Broadway Reviews Theatre Review by Howard Miller - April 23, 2026 The Rocky Horror Show. Book, music, and lyrics by Richard O'Brien. Directed by Sam Pinkleton. Choreography by Ani Taj. Music supervision by Kris Kukul. Scenic design by dots. Costume design by David I. Reynoso. Lighting design by Jane Cox. Sound design by Brian Ronan. Hair and wig design by Alberto "Albee" Alvarado. Makeup design by Sterling Tull. Music coordinator Michael Aarons. Original orchestrations by Richard Hartley. Intimacy coordinator Ann James. Associate director Kedian Keohan. Associate choreographer Emily Madigan.
Just a little public service announcement before we begin. The overriding question that keeps cropping up is whether you should remain quietly seated while respectfully watching the show, or join in by shouting out lines, the way you would at a midnight showing of the film version, distinguished from the stage show by its tweaked title: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Actually, that's a rhetorical question, as that ship has sailed. Despite requests to avoid, or at least tone down audience participation ("don't be an asshole" is one of the messages you'll be presented with at the start of the production), there will be those who take it as a challenge or even a dare. Don't know what to tell you if you find it annoying. That's the call-and-response world of Rocky Horror, and few will care to distinguish between the film and the live show. This is the granddaddy of cult musicals, one of those it's-so-bad-it's-good experiences that have managed to become embedded in the collective unconscious of boomers, gen x-ers, millennials, and, to judge from the vocal participants at the performance I attended, gen z-ers as well. How many rituals can lay claim to that sort of longevity? Just in case you've been living on another planet, The Rocky Horror Show is an off-the-wall tribute to the kinds of science fiction/horror movies that proliferated between the 1930s and the early 1960s. While not all of these progenitors were low-budget quickies of the sort that Roger Corman was known for (and let's not knock Corman, who gave us the original version of Little Shop of Horrors), The Rocky Horror Show is fully embedded in that mode. It was created in the early 1970s by Richard O'Brien, who, before writing the book, music, and lyrics, had a career as an actor, appearing in productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. That's the sort of vibe you can expect from the rock score and even the wacky plot. Since little of what goes on makes sense (in the traditional meaning of that word), I'll just say that the current cast is perfectly in tune with the frenetic direction by Sam Pinkleton (Oh, Mary!). Everyone is spectacularly attired in a wild array of David I. Reynoso's costumes, Alberto "Albee" Alvarado's nutso wigs, and Sterling Tull's fabulous makeup, everything fit to rock the Village Halloween Parade.
One dark and stormy night, while driving home from a friend's wedding, their car is put out of commission with a flat tire. They decide to make a dash for a castle off in the distance, hoping to call for help. Once there, they enter the creepy domain of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Luke Evans, the Welsh actor, making a most impressive Broadway debut; oh, those lovely round tones). The design collective dots has done a bang-up job in placing everyone inside a ramshackle combination of Dracula's castle, Victor Frankenstein's workspace, and, as Brad calls it, "some sort of hunting lodge for rich weirdos." And then things really start to get loony, kinda sorta like one of those, I don't know, midnight movies from back in the day, but with the added bonus of a rock score that includes the infectious "Time Warp." Maybe you'll be one of the lucky audience members who are invited to join the cast on stage to dance with them. Durand and Hsu are excellent as Brad and Janet, and Evans is giving a glorious performance as Frank-N-Furter (and, yes, in one of the songs, he is referred to as a "hot dog"). They are aided and abetted by the rest of the wonderful company. Standouts include Amber Gray and Juliette Lewis as the siblings Riff Raff and Magenta; Josh Rivera as Rocky; Harvey Guillén, doubling up as Eddie and Dr. Scott; and, in the role of the narrator, Rachel Dratch, who is at the ready to fend off those who dare step on her lines, as if handling hecklers at a comedy club. Thumbs up, too, to the great orchestra; only five of them performing all that terrific music! If this all sounds appealing to you as it certainly is to me (ah, the '70s!), then head on out to Studio 54. Just, you know, don't be an asshole.
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