The Rocky Horror World Tour is in full swing and tonight the show opened at The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. Showing until October 2nd 2021, The Alexandra have allowed plenty of days for Brummies and people further afield to come and see this legendary Rock’n’Roll Musical from Richard O’Brien.
I have to admit from the start of this review that I had never seen this show before. I cannot compare it to previous tours and different cast members and am reviewing it as a total Rocky Horror novice, a newbie and like Janet (played by Haley Flaherty) at the start of the show, a virgin.
I also admit, I’ve sat staring at this page for a good ten minutes not quite knowing what to write next. What did I see tonight? What was the plot line? A bit like the first line of the song Time Warp, “It’s astounding”, the show has left me pretty speechless.
It was however plain to see tonight that the show has a huge cult following. Heckles coming from audience members who have obviously seen the show numerous times. Comical heckles timed so well that at points I wondered if they were plants in the audience (they were not). Narrator Philip Franks took the heckles well, with a straight face and quirky humour and at times reminded me of Jon Snow the newsreader when he does his section on The Big Fat Quiz of The Year. Philip Franks was the star of the show for me – bringing in jokes about current issues like the petrol shortages, Matt Hancock “Hands, Face, Come back to my place” and other funny one liners. He was ready for the audience and able to think on his feet quickly.
The show is filled with half naked people, aliens, vampires, muscly men, basque wearing individuals and it is like an adults version of a pantomime with audience heckles and participation (it was great to see so many people stand up to do the Time Warp). It was a little mind-blowing and I’m sure it may produce some interesting dreams for me tonight.
It gets 3 stars from us at Small House Big Trips. The acting was great (welcome Ore Oduba to the role of Brad) and the singing solos were fabulous (especially ‘Once in a While’ by Brad) but I feel the Rocky Horror Show is like Marmite, you either love it or you don’t. It isn’t a show for me but I can appreciate how talented the cast were and how loved this show is by the cult followers.
Would I come and watch it again? No. Do I recommend you book tickets to see it? Yes. This is a show everyone should see at least once in your life – you never know, you might become one of the cult followers.
Small House Big Trips say “A humorously narrated musical that has no boundaries”.
To book tickets, click here.
Tickets from £13 each.
Disclaimer: We were invited along to the press show. All thoughts and opinions are entirely our own.