The critics have returned from their strange journey into the world of The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway and the verdict is in! Read all the reviews in our roundup below!
The Rocky Horror Show is Richard O’Brien’s cult rock musical that follows an all-American couple, Brad and Janet, whose car breaks down on a stormy night. Seeking help, they stumble into the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a flamboyant and unconventional scientist from another planet. Inside, they encounter a bizarre cast of characters and witness Frank-N-Furter’s latest creation, Rocky, a physically perfect man brought to life. As the night unfolds, Brad and Janet are drawn into a surreal world of music, seduction, and self-discovery that challenges their ideas about identity, sexuality, and freedom.
The Rocky Horror Show directed by Sam Pinkleton features Rachel Dratch, Luke Evans, Andrew Durand, Amber Gray, Harvey Guillén, Stephanie Hsu, Juliette Lewis, Josh Rivera, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as well as Renée Albulario, Anania, Boy Radio, Caleb Quezon, Andres Quintero, Larkin Reilly, Paul Soileau, and John Yi.
The Rocky Horror Show features choreography by Ani Taj, music supervision by Kris Kukul, set design by dots, costume design by David I. Reynoso, lighting design by Jane Cox, sound design by Brian Ronan, wig & hair design by Alberto “Albee” Alvarado and make-up design by Sterling Tull, with Bryan Bauer as the production stage manager.
Helen Shaw, The New York Times: *CRITIC’S PICK* So, damn it, Janet, I’m glad that the show hasn’t entirely worked out how to do deal with the audience. The show can’t just be a sacred relic — it needs a bit of destabilizing, a tussle between the stage and the seats. Roundabout’s professionalism and coy signage can’t entirely keep the fans in check, which gives the revival itself a sense that it might spin off its axis. What will it be like the night you go? Dratch will probably say something hysterically quelling; Evans will probably knock your stockings off. But who can say? The point of “Rocky Horror” is to lose control. C’mon, let’s do it again.
Frank Rizzo, Variety: The production will no doubt satisfy “Rocky Horror Show” fetishists who still find comfort in the liturgical rituals of a by-gone counter-culture. Others, however, will just find themselves in a tired time warp.
Adam Feldman, Time Out New York: “Give yourself over to absolute pleasure,” urges the absurdly named Dr. Frank-N-Furter as the silly, sexy cult musical The Rocky Horror Show nears its frenzied climax. Roundabout Theatre Company’s exuberant Broadway revival of the show, directed by Sam Pinkleton and featuring a killer cast led by international heartthrob Luke Evans as Frank, makes roughly the same invitation. It’s an awfully hard one to resist.
Richard Lawson, The Guardian: Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, a campy 1973 musical inspired by sci-fi and horror B-movies, has lived a long and fruitful life. But its 1975 film adaptation, by some measure the longest-running theatrical release in US history, has almost inarguably overshadowed that legacy. The film’s song selection, plotting and performances – from Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and others – have been enshrined as the definitive Rocky Horror. Which doesn’t mean that a revival of the stage show arrives without fanfare, only that the experience of actually watching it may underwhelm.
Matthew Wexler, 1 Minute Critic: Varying degrees of stage experience among the cast give an adult-learner college production vibe as glaring as the neon green rope lights strung throughout the theater. Nostalgic, sure, but is this the caliber Broadway audiences expect to see? If only there were a post-show cast party at Denny’s.
Frank Rizzo, Variety: The production will no doubt satisfy “Rocky Horror Show” fetishists who still find comfort in the liturgical rituals of a by-gone counter-culture. Others, however, will just find themselves in a tired time warp.
Greg Evans, Deadline: Ok, so maybe the times haven’t changed all that much. More’s the reason we need a little jump to the left and a step to the right and, most of all, a pelvic thrust that really drives you insaaa-yaa-yaane. Roundabout has gifted us a wonderful time warp, and we’d be assholes not to stay for the night.
Austin Fimmano, New York Theatre Guide: The scenic design collective dots has created castle sets that are unapologetically lavish, especially the campy, overstuffed stairway entrance hall where “The Time Warp” is performed. But as the show goes on, the sets become simpler and simpler until the final scenes are on a bare-bones stage. Like Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the layers of the castle itself are stripped away to reveal the vulnerability beneath. And before too long, the dream comes to a close. There’s no other way to describe it but to say… it’s astounding.
Kobi Kassal, Theatrely: The halls of Studio 54 should be proud with the glittery whirlwind happening on stage eight times a week. It’s Sam Pinkleton to a tee, and boy is it fun. It’s a type of revival that will please the fans and welcome newcomers to the world justly. We are fortunate to have so much queer joy on our stages here in New York right now and The Rocky Horror Show add to that collection perfectly. Head over to the lab, and keep dreaming.
Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly: But they all — along with the always reliable Amber Gray (who naturally holds her own as put-upon butler Riff Raff), and Josh Rivera (who capably portrays hunky Rocky) — never appear as anything other than fully committed to the bit. And as any true fan will tell you, Rocky Horror has always been about commitment. Commitment and the freedom to step outside any well-established comfort zones to follow one’s true passion. In that sense, these wild and untamed things can all be applauded for following the show’s ultimate mantra for both performers and fans alike: Don’t dream it. Be it. Grade: B+
Thom Geier, Culture Sauce: Speaking of personality, Evans makes a striking impression as Frank — towering over the cast in his four-inch heels while delivering a performance that is in turns seductive, off-putting, and out of this world. Which is entirely apt for a sweet transvestite from the Transylvania galaxy who after wreaking so much havoc yearns to return home, like an outré Dorothy Gale in Oz. And Frank really does seem sweet — not the walking provocateur that Tim Curry embodied a half century ago. Doing the Time Warp, again, is more an act of nostalgia than defiance, and the show’s pelvic thrusts seem more like exercise than something that will drive us insane.
Dave Quinn, People: Opening on Thursday, April 23 at Studio 54 in New York City, this starry production leans fully into the show’s campy pleasures, delivering plenty of laughs, strong performances and visual flair. But it rarely taps into the provocative, more unpredictable undercurrent that gives Rocky Horror its countercultural bite. And without that sense of risk, much of the evening feels curiously weightless.
Johnny Oleksinki, The New York Post: Still, there’s much to like, even adore, in Pinkleton’s revival — from its Fritz Lang-y metallic manikins to a dark and seductive castle set that feels ripped from a Jim Steinman music video to two knockout performances from Luke Evans as Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Hsu as Janet. Yet when the plot practically disappears midway through Act 2, and the crowd’s lips are zipped, you just crave something more, more, more.
Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review: The company agreeably perambulates through Pinkleton’s competent though surprisingly uninventive staging of The Rocky Horror Show that churns up a decent amount of laughs and entertainment and yet offers little in the way of remarkable sex appeal or bizarre atmosphere. An inability or unwillingness to cue the audience into responding at least to a few of the show’s obvious gags sacrifices the potential communal satisfaction which the film’s ritual delivers. Reflecting upon this conventional effort, it’s too bad Roundabout no longer leases that funky basement theater space underneath an Eighth Avenue supermarket in Chelsea – now there was a properly seedy joint for a weird manifestation of The Rocky Horror Show.
Michael Musto, W42ST: The net effect feels like its full of invention yet perhaps trying too hard, though the sexual scenes (including a quick glimpse of male-on-male ass play) manage to be compelling and hilarious at once. Hot patootie, bless my soul!
David Finkle, Cote Notices: Lord knows we need more subversion. In a season of blah musicals squeezed out of mid movies or TV (Beaches, Schmigadoon!, The Lost Boys), Rocky Horror stands out as a trash masterpiece that knows what you want and intends to give it to you, hard.
Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater: But this history of audience involvement – not just interaction but parallel creation – is surely the main reason this show is still around. One can still enjoy “The Rocky Horror Show,” especially Richard O’Brien’s 15 songs, most of which are catchy. But its shock value has largely worn off (at least for the people who would be interested in attending), and, let’s be honest, without that, what is there? The plot is a jumble, the characters are with little exception deliberately shallow archetypes, the employment of horror movie and sci fi tropes is not especially clever or funny or spooky. The show’s message, to the extent that there is an explicit one, is pablum (“Don’t dream it. Be it,” which doesn’t resonate any more deeply because the Roundabout management has placed it in neon in the lobby.) “The Rocky Horror Show” is, above all, an excuse for a party – or, more precisely for me at Studio 54, the triggering of the memory of having enjoyed the audience-created party at a showing of Rocky Horror.
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: Pinkleton, so masterful with “Oh, Mary!,” just didn’t catch the right vocabulary for “Rocky Horror,” a deceptively tough assignment on a show popping up again to remind us of just how easily people were shocked in the 1970s. O’Brien’s cultural legacy is not as trivial as you might think.
Average Rating:
66.3%
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