The theatre company for people with disabilities busts out a bawdy production of the cult classic
It was a raucous and eager crowd at Denver’s Su Teatro for Friday’s opening night of Phamaly Theatre Company’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. Plenty came dressed as you would for one of those midnight showings of the 1975 cult film, and most of the audience was ready with their bags of interactive stuff to use at specific times during the show. (If that’s not your thing, there are also some non-interactive show dates.)
Phamaly is a company comprised of theatre artists with disabilities, and as usual they ignored the ‘dis’ and focused on their abilities to present a wild ride of a musical that fully embraces all the lewd, gender-bending action that goes along with Rocky Horror. A live band is just offstage providing the soundtrack for the action.
The story, of course, is a very silly, campy, sci-fi tale about a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet, who get a flat tire on a rainy night and look for help at a nearby castle. Turns out it’s not just any castle but one filled with a gaggle of freaks gathered there to celebrate the resident mad scientist’s latest creation: a muscle man named Rocky.
Daniel Traylor and Jasmine Gonzalez are a lot of fun to watch as the dorky couple whose lives are dramatically transformed in just a few hours in the castle of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Matty Umbriaco). Some added ramps made it seamless for Gonzalez to zip around in her wheelchair, and director Caitlin Lowans and the production crew used some creative screens to work the (quite saucy) sex scenes with the good doctor.
Umbriaco has a field day with the character of Frank N. Furter, strutting about in leather and torn fishnets with the wild glee of any extra-terrestrial pushing the boundaries of what flies on Earth. The doctor’s entourage includes the major domo Riff Raff (Trenton Schindele), Magenta (Annie Sand) and Columbia (Madison Stout) — all of whom do justice to the characters we know and love from the original.
As the narrator, Don Mauck does an excellent job with the neck-less doomsayer, as does Mark Dissette as Dr. Everett Scott. The Eddie role, made famous by Meatloaf in the film, is well represented by Romy Lopez in a kickass ’70s Elvis getup, and Vin Ernst is spot-on as the fresh-faced Rocky cavorting about in his shiny underwear.
Choreographer Jari Majewski pulled together some high-intensity dance numbers, working with and around their differing abilities of the cast so well as to make moot any questions about how to put on a musical with these artists. As with most of what Phamaly does, there’s a point where the ability questions we might have at the top of the show fade away as the action progresses and we’re caught up in the sheer joy unfolding on stage.
The Rocky Horror Show puts a new spin on an old favorite and ends up being a night of naughty fun — one I won’t soon forget!
John Moore has a great story about this production in the Denver Gazette.
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