By: Jon Behm
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Photo from www.ordway.org
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Fortunately, for some, The Ordway Center's Rocky Horror Show does not implement the virgin hazing experience in its stage production. Other than that, there isn’t a great deal of difference between seeing the film and the play. Though it is a common misconception that Rocky was originally a film, then a musical; it was actually a play first, written by Richard O’Brien back in 1973. Though the play has changed a great deal since then, I was hoping, by attending the play, to catch a glimpse of where the phenomenon started so many years back.
The story of Brad Majors (“asshole!”) and Janet Weiss (“Slut!”) is as hilariously ridiculous onstage as it is onscreen. The play is more or less just like the movie, complete with audience call-backs (“This man has no neck!”) and prop shenanigans (before entering the theater you are invited to buy a kit containing rice, toilet paper, rubber gloves, etc.). The audience is also peppered with actors whose purpose is to shout out the lines at the correct cues, in case the audience isn’t familiar with the script. What is interesting is that the audience participation was originally not part of the play. It is a series of evolving one-liners that began with the movie’s cult following, and are now adapted into the play, making the current stage version something of a fusion of the original play and the film.
The Ordway’s current production of the show is phenomenal. The actors are nearly all perfectly suited to their roles. Monte Wheeler nearly out-camps Tim Curry himself as Dr. Frank N. Furter, the cross dressing scientist from Transsexual Transylvania. A Newcomer to the Minnesota theater scene, Nicole Fenstad is perfect as Janet Weiss, the naïve bride-to-be with a repressed sexual appetite. Some of the supporting cast are excellent as well, such as Simone Perrin as Columbia and Randy Schmeling as Riff Raff. If there were one odd choice in the cast, it would be Ben Bakken as Rocky. He seems a bit more boy-band member than scientifically produced sex slave, but this may be where I am letting the movie influence my idea of how the play should be.
There are no weak links in the singing, and every song from the opening “Science Fiction/Double Feature,” to Frank N. Furter’s “I’m Going Home,” is performed flawlessly by the cast. One of my favorite moments from the film is Meat Loaf inexplicably riding out of the freezer to sing “Hot Patootie,” and I was not disappointed by Joel Liestman’s performance. I did wish that the “Time Warp” was as visually exciting onstage as the film. I was a little disappointed as no one in the audience danced and the stage spectacle was a little more sparse than the movie’s.
Overall I was very pleased with the Ordway’s production. There is a certain magic that the Rocky Horror story contains that has been keeping people coming back for over 30 years. Director Jayme McDaniel has managed to keep this magic, and channel it into a wonderful production. A respectable production even. In fact, the Ordway’s inherent respectable-ness may be the show’s downfall, as it is probably difficult for the show’s biggest fans to imagine getting drunk, dressing in drag and entering the venerable St. Paul institution. This would be a shame though, as McDaniel’s show is really something to behold.
If you would like to catch this show, it runs every day except for Monday’s at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts through November 25th.
Location Info:
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
Artist Info: The Rocky Horror Show
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