This isn’t a sponsored post.
BrumHour saw The Rocky Horror Show at the invitation of The Alexandra.
By Dave Massey twitter.com/BrumHour
This musical production contains issues of sexual consent and controlling behaviour.
Review: The Rocky Horror Show at The Alexandra
Written by Richard O’Brien, Directed by Christopher Luscombe.
As our cheeky narrator (Philip Franks) tells us: one night Brad (Ore Oduba) and Janet (Haley Flaherty) find their car has broken down near a very dodgy house with even more dodgy inhabitants.
Brace yourselves, The Rocky Horror Show is on tour again and has arrived in Birmingham at The Alexandra until 2nd October 2021.
There isn’t a musical production quite like this, dressing up to cosplay as the characters is more than optional, as is learning a whole set of lines for the audience to shout back at the actors, which happens throughout.
I love this production, it is fun, filthy and engaging. The first half lasts a mere 45 minutes and the 2nd lasts 55 minutes which is pretty unusual for any theatre production. The characters are introduced mainly through their own songs which also serve to propel this story further.
The set switches between a cartoon style cardboard cutouts to a gothic mansion and then the lighting switches to the glam rock stage as the performance heats up.
The Rocky Horror Show 
The Rocky Horror Show
Kristian Lavercombe has played Riff Raff for nearly 2000 performances, Stephen Webb as Frank N Furter has played his role for at least three tours and Philip Franks has been in this narrating role on and off for 20 years. Their love for this production and these characters shines through and Philip Franks witty replies to the audience particularly leave it feeling fresh like a first night performance, as it lands in a city and causes general chaos around itself.
The timewarp provides the audience with a mini workout in the first half and this production has Ore Oduba as Brad providing his own big vocals to compete with Haley Flaherty as Janet, Lauren Ingram as Columbia and Suzie McAdam as Magenta.
For any lover of musicals, The Rocky Horror Show is an essential musical theatre experience.
The Rocky Horror Show is at The Alexandra until Saturday 2nd October 2021. The UK and Ireland tour currently continues until June 2022. See the full dates here: rockyhorror.co.uk/tour.
