Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Civic Theatre in Auckland on Friday night.
Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Civic Theatre in Auckland on Friday night.
Varsha Anjali reviews The Rocky Horror Show after watching it for the first time.
New Zealand’s grandmas and grandpas went off the rails during nearly two hours of fishnets and fabulousness at the opening of The Rocky Horror Show.
On Friday night, I arrived at The Civic in Auckland intentionallyunprepared. It meant everything else arrived in new shapes.
Though I knew the stage musical, written by Richard O’Brien more than 50 years ago, was a classic, and had been meaning to watch it to at least understand cultural references, I still hadn’t seen it before now.
I saw sequined silver-haired kings and queens, and others in lace, spiked collars, stilletos, corsets, and bold makeup at the fully-packed theatre. A handful of young families and youngish singletons were there too. “Don’t I look fabulous?” I heard one person in a shiny topper ask their friends. They did. And then there was me: beige, basic and embarrassing.
This show, directed by Christopher Luscombe, started promptly at 7.30pm. No dillydallying here! We’ve got places to be afterwards, namely our beds.
Characters Janet and Brad are played by Hayley Flaherty and James Bisp.
Fifteen minutes in and I’m confused and my confusion had questions. Why does the Usherette (Laura Bird) sing for so long? Why are Brad Majors (James Bisp) and Janet Weiss (Hayley Flaherty) so cheesy? Was I, in fact, at a Bollywood show?
Answers were received. But the confusion remained.
“Arsehole!” and “Slut!” the silver-haired kings and queens in the crowd shouted unanimously after the narrator (Kristian Levercombe) introduced Brad and Janet. My ears! I thought this was a children’s show. Thankfully, as I learned, it’s really, definitely, not.
The energy started when the ultimate royal highness arrived: Frank N Furter, a cross-dressing alien played by Stephen Webb. Webb’s cabaret swagger in heels made my hips cry. He was saucy. He was mischievous. And we swooned.
Whenever The Time Warp played, I saw 80-year-olds convulse. But it wasn’t a medical event. They were dancing, waving jazz hands, putting their hands on their hips and taking a step to the left. A highlight every time.
The sex scenes were hilariously unexpected. It was dirty, funny, and maintained taste.
The production was spotless and fun. Music was played live on the upper stage. The singing from the whole West End cast was incredible. And while a fair amount of props were used, it never felt excessive or distracting.
“There are those who have a far more physical philosophy, those who would stop at nothing to satisfy their base desires,” said the narrator. “Brian Tamaki.” The crowd was in hysterics.
Sitting next to me was Grady Elliott, the operations manager of Family Bar on Karangahape Rd. Elliot was having a jolly good time.
“It’s a cult,” Elliott told me. He recalled going to see the movie at the Hollywood cinema in Avondale back in the day when they would play it every Friday and Saturday around midnight.
“People would dress up to the nines, shouting lines back and forth with the characters, singing along - they even would come with a pocket full of rice to throw at the wedding scene,” he said.
In the biggest surprise of the night, writer O’Brien, who lives in New Zealand, and Australian actor Nell Campbell, who originally played Columbia in the film, came onto the stage.
