If you had told me when I first started following Rocky Horror in 1991 that 35 years later I would be seeing it on Broadway, I wouldn't have believed you!



Having last run on Broadway in 2000, the show was well overdue a return and Tony award winning Director Sam Pinkleton, has been given the honour of making that happen. Sam is best known for directing the farce “Oh Mary” but more importantly, has had a lifelong love for not only the Rocky Horror Show but also the film and its late night showings. His wish for the show was to refresh it for modern audiences but to also include nods to its history, whilst bringing together a diverse cast that represented everyone who came to see it.

The cast includes legendary film and TV stars, Broadway stars, New York gay icons, DJs and a Saturday Night Live comedienne. It is also interesting to note that each of these actors also has a love connection to Rocky Horror.

The real icing on the cake is that it is being run by the Roundabout Theatre Company, which finds its home in Studio 54, the once legendary nightclub.



We visited the theatre early to get our tickets printed off as souvenirs and just standing outside and seeing the posters and the name lit up was overwhelming in itself. The ticket office kindly let us take pictures of the foyer whilst we were there, as it would have been too busy later because the theatre opens the doors just thirty minutes before the show starts. The foyer was lit in an eerie green glow and there were movie posters for the films in the “Science Fiction” song. Strange skeletons and rubber gloves were also used as decoration and there was a sign reminding people to be respectful to the cast and fellow theatre goers with regards to shout outs. All of this was very promising.



We returned later at our allotted time and joined the queue to get in. Despite nobody being dressed up, many were wearing Rocky t-shirts and there was an excited buzz. Whilst we waited, “War of the Worlds” the Orson Wells version, was being played in the green lit foyer which was a really lovely touch. Then we went through the bag check area and onto the merchandise area, where there were so many beautiful things that we just wanted to possess lol.

Inside, there was the same green glow and silver and green luminous tubing draped everywhere made it feel like we were in Frank's laboratory. There were silver mannequins everywhere, gothic doorways covered in cobwebs and the carpet was leopard print. All of the time there was music played on a theremin, which also gave it a 50s Sci-Fi vibe. As we took our seats, we could see more silver mannequins above us and by the band area, little castles all around the theatre, an owl with glowing eyes and numerous curtained alcoves. There were also two gold statues on the sides of the stage which reminded me of the statues in the film. The rest of the stage was curtained off.

You could feel the history of Studio 54 pouring out of the walls too.



This review is littered with spoilers so if you are planning on going, stop reading now!



The lights then went down and Juliette Lewis appeared on the stage, welcomed by a roar of cheering and applause. She looked resplendent in her green Usherette's costume which was very reminiscent of the costume in the re-imagining of the film. Although maybe not the strongest singer in the cast and more used to fronting a rock band, Juliette's growly voice suited the song, which was sung in a very Pat Quinnesque way. The music included the theremin which just gave it a 1950's style too.

Just a quick note about the curtain that was used even though closed, for the Usherette, she had popcorn thrust through it. It was also used in the future too. At the end of the song, a person dressed as a showgirl with a giant eyeball on their head walked across the stage with a sign saying “Enjoy the show, don't be an asshole!”

Brad and Janet arrived, in front of the curtain, a male Betty Monroe ran on and then off the stage. Andrew Durand had an air of a 50's man who looked after himself but had very traditional views. Stephanie Hsu as Janet was seriously repressed but it was obvious that her sexuality was bursting at the seams and very focused. Their show voices fitted the characters perfectly and they were backed by Phantoms thrusting name cards through the curtain. Dr Scott's head makes an appearance too when they mention him.

The Narrator, Rachel Dratch then appears from an alcove on a swivel chair, this chair becomes vital later too. The material of her jacket was especially designed and printed and contains many beautiful nods to the sci-fi/horror genre. She acknowledged the audience and slapped them down a few times. There weren't many shout outs but she did react to them. Her facial reactions added to her rather strange looks, just added to the perfection of her casting and her SNL career made her adept at dealing with hecklers.

When Brad and Janet head off in the storm, the phantoms are the car and Janet is waving a windscreen wiper and Brad just has a steering wheel, nothing else. I cried at this point as this was a massive nod to the way that it was done in the 70's. During the chorus, the silver mannequins up by the band opened their mouths and started to sign along and the small castles lit up in time to the music. Then once out of the car, our heroes fight their way through trees wheeled around by the phantoms and there are bats too. The phantoms then bring on a sign saying “No entry”, Janet then steals a Playbill from an audience member and puts it over her head. When Riff Raff arrives to sing their section, Amber Gray appears at one of the alcoves and her voice is absolutely phenomenal.

Our heroes arrive at the castle and the doorbell is the Theremin again, continually ramping up the impending doom. The bell rings again and Riff Raff appears with a candelabra. At this point we should chat about a female Riff. If I'm honest, the makeup and costume was very androgynous so it made no difference and as an alien, would there really be a gender issue?

The stage at this point was dark apart from candles and you could see a stairway but not much more. There seemed to be people in the shadows which added to the suspense. When Janet says she was scared after something grabbed the jacket from her hands, you could well believe it. All of the time there was a pounding beat, the opening bars to “Sweet Transvestite” ramping up the suspense.

As the main cast arrived, the lights came on and you could see it were phantoms drinking in the shadows. At this point, Juliette was now in her maid's outfit and they were joined by Michaela Jae Rodriguez as Columbia, she looked amazing and in my opinion, genius casting. The absolutely beautiful, wooden stairway had leopard skin carpet like the carpet in the whole of the theatre and led up to a doorway. The Timewarp choreography was different but worked perfectly well and we then heard Michaela sing for the first time and she certainly could hit those notes. The Narrator came out for her piece and then stayed on stage for the whole song, taking full opportunity of the option to move around. During the tap dance scene, a zebra print blanket was held up in front of Columbia so a phantom could hilariously do the legs bit whist she stood on the table. This was done because of timing issues getting Columbia in and out of tap shoes. At this point, two audience members were also invited up to join in.

After the song ends, Brad does the immortal Madison line but then demonstrates the steps like he used to..

Frank then bursts through the door at the top of the stairs. Luke Evans looked and sounded incredible. Yes he has a moustache and a long wig with different coloured roots but this just added to the masculinity and the suggestion that Frank was lazy with regards to looking feminine. I cried again because it was so overwhelming. In my opinion, he was everything that Frank should be; sleazy, masculine, attractive and very dangerous. The costume left nothing to the imagination but nobody was complaining as Luke is very nicely shaped too.

Amusingly, there was a telephone on stage that our heroes were constantly teased with.

He was very predatory with Brad and Janet, no silly panto moves or looks from the stage which was refreshing. When Janet was stripped, Magenta did the “No bags” line, another small nod to what came before.

Frank appears in a nurse's outfit very reminiscent of Anthony Head's costume and the theremin music starts once more and the phantoms are very much like minions with rubber gloves glued to their heads. We had Boy Radio on as Rocky but he was excellent and very nice to look at. His Rocky is born confused, childlike and scared and at one point in homage to “Frankenstein”, he tries to strangle Frank. The Narrator at this point bursts out from behind some blow up silver figures.

When Eddie arrives he is very different to what we are used to. Like the Euro tour, he is covered in ice but Harvey Guillen plays him as a bearded, angry, nasty biker. The way that he snarls the song, snorts a line of drugs and grabs at Columbia suggests that he is thoroughly unpleasant. His death is equally brutal with sounds of the chainsaw labouring as it cuts through bone and Frank appears totally covered in blood as the set turns red.

Then as Frank and Rocky head off to the Wedding March, the bouquet is thrown, leaving the phantoms and Riff fighting over it.

The intermission was then announced by the showgirl eyeball and Cliff went back to the merch stall and I tried to grab more Playbills for my friends!



The second act starts with the narrator hamming it up and we cut to Frank's bedroom. All is done on a proper bed with more attention given to the seduction and not the comedy. Luke is very sexy and flirty and no wonder Brad and Janet succumb to his advances. Janet is very unrepressed at this point and although Brad was very coy and confused, you could definitely see why he went along with it. The “Sweet Transvestite” beat was playing again throughout the scenes.

As we cut to the lab and Janet finds Rocky, he asks if she has any lip-gloss, another nod to previous incarnations of the show. When it cuts to Frank's bedroom, Brad is chained up and Frank is doing a sex act on him! After Janet has sex with Rocky and Brad sees her on the monitor, she is in Rocky's arms applying lip-gloss, whist a phantom stands there with a bubble gun. The music sounded like a pornographic movie version of the Timewarp. This was very different to what we are used to but a refreshing change.

Brad then had a jacket thrown at him by the narrator and they brought on a microphone at this point. He awkwardly started singing “Once in a while” as if he'd been forced into it but as the song progressed, he got into it and sang it like a doo wop backed by the phantoms. I cried again as this was a massive nod to previous UK tours.

At this point we should talk about Dr Scott not turning up in a wheelchair. In America it is considered poor taste for able bodied people to perform in wheelchairs, they see it the same as black face! I thought this would be a massive problem as the character is always seen in a chair but it didn't actually bother me. Harvey's portrayal was so brilliant that I enjoyed seeing him moving around the stage. His Dr Scott was rather creepy, especially the way that he kept touching Brad during “Eddie's Teddy” and he was very German. The song was also much more rocky than I had ever heard it and Dr Scott was able to be quite aggressive. The narrator's swivel chair was also used to great effect and sets us up for Scott's future line about wheels.

When Frank has had enough and Janet is found with Rocky, the guests are frozen and the Dr can't move the swivel chair either. They actually freeze on the spot though and are carried away on trolleys and sack trucks.

At this point Magenta gets very angry, Riff Raff has already obviously had enough and Columbia does her “It's a gas” section. This was not played for laughs though and as Riff Raff and Magenta are left on stage, they not only do the elbow sex but also rub necks like swans which was very different and alien.

The floorshow looks very much like Frank has just gone through his wardrobes and dressed everyone up in what he could find. Brad has tights on over his underpants and is wearing straps and a lead. Janet is extremely sexual in this song, more so than I've ever seen and Columbia is in her customary top hat, Rocky has pasties on.

Frank is Then lowered down on the Studio 54 logo, a moon very much in the style of previous tours, he has a star headdress and is draped in silk which looked very 1920's in style. As he sings “Don't dream it, be it”, a neon sign is lowered saying the same, this is replicated on the hoodies and also a neon sign by the theatre exit. They all form a line like in the film and do the kicks, Frank eventually joins in and as Dr Scott appears in an alcove, he removes his trousers like a male stripper. I never knew how much I needed to see Dr Scott twerk lol.

As Riff Raff and Magenta arrive to arrest Frank, they look incredible, all neon with tentacles and antenna, the theramin playing in the background.

Frank then comes to the front of the stage and sits down, a tribute to how it was done in the UK tours many years ago. He removes his wig, wipes his mouth and eyes and removes his eyelashes, almost in defeat. Luke sang this so beautifully, understated, no laughs, just heartfelt and heart breaking. This was just like Jason Donovan sings it and why I love his portrayal of Frank so much.

When finally shot, Frank explodes into glitter and then one of the houses takes off at the end, with glitter falling down like a glitter comet tail.

For the final song, the Usherette then sneaks out onto the stage, looking around, scared, like she's not sure if it's safe. Mouths WTF and delivers the song with great gusto.

The cast then came out to a huge applause and led us in the Timewarp. So we can now claim that we have danced in Studio 54.



We then moved around to the stage door expecting huge crowds like we'd seen online but hoping to at least see some of the cast, We were very surprised that there was only a small crowd with gaps by the barriers and put it down to being a Sunday matinee. Harvey Guillen was the first to come out and he was so sweet and friendly, wanting to have a proper chat with everyone. He was then joined by Larkin Reilly, one of the phantoms and she too was equally charming. Boy Radio came out to a rapturous applause and wanted to know where everyone had travelled from and said he knew Plymouth. Then the door opened and Luke Evans walked out. We never imagined that we'd actually meet him and he was so pleased that we'd travelled over from the UK to see the show. He was gorgeous and very charming. The security guard said that was all of the cast whom were coming out that day but then Rachel Dratch made a suprise visit and also spent time with everyone. This really was the icing on the cake for us to meet some of the cast.

I feel truly blessed to have been able to see this production on Broadway. It was a complete re-imagining by a very clever director, who totally understands and respects the source material.

The show is now breaking records on Broadway and also being nominated and winning many theatre awards. It has also been extended well past its original limited run.



I don't think any other show that we go to see will top this now and with many of the original cast moving on to other projects, it will be a different show again from the one that we saw.



If you are in the US or can get over to see it, you will not be disappointed.



Helen Harris-Beaumont - April 2026

Helen's images from the trip - Click on a thumbnail to see a larger version.