#0The Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show
Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:26pm
I wanted to post to let everyone know about a spectacular performance that was done here in Dallas recently of the Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show. (I posted this on the Dallas board but DBillyP suggested that since this show was so phenomenal everyone should know about it).
This show has closed, but did anyone else see it? I saw it on Saturday night, and I was blown away!
I think all of us in the DFW area know that the productions at Collin County Community College are always something special, and not just by community college standards but they have really raised the bar as far as theatre in general.
This was a re-imagining of a cult classic that actually worked. It had the raunchiness of "Ave Q" but the technicality of the puppetry in "The Lion King".
And the actors, those college kids have got some talent up there onstage (and the kid playing Frank had a wicked six-pack!) I couldn't keep my eyes off the actress playing Magenta, she owned the stage everytime she opened her mouth or moved her body.
It was RHS with a twist - puppets. But it wasn't cheesy at all, it was like seeing something brand new with this well worn show.
To begin with there were fake box seats on the sides of the stage where famous "audience" members entered pre-show. There was Spiderman and Michael Jackson, Monica and Clinton, Jesus sat next to Hitler. Very very funny.
But the last audience members to take their seats were in the top most box - Waldorf and Stadler from "The Muppet Show". They were crotchety as normal, but they also were the ones calling out the "talk-back" lines which got a little raunchy at times. My favorite, it was new, was when Brad and Janet comment about the castle being some weird hunting lodge - the hecklers yelled out "watch out for Dick Cheney" 
Then there was the Narrator. Instead of a learned professor they had a Bush impersonator on two giant screens on either side of the stage. Those lines in that broken idiot Texas twang were perfect. There was even a scene with Osama and Bush. Funny.
All the members of the castle were puppets controlled by Frank, sort of. Magenta, Columbia, and Riff Raff were real actors with intricate cages and industrial puppet parts a la "Lion King". The Transylvanias were massive marrionettes operated by visible pupetteers on a cat walk. Then there was Rocky - a giant golden "rocky" puppet controlled by four people on the ground and one operator in the head. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Taking a cue from "Ave Q" the seduction scenes with Brad, Janet, and Frank were done with puppets - allowing the seduction to get nasty but still funnier than if the actors had been in those positions.
The show was wonderful, simple creepy set (although I didnt get the giant face on the door) and wild outrageous costumes. It didnt adhere to any previous version, but instead carved out a new niche and style for this classic cult piece.
Don't f*ck with me fellas. This ain't my first time at the rodeo.
#1re: The Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show
Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:30pm
Wow. I have to say I'm a huge RHPS fan - the kind of one that gets irked as soon as anyone says "How about a remake of the RHPS movie?" (I HATE THOSE PEOPLE)
But this show sounds awesome! Wow. I'd never think of doing RH with puppets, but it sounds great. Thanks for describing it so well!
Shame I didn't get to see it 
Backstage at WMTC's "THE PRODUCERS"
Sandi: "I love a man in uniform..."
Laura: "Sandi... those are Nazi's..."
#2re: The Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show
Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:36pm
Here's a link to the Quad C Theatre site for the RHPS:
http://www.quadctheatre.org/Events/s0506/Shows/RockyHorror.htm
Reviews from local Dallas papers.
Observer: http://www.quadctheatre.org/Events/s0506/Shows/Rocky-Observer/little_orphan_trannies.htm
FW Weekly: http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=3745
Dallas Voice: http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_1457.php
Don't f*ck with me fellas. This ain't my first time at the rodeo.
#3re: The Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show
Posted: 3/13/06 at 5:31pmBUMP
Don't f*ck with me fellas. This ain't my first time at the rodeo.
#4re: The Rocky Horror (Puppet) Show
Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:21pm
I agree with everything children said. While the show was not without its flaws, for once, I was willing to overlook them because the show was so darned creative.
It is a shame that it ran only two weekends; I would like to have seen it again.
"I am open, and I am willing,
For to be hopeless would seem so strange.
It dishonors those who go before us,
So lift me up to the light of change."
Holly Near
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