Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield – until 28 January 2023
Review by Stee Leahy
5*****
The Rocky Horror Show at the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre was nothing less than flamboyantly extraordinary! 5 stars for sure, and here’s why;
Let’s start at the very beginning. The hype began whilst queuing to get into the theatre… as expected when seeing Rocky Horror, a large number of audience members were in full Rocky Horror dress up, the vibe was electric and everyone was absolutely in the theatre mood! What a great start. It’s a vibe that comes only with this show, and I love it.
The show opened with an exquisite vocal performance of ‘Science Fiction – Double Feature’ by the super talented Suzie McAdam, who also played Magenta to a great reaction. This performer was perfection in both roles, chefs kiss!
We were then introduced to Hayley Flaherty and Richard Meek’s Brad and Janet. What a pair! With perfectly sharp vocals and wonderful stage presence, these two were instant hits. They complimented each other in every way possible. Following their journey throughout the show was great fun. From start to finish I was fully engaged. Both held their own in the dance numbers too, Hayley Flaherty’s execution of the choreography was particularly fabulous.
Here’s a special shout out to Kristian Lavercombe’s Riff Raff, now I must mention that with over 2000 performances of Rocky Horror under his belt, Kristian has performed in this show more than anyone else in its whole 48 year history! This man is theatrical gold! I’m not sure how I can sing enough praises his way. Absolute perfection, his characterisation, physicality, stage presence, vocals, makeup, everything! 11 out of 10 for Kristian. He delivered a delicious rendition of arguably the shows most popular song, ‘Time Warp’ and as soon as the intro music was heard every audience member was on their feet performing with the ensemble of professionals on the stage. It was camp! It was fantastic!
Columbia was brought to life by the sensation that is Darcy Finder, not only did she serve up some side splitting laughs, she also hit us hard with some deeply strong and somewhat perfectly executed emotional acting. What a diverse talent. I could watch Darcy perform for hours!
Both the roles of Eddie and Dr. Scott we’re played by the hilarious Joe Allen. All of the Eddie fans in the audience went wild when he was revealed in the fridge! And rightly so, he was brilliant.
Rocky was played by Ben Westhead respectively. He had a soft charm about him and his scenes with Frank N Furter were great! His lovely vocals matched his performance well. He was fun!
Jackie Clune took the role of the Narrator and made it her own. She was hilarious. With her quick witted remarks to anticipated heckles from the audience, she took it all in her stride and she really was the glue of the entire show. My cheeks hurt from laughing so much – Beautifully brilliant!
And now, Stephen Webb as Frank N Furter was superb! He had the audience in the palm of his hands from the get-go, he knew it, and we did too. His vocals were unmatched and his sexual stage presence had us all hooked. He gave us plenty of marvellous comedic moments, and a few sharper moments of drama too. It was the perfect blend of sweet and sour.
The set was very effective, it framed the action perfectly, with pieces that were easily brought on and off and with no major full set changes – the show to run incredibly smoothly.
The lighting, sound, atmosphere were all perfectly on pointe!
Hand on my heart, I can not recommend The Rocky Horror Show enough. One of the best pieces of theatre I’ve seen in years!