It was great when it all began... I’ve been a real Rocky fan for decades. Rocky Horror, that is!
Although I’ve been a loud and proud Rocky Horror enthusiast for decades — it was great when it all began — as a teenager, I had to hide my mesh-and-lace love for the cult film because, well, I lived in Oklahoma. Back then, its ribald tribute to the sci-fi flicks of the ’50s and the gay-subculture explosion of the ’70s was absolutely verboten — not only in my household, but among my friends, too.
As a teen who loved all those non-mainstream things in a non-mainstream way, it was hard to express those somewhat criminal desires when all the guys around you were cranking sub-standard Metallica cassettes, wearing “wife-beaters,” and downing PBRs with their unemployed stepfathers.
Oh, the memories!
Thirty years later, I have seen the movie countless times, and I'm more open about it. I've attended the shadow-cast showing of the film, seen the play a handful of times, and even enjoy the somewhat sequel Shock Treatment for cathode entertainment.
So, when I heard Lyric Theatre was giving Rocky Horror a honky-tonk makeover, I couldn’t resist finding out whether it still had the power to thrill me... or at least make me throw toast again.
Turns out it did! This even more daring take on the original stage musical The Rocky Horror Show brings Transsexual, Transylvania to Denton—Denton, Texas, that is—and turns Rocky into a white-trash hoe-down that makes this Oklahoman red, white and blue-balls boy feel alive again.
Walking into the Lyric Theatre on 1727 NW 16th St., I had no expectations for the show. But, after getting a bag of props and, why not, a Rocky shortbread cookie, in the lobby, as we entered the theatre proper, I noticed an impossibly large Texas flag draping the whole stage from end to end.
Well, call me a hot dog, Frank N. Furter, because, as a white trash, barefoot AND pregnant Usher belted out the introductory tune “Science Fiction, Double Feature,” I was absolutely floored by this production, giving Brad, Janet, and all the townspeople, transients, and, of course, transsexuals, a real OKie-dokey time.
Jumping to the left and stepping to the right, the narrator sipped on Lone Star beer as she regaled us with the tale of Texan improprieties and sexual impurities and how they relate to the newly-engaged Brad and Janet as they end up in mad scientist Frank N. Furter's sticky web of cherry-popping antics, featuring his newly-made boy-toy, Rocky.
Truly, it’s a story as old as time…
All the old familiar numbers zing with new, focused alt-country energy, featuring a live band, no less. This hee-haw vivacity shined especially bright in the stellar performance of Lee Walter as an iconic Frank N. Furter. Walter is pure dynamite, essaying the role with a devil’s wink, combining the gender-bending showmanship of original actor Tim Curry, melding with the steer-wrangling demeanor of Dolly Parton, creating a whole new Frank, on stage and off.
But, for me, the most telling moment was a joke about the insipid rivalry between Texas and OU, and when the punchline landed, the whole auditorium was in tears—some of them joyful and, of course, some of them genuinely sad.
I’m sure you know which camp I landed in…
After the final act and a rousing standing ovation, we went outside and took a breath, having laughed and shouted with the audience through the whole affair. After 50 years, the Rocky Horror Show and the subsequent film have given so many things to Friday midnights, and, even though this was on a Thursday, the strappy belts of a well-worn garter still inspire people to “don’t dream it... believe it!”
And, with Lyric Theatre’s production running through Nov. 1st, you better believe it will inspire a few Oklahomans—and, to be fair, Texas fans—to truly “believe it” until, of course, they are taken back to their fair home of Transsexual, Transylvania.
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Follow Louis Fowler on Instagram at @louisfowler78.
