“It’s astounding. Time is fleeting. Madness takes its toll.”
The Rocky Horror Show’s opening lines to its most famous song, “The Time Warp,” aptly describe the UNM production.
Richard O’Brien’s musical, which first premiered in 1973, is a bawdy, wild parody of ‘50s B-movies and sci-fi. In fact, the play was adapted into a film called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” two years after the play’s first production.
Chock full of stellar performances, catchy songs, witty humor and technical wizardry, UNM’s “Rocky Horror Show” is a night of theater you won’t forget.
“Rocky Horror” begins with young lovers Brad Majors (Cory Meehan) and Janet Weiss (Lucy Marshall) leaving their friends’ wedding and becoming engaged. The modest story soon becomes a madcap affair as their car gets stranded in the woods, and they happen upon Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s castle. It is here the adventure truly begins as the couple and audience discover the doctor is a mad scientist transvestite (played by Gilbert Sanchez), and his colorful servants are aliens.
Meehan and Marshall are excellent as the young couple that begin as stereotypically wholesome American youths but quickly abandon their timidity when confronted with Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s enticing provocations.
However, Sanchez’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter undoubtedly carried the show. Sanchez as the melodramatic, high-strung, sex-crazed alien scientist is utterly electric. He doesn’t steal scenes so much as set them aflame, bringing out the best in everyone else on stage.
Sanchez has great fun with the role, his energy is infectious, and from the moment he enters, you can’t take your eyes off of him.
“The Rocky Horror Show” is bolstered by a live six-piece orchestra, and an enthusiastic ensemble of on-stage phantoms who dance but do not sing or speak, cleverly used under Lazier’s direction.
The show’s sets (designed by Valeria Rios-Giermakowski) and lighting (by Anthony Ortega) are also hugely impressive. Countless environments are effortlessly constructed and removed over the course of the show, and it is scattered with video projections, fog machines and other technical surprises. The colorful, inventive costumes (designed by Sarah Wyman) also considerably help establish the play’s unique setting.
On the night of the review, the cast had to deal with some unfortunate audio problems but generally overcame them. The cast and crew have likely smoothed out these issues in time for the last few performances this weekend.
Fans of the cult film probably won’t be surprised the show works onstage, but the uninitiated are in for a unique experience.
“The Rocky Horror Show”
Runs until Nov. 20
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays: 7:30 p.m.
Sundays: 2 p.m.
Rodey Theatre, UNM Center for the Arts
$20 General Admission, $15 Faculty & Seniors, $10 Staff & Students
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