I wish Theater were more like a Rock concert, and Rock concerts more like theater.
I love Rock music. It has coursed through my veins ever since that summer in Martha’s Vineyard when my friends and I discovered the scratchy LP of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album and we played it every day. As a kid, I blew all my allowance on Rock records, especially bootlegs of The Who and Led Zeppelin — and whenever I could convince my parents to let me go to a concert, I would be there, dancing in the loud, guitar-drenched glory of it all. My first concert experience was The Kinks in Washington D.C. on the Sleepwalker tour and ever since that time I’ve been a Live Music Junkee.
I’ve been thinking of staging The Rocky Horror Show for years now. My buddy, Bobby, and I used to bat around the idea of doing at The Caspar Inn on a week night. Maybe some day we’ll revive it there. I couldn’t think of a more extreme companion piece for Rock the Ground Theater Company’s production of Hamlet than Rock Horror. Yet, for those in our community who come to see both our productions, there are some odd similarities between the two, not the least of which is the fact both plays end with major characters dead onstage.
This production is the culmination of a long-held dream. Many various planets aligned to make this project come to fruition. At the heart of it all is friendship. Many good friends of mine stepped up to the plate, selflessly gave of their invaluable time, energy, and creativity to make this project happen, thanks from my heart, guys. I am in your debt. At the risk of embarrassing him, I’ll single out one of you all, without whom, I think you’ll agree, we wouldn’t have staged this production at all. The very first person I approached to do this show was my long-time friend, Steven Bates. If you don’t know Steven or never seen he and his band play, well, you’re in for a real treat. He’s a superb songwriter, soulful singer, scorching guitarist; a rocker, a prince among men and the real deal. And if he hadn’t wanted to do it, or didn’t care for the music, I would have dropped the whole idea., I wouldn’t have attempted to do the show without him. And then you wouldn’t be sitting here tonight. So, luckily he wanted to do it and liked the music as much as I did.
The very first person I approached to do this show was my long-time friend, Steven Bates. If you don’t know Steven or never seen he and his band play, well, you’re in for a real treat. He’s a superb songwriter, soulful singer, scorching guitarist; a rocker, a prince among men and the real deal.
I’ve always loved the music in this show. Richard O’Brien’s songs are cut from the same cloth as the music I loved from the early to mid-seventies: Marc Bolan and T. Rex, Queen, Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople, Early Roxy Music, Sweet, The New York Dolls, Lou Reed’s Transformer album, Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and Mick Ronson, the superb guitarist of The Spiders From Mars. Rocky Horror is Glam Rock at it’s glittering, magnificent best.
For those in our audience who are only familiar with the movie upon which this, the original Rock Musical was based, you will notice some slight differences, some odd quirks. Viva la difference! And, though Time Magazine once call The Rocky Horror Show “campy trash”, it has endured as a cultural phenomenon, a cult film classic, a comic spoof of science fiction and horror films, an anarchic revolt against the mainstream, a celebration of alternative lifestyles and sexual freedom, but above all, it ROCKS! So, get out of your chairs and dance!
Don’t dream it, be it!
— Hugh Dignon