THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW reviews

I’m predicting across the board raves for Evans and strong notices for Hsu, but I feel like the rest of it - from casting and direction to the production elements, will be met with a range from shrugging indifference to bafflement, especially given the preview struggles

CATS kinda wrapped up the race with 10s across the board raves, so wherever this ultimately lands isn’t going to matter since they’ve already shown that there is a mint to be made by Roundabout

4 stars from TimeOut

Broadway review: The Rocky Horror Show is deliciously warped and timely

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/broadway-review-the-rocky-horror-show-is-deliciously-warped-and-timely-042426

NY Stage Review

The Rocky Horror Show: Let’s Not (Do The Time Warp Again), And Say We Did

By Bob Verini

★★☆☆☆ Overproduced, underconceived, superfluous revival of a property long past its sell-by date

https://nystagereview.com/2026/04/23/the-rocky-horror-show-lets-not-do-the-time-warp-again-and-say-we-did/



The Rocky Horror Show: Roundabout Rolls Out a Not So Hot Patootie

By Michael Sommers

★★☆☆☆ Luke Evans, Juliette Lewis and Rachel Dratch appear amid a conventional revival of an unconventional musical

https://nystagereview.com/2026/04/23/the-rocky-horror-show-roundabout-rolls-out-a-not-so-hot-patootie/

NYT Critic's Pick from Shaw

Review: ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ Rewards Your Sense of Antici…pation

Sam Pinkleton’s new revival at Studio 54 gives us the big gay mayhem we want while also maintaining some order via Rachel Dratch’s droll Narrator.

"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."

Three stars from The Guardian

The Rocky Horror Show review – campy musical returns to Broadway in need of an energy boost

Studio 54, New York

The 1973 cult favorite is back with a stacked cast, including Juliette Lewis, Luke Evans and Rachel Dratch, but only flashes of genuine fun

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/apr/23/the-rocky-horror-show-review-broadway

"The crispness that Pinkleton brought to Oh, Mary! is not present here; there is more of what feels like aimless shuffling around the stage than should be encountered during a costly night (or afternoon) at the theater. A shadow cast acting out the movie during an umpteenth midnight screening? Sure, they’re allowed to be a little listless. But one would certainly prefer that a professional version of Rocky Horror be tighter, more relentlessly in pursuit of our attention.

One increasingly misses the assuredness of the film, as Pinkleton’s staging tilts ever more into blurry abstraction. There are, to be fair, scattered highlights that briefly snap things back into focus. Evans, in the appropriate heels and bustier but saddled with a strangely limp and wet-looking wig, is unsteady with Frank-n-Furter’s dialogue; he appears a tad self-conscious, unwilling to commit to the character’s high melodrama. But he comes alive in his songs, especially when he lets his rich, Elton John-ian tenor reach full blare in I’m Going Home, the prettiest of several pretty songs on the setlist."

Theatremania is mixed-positive: "Solidly produced, this revival stills feels like a missed opportunity to be the wild must-attend event of the season"

Deadline

‘The Rocky Horror Show’ Broadway Review: A Much Needed Time Warp With Luke Evans & Rachel Dratch In Vivacious Revival

https://deadline.com/2026/04/rocky-horror-show-broadway-review-1236867882/

"With immensely appealing performances from Luke Evans (yes, he most certainly can sing) as the sinister Frank-N-Furter, Rachel Dratch as the droll narrator quick with the audience repartee, the always excellent Andrew Durand as uptight (until he’s not) Brad and Stephanie Hsu as timid (until she’s not) Janet, this Roundabout-produced Rocky Horror revival is a first-rate presentation of a property that, along with John Waters’ early work, pretty much defined a certain strain of ’70s counter-culture fare."

AMNY

Review | ‘Rocky Horror’ time-warps into Studio 54’s ’70s excess

https://www.amny.com/entertainment/review-rocky-horror-time-warps-studio-54s/

"This “Rocky Horror” is not without flaws, but it hardly matters. The style carries you along, and the energy rarely falters. For nearly two hours, it delivers what it promises: a weird, exuberant, and thoroughly enjoyable night out. Participation optional, temptation unavoidable."

"Lots of invention, but perhaps tries too hard"

https://w42st.com/post/michael-musto-reviews-titanique-smigadoon-rocky-horror-show/

DTLI Consensus: Luke Evans stuns in this remount of the queer cult classic, but where did most of its energy and participation go?

8 mixed, 7 positive (including the NYT), 2 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/the-rocky-horror-show/

Bettyboy72 said: "For the amount of talent on that stage, these are lackluster reviews. I think the direction was a big miss."

And considering the last revival was pitch perfect. So sad to wait decades for this :(

BWW - 66.3 % THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW reviews

BWW review analysis percentages:

NEW MUSICAL - 6 : Titanique (74.8, Schmigadoon! (74.2), Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) (73.5), The Queen of Versailles (40.0). Beaches (36.2)

MUSICAL REVIVAL - 5 : Cats - The Jellicle Ball (90.0), Ragtime (82.4), Mamma Mia! (68.0), The Rocky Horror Show (66.3), Chess (62.8

NEW PLAY - 8 : Little Bear Ridge Road (90.0), Liberation (89.3), The Ballusters (80.9), Giant (77.2), Punch (71.9), Call Me Izzy (65.0), Fear of 13 (58.4), Dog Day Afternoon (51.3).

REVIVAL OF A PLAY - 11 : Becky Shaw (84.7), Marjorie Prime (84.7), Oedipus (84.3), Death Of A Salesman (84.1), Bug (80.6), Every Brilliant Thing (79.1), Fallen Angels (75.3), Proof (71.3), Art (69.0), Waiting For Godot (67.4).

* UPCOMING OPENINGS * - 2
Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Sat), The Lost Boys (Sun -show with the most combined rehearsal/tech/preview period)