Expect ‘a few surprises’ at Crown Uptown’s ‘The Rocky Horror Show’

“The Rocky Horror Show” isn’t really about drag queens, space aliens, horror movies, sci-fi or rock ‘n’ roll. It’s actually a chance for audience members to let their inner wild child off the leash for a couple of hours before returning to humdrum daily existence.

So say cast members of Crown Uptown Theatre’s 40th anniversary revival of Richard O’Brien’s cult musical that opens Friday.

“It’s such an odd show with so many types of characters that it appeals to a broad range of audiences. It’s a shared experience because of the audience participation. I think that audience camaraderie is what has kept it so popular,” said Christi Moore, who is participating in her third production of the show. She performed in a 1995 version at Cabaret Oldtown, then directed another version there in 2006 – the last time the show has been on stage in Wichita. She is directing it again, this time as a theatrical first for Crown.

“It’s not something that you would expect at the Crown, but I like that it will open us up to potentially new faces. There has been a lot of buzz from college students who have seen the movie but never the stage version. We’ve already had a lot of advance sales, more than most shows this far out,” Moore said.

“The show will be mostly what people expect, but there will be a few surprises,” the director said, noting that the setting is now a dilapidated theater rather than a creepy mansion and Rocky Horror himself, a handsome, muscular parody of Frankenstein’s monster, will be black for the first time. Because of some adult themes and mild swearing, Moore said the show isn’t for kids younger than high school age.

The hilariously demented brainchild of British rocker O’Brien, “The Rocky Horror Show” spoofs both 1950s horror and science fiction films, mixes in a little outrageous cross-dressing and sets it all to high-energy rock ‘n’ roll. The story deals with a newly engaged, straitlaced couple named Brad and Janet who get lost in a rainstorm and end up seeking shelter at the home of a mad transvestite scientist named Frank N. Furter just as he is celebrating his latest creation: a ripped muscle-man of a monster named Rocky Horror. The show gave the world the “Time Warp” dance craze.

The musical opened in England in 1973, jumped to Los Angeles in 1974, then to Broadway in 1975 and finally to the big screen that same year, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. The film became a midnight movie cult classic that ran nearly every weekend for 15 years in Wichita’s now-closed Pawnee Plaza Theatre, where audiences perfected talking back to the screen at certain key scenes and brandishing paraphernalia like water pistols (for rain), newspapers (for shelter), rice (for the wedding) and Bic lighters (“There’s a Light” song) to play along.

Moore is encouraging audiences to participate in this new stage version by purchasing $5 bags of appropriate props, “Time Warp” dance instructions and dialogue zingers. No outside items will be allowed, for the safety of the actors, she said.

Playing Dr. Frank N. Furter is longtime local favorite Monte Wheeler, who will be tackling the role in a black lace corset, fishnet stockings and high heels for the fifth time. Playing hapless, clueless couple Brad and Janet are Austin Stang and Janet Wiggins. Shannon MacMillan and Anthony Gasparre are Magenta and Riff Raff, Frank’s maid and butler siblings, who are hiding dark and menacing secrets. Maurice Sims, who is also choreographing, is Rocky Horror.

“What can you say about Frank N. Furter? Well, he’s very liberated. He’s a creative genius with a huge gift. But he has a gift for self-destruction that is just as big,” said Wheeler, who was named best musical actor for the role in a 2007 Minneapolis/St. Paul production as well as the Mary Jane Teall best musical actor in Wichita’s 2006 production.

“He’s a lot of fun to play. He’s the show’s villain who influences people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. He is so into hedonism that he loses track of the balance you have to have in life,” Wheeler said. “There is a moral even though the show is so ridiculous. And that’s that you can go too far.”

As far as lacing up the corset and pulling on the thigh-high stiletto boots one more time, Wheeler said he’s found a way to get comfortable in the constricting garments.

“You have to re-educate yourself on how to breathe. But it’s great spinal support and helps you walk tall. I used to need weeks to practice on the heels,” he said, “but after five times in three different states, I don’t even need to rehearse in them anymore.”

Actor-choreographer Sims says that being the first black Rocky Horror – certainly locally and likely nationally – won’t change the dynamic of the plot.

“But since I’m the only black cast member, it will actually add depth to the show by supporting the idea that Rocky is different from everybody else,” Sims said. “He has a man’s body, but he is a new creature, so he has the mind of a baby. He is experiencing the world for the first time.”

For Brad and Janet, Stang and Wiggins see their characters as glorious send-ups of the 1950s stereotype of the perfect young couple: the good boy and girl you’re supposed to bring home to meet Mom.

“Brad is a smart man but a little clueless. He loves Janet madly and wants to be strong and protective, but he’s way out of his depth around Frank N. Furter,” said Stang, recently seen in Crown’s “I Love a Piano” and “Godspell.” “He can’t quite grasp what’s going on, which makes him vulnerable. He’s not Prince Charming, he’s a real man.”

Added Wiggins, familiar from Crown’s “Hairspray,” “Cats” and “I Love a Piano”: “I grew up being called ‘Dammit Janet’ like the song (in the show), so I don’t even have to act. She’s like me. She’s naive and says a lot of stupid things. But she’s funny. I can relate very well. She was taught to be pure and kiss only the boy she expected to marry. She never thought of herself as sexy. Then she discovers her sexuality. I was a little nervous at first about being in the show, but it’s so over-the-top and crazy that I wouldn’t mind my mom and dad coming to see it. It’s about aliens and rock ‘n’ roll; what could be more fun?”

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 7:11 AM with the headline "Expect ‘a few surprises’ at Crown Uptown’s ‘The Rocky Horror Show’."