Middlesbrough town hall shook by Time Warp! – News piece

The Rocky Horror Picture Show took to the stage in Middlesbrough Town Hall on Halloween night. Heels clapped from both the cast and the audience as they belted out notable songs such as ‘Sweet Transvestite‘ and ‘The Time Warp‘.

The show, titled ‘Rocky Horror Experience’, is a tribute to the midnight movie which was released in 1975. It was produced by Jon Keeling and Dan Prosser.

Other names involved were youth theatre worker, Michelle Windsor and musical director, Gladstone Wilson, who has worked on the X-Factor. The team worked long hours to ensure a polished performance for the cult following the film has.

The plot of the film seen newly engaged couple, Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, go on a journey to find their college lecturer. Their car suffers a flat tire and then seek refuge and a telephone from a nearby castle.

They encounter transvestite Dr Frank N Furter, his servant Riff Raff and his sister Magenta along with other party goers. What ensues is pure retro, musical chaos.

The audience participation aspect of Rocky Horror is one of the main credits for its popularity. Many of the audience members where dressed up in high heels and suspenders to pay homage to the film’s costumes. Everyone was up out of their seats; dancing and singing along in time with the cast.

Sam Oxley, Trish Ryans and Emma Oxley.

During the interval I spoke to some members of the audience. Trish Ryans, who is originally from Atlanta, claimed that this version was better than the one she had seen back in the states.

“They tried to censor the show I seen in America and make it more family friendly. Rocky Horror is not supposed to be family friendly. This version is better and much more outlandish!”

Sam Oxley said she loves Rocky Horror because “It’s fearless, limitless and extraverted! I hope the rest is as good as the first half!”

“I love the actor who is playing Frank, he’s such a diva!” she added. Fernando Mariano played the role of the self proclaimed sweet transvestite, and this isn’t the last we’ll see of him. He has just secured a role in the Opera Die Zauberflote at the Royal Opera House on the West End.

Malcolm Modele, who played the role of blonde, beefcake Rocky, was over whelmed by his first musical performance. “It was amazing! I thrive on being thrown into the deep end, and thanks to Mr Keeling I was able to do this.

I can’t thank him or the rest of the crew and cast enough for the experience. The whole time with them was epic and I wish it never had to end!”

Let’s do the Time Warp again!

I had a feeling this Halloween was going to be my best yet. The day I booked my tickets for my friend Mya and I to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show Experience I began counting down the days. I had never seen a live stage performance of RHPS so I was over the moon when I had heard one was going to be in Middlesbrough Town Hall on Halloween night.

For those of you that don’t know, Rocky Horror is a musical that was released in 1975. It was written by Richard O’Brien (Riff Raff in the film) and Jim Sharman. Upon release, it was pretty unpopular but the people began dressing like the characters when they went to see it and performing the songs and dances along with the film. It then gained popularity as a midnight movie and went on to become one of the most popular of it’s kind.

I’ve been a massive fan of the film since my teenage years and was keen to join in the audience participation that RHPS is well known for. All of those years of my friends and I doing it along with the film will finally pay off! I dressed up as Dr Frank-N-Furter’s housemaid, Magenta.

Squirrel-friends! Myself as Magenta and Mya as Wednesday Addams

All of this began as a dream for two guys. Jon Keeling and Dan Prosser wanted to make a touring version of the Rocky Horror.A production team was then formed at the start of this year.

This included names such as Michelle Windsor who works in youth theatre and musical director Gladstone Wilson whose previous work includes the X Factor.

I was informed that this had been a first professional performance for some of the cast. If I hadn’t been told I would never have known! I truly felt that each cast member understood their character and knew how to portray them.

Adam Garnett and Faye Lucynda gave an amazing performance of Brad and Janet’s saucy transformation. From squeaky clean to sweet transvestites!

During Rocky’s “birth” song, Sword of Damocles.

One of the scenes I was curious about was the scene when Frank creeps into Janet’s bed first and then Brad’s. I wondered how they were going to do it on stage. It turned out to be one of the most hilarious scenes in the whole play.

The couple were behind a white screen and all the audience could see were shadows whilst they tumbled and twisted. The audience fell about laughing!

I loved the actors and thought they all did brilliantly. However, one stuck out for me. Fernando Mariano’s portrayal of Frank was totally on point. Frank is an exuberant character and I would find it difficult to play his role with a straight face. Fernando completely stayed in character the whole time even when he was not the focal point of the scene.

Dr Frank N Furter (Fernando Mariano) strutting his stuff!

Initially I was quite nervous. Rocky Horror is something that has been dear to me for years and I was worried that the stage show wouldn’t live up to the film. Keeling and Prosser made me forget any doubt I had as soon as the first scene began. It was one of the best nights of my life and I’ll never forget it.