Will Swenson in Rocky Horror Show- Page 2

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 9/27/13 at 5:05pm

I didn't really find Swenson persuasive in Priscilla and doubt that Frank would have been a good fit either.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 2:31am

The 2001 Broadway revival used 6 Phantoms - 4 male, 2 female. In addition, they had 1 male swing and 1 female swing, adding a second male swing during the run.
To me, 10 Phantoms sounds like a LOT. ha!

[Patash]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 12:04pm

I have tickets for three weeks from Friday. I'm curious if they have yet cast a replacement for Swenson. I haven't received any info from Bucks County Playhouse and I am a patron there.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/1/13 at 12:22pm

Extra phantoms, and especially extra male phantoms has a lot to do with understudies. There's a lot of male roles to cover.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 5:10pm

Does anyone know if Bucks County Playhouse has a stage door?

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 5:48pm

It's not really a stage door kind of place. The lobby is usually where they come out and meet people. One of my best friends, Steve Rosen, is playing Dr. Scott/Eddie/Narrator. He will be amazing, and the rest of the cast looks fantastic as well.

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/4/13 at 6:19pm

They actually do have a designated stage door. If you go out the main entrance, turn right towards the parking lot. It's right there and clearly marked. Most of the actors do use the stage door, actually.

[paphillyguy]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 11:59am

SO the replacement has been named, Kevin Cahoon. This is great casting. I saw him in Hedwig down on Jane Street and in the Broadway version of Rocky. This show should be excellent. Can't wait.

Updated On: 10/8/13 at 11:59 AM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 1:32pm

Ohhhh. Cahoon was a great Frank-N-Furter.

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 1:59pm

Perfect casting! And with the rest of the cast, this has got to be good!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 2:09pm

I saw him as Hedwig twice. I love him.

[Ilovekevincahoon]

Posted: 10/9/13 at 12:11pm

I bought tickets to see this with Will, but I am even happier that Kevin is playing Frank, as you can imagine by my user name here!!!!!!!!!!!! Can not wait for this!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 10/22/13 at 10:53am

Bumping this. Seeing it Saturday. Anyone going tomorrow?

[once a month]

Posted: 10/22/13 at 12:17pm

Great cast, seeing this on Nov 1...followed by a concert of The Skivies. Stoked, and only a 30 min drive. Love Bucks County.

[bundy5000]

Posted: 10/24/13 at 1:59pm

Anyone go yet?

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 10/24/13 at 2:10pm

Anyone going on Halloween?

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/24/13 at 4:21pm

I'm going on Sunday. I'm excited about the cast, less so about the costume designs.

[Movidude742]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 12:57am

I am seeing the show on the 1st and staying for the Skivvies concert after

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 2:09am

I'm a fan but I don't think Frank is a good fit.

[RozeeRossi]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 9:34am

Hunter Foster is directing, right? If you see it, please say what you thought of his direction.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 1:37pm

I went to the first performance on Wednesday. Kevin Cahoon isn't in very good voice as Frank... I thought he was actually the weakest principal.

Foster's direction is strange. There were several moments that I've never seen before (and I've seen and performed in Rocky A LOT) that were very uneven; his staging of "Over at the Frankenstein Place" is funny and creative, Cearly's "Once in a While" was a highlight, and Frank's "Floor Show" costume is utterly brilliant. But the choice to have Riff Raff sing the opening and closing with Magenta (as well as moving the "Time Warp" reprise to after "Super Heroes") is strange and off-putting. This is a show that audiences know inside and out; when you screw with the script, especially since half the fun is the callbacks which depend upon it, you're going to piss people off.

Also, the staging of the bows needs to change ASAP. Apparently you get to dance on stage at the end when you buy tickets in the front of the house, and they called them up in small groups... so the finale went on interminably as all these groups took the stage, danced to the chorus, and then filed off. Clearly this was not thought through carefully.

I also thought the vocals were lacking. There were almost no background vocals, which sucks considering how abundant they are on the New Broadway recording. Molina alternated between wonderful and annoying; Adams looked great (and they added a really fun dance break for him in "Sword of Damocles") but sounded way too "Broadway" for my taste; Kushnier's Riff Raff looks like a zombie George Washington, but his "Time Warp" was strong; Cody was fun, but her monologue to Frank after "Planet Schmanet" lacked energy and just dragged; Cearley was my favorite, vocally perfect for the role and totally adorable. But like I said, Cahoon was just boring. His voice had almost no range, and he didn't pause often enough for the more well-known callbacks (which was very strange to me considering he has done this show before). They also had him in a really distracting, really hideous purple Ziggy Stardust wig.

Overall, I was disappointed. It was certainly good, and I had a ton of fun, but I feel like it should have been better given the caliber of talent involved. You have a cast full of brilliant singers, but they're never supporting the solos... and, let's be honest, that's almost the entire show. I'm sure it will also get better as performances continue, but it's a big "meh" from me, on the whole.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 1:45pm

Is it the "Brad can't stop fantasizing about Frank N Furter" version of Once In A While, or a different one?

[perfectliar]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 2:07pm

Totally different and totally tailored to Cearley's talents.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 3:10pm

Might I ask why you find Riff-Raff singing Science Fiction with magenta to be off-putting? It seems trivial, if makes no challenge to any call back - so a fan who wants to call out has NO room to complain, and frankly, it was done that way in the revival when Sebastian Bach assumed the role of Riff-Raff and it was great, so it is not without present and very apparent where Foster found the idea.
As far as pausing for call backs go, you walk a double edge sword. The film doesn't pause, and it works just fine, but pausing and holding with the expectation of a call back stalls the action AND gets awkward if no one offers the call back, which DOES happen.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/25/13 at 4:04pm

I've done Rocky for ten years. You learn over time where there most definitely WILL be a call-back, and where you MUST pause. The rest of the show you have to feel the audience's energy and play it by ear.

There are a few moments in at least the production I am associated with where certain lines or actions are explicitly cued to a call-back. As a fail safe, if someone in the audience does not yell it out at that point, there is usually at least one "plant" to make sure the essential, action-cuing jokes happen as rehearsed.