I went to this show for one reason, and one reason only. I have been a fan of Terrence Mann for nearly fifteen years, but had never been able to find a way to see him perform live. So when Stacy and I started planning our trip to NYC, it revolved around seeing Terrence in RHS. I also have to admit that I was a Rocky Horror virgin, having never seen the movie. My pop culture knowledge is high enough that I had some idea of what to expect, but I'm still sure I spent most of the show with my mouth hanging open, or whispering the words "Oh. My. God." :-)

I'll be honest and say that this isn't my kind of show. I would never have seen it without Terrence, and it would take a Terrence-like actor to get me back to it. However, I must admit sheepishly that I enjoyed it immensely. Part of it was just the joy of finally seeing Terrence on stage, but it was just so wonderfully terrible that it was a hoot. Stacy was disappointed that we didn't get to see Sebastian Bach as Riff Raff, but I liked his understudy, Jason Wooten. I also thought it was kind of cool to get to see Daphne Rubin-Vega (Magenta) in something, and I also really liked Kristen Lee Kelly (Janet), Jarrod Emick (Brad) and Liz Larsen (Columbia). The cast as a whole was a freaky group of people, though. I got a cheap thrill out of Robin Leach as the narrator, although his schtick got old really fast. And I saw entirely more of Terrence Mann than I *ever* needed to see, corset and seven-inch heels and all. :-) I did enjoy him shutting down the heckler in the audience though - the sight of that man, in all his drag-queen glory, turning to the jerk and drawling, "Shut the *censored* up!" is quite possibly my single most favourite moment in the theatre. Ever.

This certainly qualifies as my weirdest ever experience in the theatre, and yet one of the most oddly enjoyable. I think I would have maybe enjoyed it more if I had been a bit more familiar with it going in - I had a really tough time making out most of the lyrics, and even following the plot (such as it was). It's hard to write a review of the production, it was just that strange. But I got to see Terrence Mann live, finally. And he is amazing. (And I met him afterwards: see the proof here. I love that man.) He needs to come back to NYC soon. I'd even see him in *this* show again. :-)


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