Image from The Rocky Horror Show. Playwright: book, music & lyrics by Richard O’Brien. At: CreatiVision Entertainment at the Mercury Theatre, 3745 N. Southport. Phone: 773-325-1700; $30-$42.50. Runs through: Dec. 2
Storybook biomusicals—as opposed to simple revues—set within the scope of their audience’s memories must not only replicate the excitement of their subject’s original appearances, but they must also generate the impact that we recollect, looking back through the distortions of age and experience. In the case of The Rocky Horror Show, that impact cannot be underestimated—from the mid-1970s to nearly the millennium, pilgrims gathered weekly for late-night film showings of the gospel according to author/composer/lyricist Richard O’Brien, its exhortation to ‘Don’t dream it—BE it!’ later cited by many of these to have influenced their destinies.
Contributing to its followers’ steadfast devotion was a phenomenon hitherto-unseen in live theater. The communion between actor and audience necessary for performance to occur is a relic of theater’s roots in religious ceremony, but though the actors of the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show mimicked the stage play’s presentational aspects, the fact remained that they were images preserved on celluloid. Undaunted, spectators proceeded to manufacture an artificial exchange of energy, crafting for themselves a liturgy encompassing call-and-response verbal interaction with the onscreen dialogue and elaborate kinetic affirmations.
So a production of The Rocky Horror Show in 2007, to be successful, must evoke a dionysic transcendence sufficiently intense to unite its congregants in theoleptic ecstasy. Fortunately, the Mercury Theatre is tailor-made for this brand of fourth-wall breakdown. Not only does the exposed brick interior suggest the ambience of a hidden grotto, but the close quarters facilitate soloists ambushing us from the balconies, dancers promenading up the aisles and nearly naked characters climbing over our laps. Additional sensory stimulation is provided by a water-vapor dispenser surrounding us with, literally, a mystic atmosphere, and by a state-of-the-art sound system that punches out every note with chest-thumping definition. (If the notion of tactile music scares you, sit in the rear sections.)
But this CreatiVision Entertainment production isn’t just—well, smoke and mirrors. The cast assembled by director Steve Hiltebrand is far more vocally adept than its material demands—in particular, Robert Felbinger’s charismatic Riff-Raff and Dina DiConstanzo’s Janet. Scott Alan Jones exhibits unflagging charm and Transylvanian physical stamina as the ‘sweet transvestite’ Dr. Frank-N-Furter, while cabaret diva Amy Armstrong further bends gender in the roles of the chair-bound Dr. Scott and biker-boy Eddie. The show is scheduled to run until December, a perfect antidote to wholesome family Thanksgiving preparations.