Rocky Horror Show 40th Anniversary revival?- Page 2

[Wynbish]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 12:25pm

Tim Curry should narrate

[DEClarke]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 12:34pm

Please elaborate TheatreDiva90016...

ROCKY does not seem to be a show that has to be set in any specific time. Heck, it's Denton, TX is NOTHING like the real Denton, TX... so it's locale isn't exactly nailed down either. All you need is to believe that the world Brad and Janet come from is a sheltered one, which is why I guess the setting was labeled as a suburban area on the outskirts of Dallas.

So how does an 80s vibe clash with a potentionally timeless show? Or a 90s? Or a 2000's? With the right team behind it, I know it can work. Also, I bet most people who would see ROCKY on stage are between the ages of 18-45. That demographic tends to like the 80s and the "retro" throwback vibe of the 80s (Have you seen the sheer number of 80s fashions coming back in stores?) So, it may be a draw financially to try the 80s approach.

Doubt my taste all you want. I could give a care less. I'd just love to read some rational arguments. Personal attacks are meaningless. Anyone can hide behind a screen name and throw mud online, so take that crap somewhere else.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 12:39pm

you just made the point, its a timeless show, so why stick it into and make it the victim of the cliches of a specific decade?

[newintown]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 12:40pm

The Rocky Horror Show is a 70's spoof of 50's horror/sci fi films (hence the opening number, "Science Fiction Double Feature" - a thing that certainly didn't exist in the 80s); I wouldn't call it "timeless," as it has a definite 50s feel (just as I wouldn't call Little Shop of Horrors timeless).

Updated On: 3/20/13 at 12:40 PM

[DEClarke]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 12:44pm

Good point newintown.

I guess because of the film's version of the song and the times I've seen it on stage have not been like the Broadway version (where the characters looks like film ushers), I typically think of that number as a tone setting prologue type of number. But that would be a hurdle that would have to be gotten over perfectly every night or you would lose audiences at the top of the show.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 1:06pm

I think there are more arguments to keep it in the 50s than the opening number;

Frank's amoral transvestism is most effective when compared to the "norm" of "good, clean" (repressed) kids from the 50s - in the 80s, everyone was wearing big hair and neon clothes. If set in the 80's, Brad and Janet would be the freaks, not the norm. The partygoers would be from the mainstream.

Several other songs have a specific 50's bop feel - "Whatever Happened to Saturday Night," "Eddie's Teddy." Most of the rest are classic 70's rock.

And Dr. Scott is pure 50's; not a character that would make sense in another (conventionally wilder) era.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 1:11pm

Amanda Palmer for Frank.

[kieranbec]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 1:21pm

Will Chase would make a great Frank

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 1:50pm

DENTON, TEXAS?!!! It's not DENTON, TEXAS! It's DENTON, OHIO!!!

Any TRUE RHS fan knows that!

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 1:51pm

I see Rocky Horror as vestiges of the early-Sixties pre-British Invasion culture confronting the metaphorical excesses of the late Sixties and early Seventies, who are all altered and destroyed by the more amoral elements within that led to the late Seventies.

We have the long-frozen Eddie relic, the Strangelove-esque Dr. Scott character (I see "Nazi Doctor" as far more a Sixties thing than a Fifties one, because that's when that character archetype really came to prominence), a Frank-N-Furter who imitates Bette Davis mannerisms but (especially in Tim Curry's performances up until the movie) dances and sings like Mick Jagger, etc.

[DEClarke]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 1:58pm

DENTON, TEXAS?!!! It's not DENTON, TEXAS! It's DENTON, OHIO!!!

Any TRUE RHS fan knows that!

Neat tidbit... Didn't know this. Never claimed to be a true fan. Seen the movie like 4 times and it on stage just 2. Casual viewer here.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 2:07pm

I'd like to see Adam Pascal as Frank.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 2:07pm

I thought it was just implied that it was Denton, OH because Janet has a copy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the movie. I thought it was Denton, Anywhere, USA.

I feel like I'm the only one who just enjoys the stage show on its own merits. I used to love attending the movie and all the lunacy that goes along with it, but when I see it onstage, I actually prefer it without audience participation.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 2:37pm

I like the idea of NPH as Brad- how about Orfeh as Janet?

[rorschach37]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 2:47pm

My dream cast.

Frank: Benjamin Walker
Brad: Adam Chanler-Berat
Janet: Laura Osnes
Riff Raff: Constantine Maroulis
Magenta: Rebecca Naomi Jones
Columbia: Casey Tuma
Eddie/Dr. Scott: Mitchell Jarvis
Rocky: Aaron Tveit
Narrator: John Larroquette

[Johnnycantdecide]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 2:54pm

Rebecca Naomi Jones as Magenta is the best idea I've ever heard.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 3:23pm

(I'm pretty sure g.a.h.b.l.e.s.s.y.o.u. has never actually seen any of these shows he writes about with such expertise.)

That train's never late! Did you get the fruit basket I sent you for Valentine's Day, doll? There's a banana in there you can put to good use by sitting on it. :)

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 3:30pm

Why would you write something so rude to someone?

[all that jazz]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 3:54pm

I'd love to see Alan Cumming or Raul Esparza as Frank. Also, although very unlikely, Hugh Jackman could also be spectacular in that role.

Updated On: 3/20/13 at 03:54 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 3:56pm

Is Chita too old for Janet?

[newintown]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 3:58pm

With Josh Gad as Rocky.

[CJ N2N]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 4:02pm

Hunter Parrish for Rocky.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 4:03pm

If he gains 40 pounds of muscle, maybe.

[Jane2]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 4:09pm

"Tim Curry as narrator"

That would be perfect! But I would be in shock if he ever would consider it. I'm pretty sure he was through with the whole Rocky Horror thing decades ago.

[CJ N2N]

Posted: 3/20/13 at 4:10pm

Does he still despise it? Or has he come to terms with it?