Rocky Horror Show: The Cult Musical Comes to Ottawa

Photo Allan Mackey. Centre stage Tim Oberholzer as Frank’n Furter..

When Tim Oberholzer leaves Ottawa later this year, we will have lost one of our most versatile actors. No one but Tim could play Dr. Frank’n Furter, the snarling, emoting, transvestite glamrock vampire , the ultimate genderbender body that moves like a sinewy snake, that sings like David Bowie and draws the eye towards his/her person in spite of the overwhelming crowd of girating sexy creatures with flashy wigs, stripped down costumes and timeless lyrics. The music of Richard O’Brien is of course one of the backbones of this show. .

Very skilfully directed by Stewart Matthews who made it all look painless and so utterly high class in spite of the limited material means which were at times rather obvious, the show bounced along at a fabulous pace, carried by the voices and excellent acting by the main characters:

Rebecca Noelle as the seductive Usherette with the big pulpy red lips, inviting us into the cinema, or as Magenta one of Frank’n Furter’s beautifully tough servants ; Victoria Luloff as the innocent young Janet Weiss with the nightingale tones who learns a thing or two about life in that strange chateau where the experiments of Dr Frank’n Furter not only produce the new well-proportioned man ( Mathieu-Philippe Perras) but a conflict between Ted Forbes, a more recent Elvis look alike whose rock music is not quite what Frank’n Furtur hoped for. On the other hand, Andrew Galligan as a near perfect look alike of Riff Raff, one of Frank’n Furturs henchmen from the Planet of Transsexual and Ray Besharah as the completely overwhelmed boyfriend Brad Majors who has made his way into the chateau only wanting to borrow a telephone — and look where that took him, poor fellow!!. Note the especially evil Dr. Scott played by a totally transformed Lawrence Evenchick with his flaming red shoes and little Schiklgruber  moustache. And don’t you just love his legs!!! Another moment worth the price of the show that takes us into Mel Brooks and Cie!!

Tom Charlebois as the suave narrator disregarded all the catcalls from the audience, all part of the stage tradition of course, as he continued telling us about the secret experiments, the strange goings on the house, the sneaking about, the phantoms who pop in and out from behind all those coloured curtains, as the recorded music kept the numbers running smoothly. Choreographer and director Matthews created a perfect harmony between the words and the movement, especially the the famous Lets do the Time Warp scene which includes the whole cast and which brought us right back to the film.

At times the mikes produced fuzziness and the lyrics were not always distinguishable, showing that there were some shortcomings with the in -house sound system but those are problems that have plagued the Gladstone for a long time. Also, one could not help but remember how the on stage music of Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a big plus for that show. Still, a huge band is not feasible these days if one is on a tight budget.

The place was packed and it seemed fitting that Vanity Project Productions, which ends its career in Ottawa with this run of the Rocky Horror Show, should create such a piece of exemplary popular culture in our city and bring in such crowds. It really worked!!! The theatre was packed and the bar appeared to be doing a fine business, especially since patrons could bring their drinks into the theatre. This was not the regular theatre crowd. It was youngers ones and it was older people who remembered the film and who had already seen the show in some other city. That older generation came with masks, and tight ripped stockings, all dolled up in their short dresses, sequins and heavy make up for the occasion. It was carnival time and one big salute , in our town, to the musical that will certainly never go out of style.

And good luck to you Tim….!!!

The Rocky Horror Show is sold out at the Gladstone. Does that surprise you?? For info about possible tickets call 613-233-Glad.

Book, music and lyrics by Richard O’Brien

Directed by Stewart Matthews

Rebecca Noelle Usherette/Magenta

Ray Besharah Brad Majors

Victoria Luloff Janet Weiss

Narrator Tom Charlebois

Riff Raff Andrew Galligan

Columbia Olex Pruchnicky

Frank’n Furter Tim Oberholzer

Rocky Mathieu-Philippe Perras

Eddie Ted Forbes

Dr. Scott Lawrence Evenchick

Plus six phantoms, who sell popcorn in the audience, dance, appear and disappear behind the curtains, and just add to the atmosphere of the piece.