains destroying the great dreams of their master.

The fact that the piece is an homage to 50s sci-fi b-movies seems to get lost.  I'd book-end the whole thing with a modern-day, real-life Brad & Janet going to a late-night retro cinema screening, and the show transmogrifying from projected image and bursting out of the screen.  At the end, it transpires it was just a bad 50s movie, and Brad & Janet return to the "safe" puritanical Trumpian USA.

Ok, Ok, I hear you.  It wouldn't work.  The ideas are dumb.  It works great as it is.  Well, I'm sure better creative minds than mine could do *something* with RHS.  It's grown staid, dated and boring in its current form.

I hear what you're saying, but feel the exact opposite re: audience interaction and the vision for the piece. I saw the previous tour to this (the Jason Donovan CD). I believe I saw Jonathan Wilkes. It was a blast compared to subsequent productions.

In my personal opinion, the show itself with Chris's vision is as far as I would want it to go in attempting to be taken seriously as a book musical.

This show to me is high camp, a goth pantomime. It's audience participation, fun stunt casting and is not good enough to try and stand shoulder to shoulder with much better shows.

Its strength is in the uniqueness of the experience and the opportunity to dress up, have a few drinks and have a bit of a dance.

I appreciate people will disagree with me on this, though. I like the show and have seen a number of productions here and internationally, and the only times I've enjoyed it are when it doesn't take itself *at all* seriously.

Was the 25th anniversary the run at the Duke of Yorks with Jonathan Morris & Diane from Eastenders?