Review: The Rocky Horror Show at the Liverpool Empire ****

It’s astounding, time really is fleeting – because it seems only a matter of months ago that Rocky Horror was at the Playhouse.

But in reality that was Christmas 2024, and now Richard O’Brien’s timeless shlocky horror juggernaut has rolled back into town again (fresh from a New Zealand sojourn), returning to its usual Liverpool Empire stamping ground with a mixture of a few familiar and lots of fresh faces among the cast.

Two years ago, Jason Donovan appeared in a handful of shows before handing over to the inestimable Stephen Webb. This time Liverpool audiences get him for the whole, albeit much shorter, run. And if anything, his louche, reptilian Frank N Furter has become even more dissolute, dishevelled, dirty and deranged in the interim. As well as oddly detached and distracted at times too.

Some things remain reassuringly the same though. Director Christopher Luscombe continues to captain the good ship Rocky as he has done for two decades, and Sue Blane, who dressed the original 1973 production, is behind the riot of camp, sparkly costumes.

Another now familiar sight is Hugh Durrant’s gothic lodge-style set, topped by a celluloid curl - a nod to O’Brien’s 50s B-movie inspiration and behind which nestles a bombastic live band blasting out the show’s sing-along tunes at ear-splitting levels which sometimes threaten to overwhelm the vocals.

In addition to Donovan, Morgan Jackson returns as a winsome, troubled, muscly Rocky, Frank N Furter’s ‘monster’, and Haley Flaherty reprises her role as Janet which she also played here at the Empire in 2009. At least, she’s due to – she was ‘indisposed’ on opening night with understudy Lucy Aiston stepping into her shoes. Meanwhile Jesse Chidera deputised for Ryan Carter-Wilson was also MIA as Riff Raff.

It meant the ensemble of Phantoms and dancers was slightly depleted as a result.

Above: The cast of the Rocky Horror Show. Top: Jason Donovan as Frank N Furter.

Meanwhile among the newbies (to Liverpool at least), James Bisp – a Buddy Holly-a-like geeky Brad – sings beautifully while Daisy Steere is a perky pocket rocket as the lovelorn Columbia. Laura Bird brought great clarity to her Usherette prologue and epilogue, but her Magenta doesn't really get the stage time she deserves.

While behind the scenes it’s had to become a well-oiled professional machine to survive and thrive for half-a-century, on stage much of the enduring charm of Rocky Horror lies in the sense of lo-fi, homespun larkiness it has retained from its early outings. It’s a joyous, irreverent, provocative cheese dream.

But there were some occasions on opening night, particularly in the protracted laboratory scenes of the first half, where the storytelling felt less larky and more a bit scrappy.

Still, it remains a theatrical spectacle, and any dip of storytelling focus on stage didn’t seem to dampen the spirits in the Empire's cavernous auditorium where everyone was having lots of fun.

Above: Doing The Time Warp.

Just as with panto, Rocky Horror needs audience participation and collusion to really make it zing.

And the busy Bank Holiday Monday night crowd, an excited, excitable riot of fishnets, sequinned hats and ringmaster jackets, green scrubs and faux pearls, basques and cloaks and lab coats and, for the really brave - such as the bloke who emerged from the gents as I passed – pleather shorts and not much else, were more than up for fulfilling their side of the contract.

They were also up on their feet early on for a raucous Time Warp, while there were plenty of lights both over at the Frankenstein place and in the stalls, with Empire staff in the aisles keeping a close eye to make sure it was lights, no cameras, action.

It’s down to the Narrator to wrangle the adrenaline and alcohol-fuelled shout outs and fourth wall-breaking banter, and Jackie Clune proved a calmly impervious wielder of the big Rocky Horror book.

While she inevitably has an arsenal of ready-honed retorts to the traditional Rocky audience to-and-fro (Donald Trump and Nigel Farage both got a mention), with a background as a stand-up comedian as well as actor, she’s also able to react and respond on the hoof, and her calm, sardonic, feminist-friendly ripostes landed perfectly.