Cal Rep Young’uns Conjure the “Rocky Horror” Spirit

Maybe you didn’t know it, but before there was a picture show, Rocky Horror was a 1973 stage musical. Two years later it was adapted for the big screen, and the rest is cult-film history.

Not quite in time for Halloween, California Repertory has gone back to the source. And although there isn’t a castmember who was alive when The Rocky Horror Show was born, they’ve no problem summoning the right spirit in this occasionally ragged but generally entertaining reincarnation of the tale of young, square Brad & Janet’s wild night in Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s queer castle.

The threadbare plot of The Rocky Horror Show, inspired by low-budget 1950s sci-fi, hardly matters. Rather, it’s the raucous, audacious, transgressive silliness that keeps the blood pumping. Under the surehanded guidance of Jennifer Richardson, this Cal Rep ensemble are unafraid to let their collective freak flag fly (at least with the cast I saw. Despite such a short run, two largely separate casts are splitting up the performances).

Even if you’re a Rocky Horror virgin, you probably know that a hallmark of the picture show is audience participation that includes props and extensive, detailed commentary on / talkback to the onscreen action. Because this makes the Rocky Horror experience far more fun than it would be otherwise, any savvy director will incorporate such stuff even though it wasn’t part of the original production. Rather than relying on in-the-know patrons to carry the weight on their own, Richardson smartly sprinkles the audience with plants (presumably whichever castmembers are not onstage that night), and they are a show unto themselves.

The music of Rocky Horror, a steady diet of original roots rock, is solidly delivered by a drums/bass/guitar/sax combo (though the lack of keys is a self-inflicted handicap); and although sometimes the lead vocals are a bit thin, the harmonizing is consistently strong.

The show’s biggest shortcoming — as with the film itself — is the diminishing returns of its second half. Writer/composer Richard O’Brien doesn’t muster much variety from song to song and blows his load early with the best numbers (e.g., “Time Warp”). Similarly, his one-note humor comes to feel redundant. Even trimming the show to an intermissionless 90 minutes (a good instinct, even if at least one plot point gets partly lost in the process) can’t fix these problems.

The mise-en-scène, though, goes a long way toward keeping us engaged. The silver-themed set is efficient, stylish, and functional; the lighting never fails; the costumes (glam rock gone S&M) kill; and the sound design is especially on-point — not to mention a video component that provides both atmosphere and sparkle.

Needless to say, no stage production — at least on this level — can fully deliver the interactive cinematic phenomenon that shows no signs of losing its cult status a half-century on. Nonetheless, Cal Rep’s The Rocky Horror Show may be best appreciated by those who’ve had the movie experience. Although virgins will certainly be in for more surprises, the deflowered may better appreciate just what Cal Rep is reanimating.

But in either case, you’d have to be quite the prudish sourpuss not to find some pleasure in this twisted tale. So why not leave your inhibitions at the door and come inside?

The Rocky Horror Show at California Repertory — Cal State Long Beach
Times: Thur-Sat 7:30 p.m., plus Sat 2 p.m.
The show runs through Nov. 12.
Cost: $23-$25
Details: (562) 985-5526, csulb.edu/theatre-arts
Venue: CSULB Studio Theater, Theatre Arts Building (South Campus), Long Beach