HOT PATOOTIE, BLESS MY SOUL,
I REALLY LOVE THIS ROCKY SHOW
If you’re a veteran fan of the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ray of Light‘s production at the ever-fabulous Oasis Nightclub takes it not so much to another level as another dimension. If you’re a virgin (at least if only a virgin to the Rocky Horror phenomenon), worry not; you’ll discover the customs of audience participation. It might feel a bit like your first yoga class — where everyone knows the poses — but you’ll soon be shouting with the rest of the crowd, “asshole” for the groom Brad and “slut” for his bride, Janet.
Ray of Light’s annual immersive production is anything but “rocky” — it’s smoothly and flawlessly executed — or “horror” — it’s not bloody or scary. Jason Hoover’s frolicking direction takes adaptation and originality to new levels of format and script. You get something of the story with lots of songs, top-notch performers, great lights by Sophia Craven, sets (uncredited), and, yes, some video by Richard Neveusome, including original work by Ray of Light that adds to the dramatic plot rather than just snippets of the original film (some of the projected images by Pseuda could enhance any number of psychedelic experiences — so I’m told). Ray of Light has offered other sensational adaptations of films with The Full Monty, Cruel Intenns, Kinky Boots, and, most recently, Legally Blonde at The Victoria Theatre, but this one is intimate and immersive.
Your performance has three sections. Stage one begins while you are still in line. Characters from the show come outside and perform as you wait. It’s your first hint at how sensational are Daniel Harvey’s costumes and Laundra Tyme‘s wigs. You are part of the show as you are handed a glare of glowsticks and batches of bubbles — you’ll blow and glow later. You’ll see performers up close in the immersive experience inside, but here you see them in the daylight (the show starts at 7pm). It alternately creeped me out, shocked me, turned me on, and impressed me to have one of them stare so long into my eyes.
Stage two is the cozy bar area in the front of Oasis, where you meet the lead characters. You’ll probably recall the basics from when you’ve the film (or maybe that’s a bit of a blur from what you drank/took beforehand). The story loosely centers on a cross-dressing mad scientist from another planet, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, (Oasis owner and San Francisco drag legend D’Arcy Drollinger), a “Sweet Transvestite from Transexual Transylvania” (the term “transvestite” hasn’t been reclaimed like “queer” — but don’t be offended; it simply means a person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the other sex).
Frank-N-Furter creates a perfect artificial man named Rocky (humpy Kipp Glass), complete with blond hair and a tan. Meanwhile, to escape from a thunderstorm, a young seemingly happy hetero couple, Brad (Julio Chavez) and Janet (Lisa Frankenstein), who are driving home when their car poops out, find shelter in an old castle-like mansion in the distance, providentially occupied by the doctor and his minions. From then on it’s everybody for themselves as the characters go through a high energy entertainment of vocalizing (music director/arranger Ben Prince) and hoofing (choreography by Dane Andres). After a few songs in the bar, you meet Ryan Patrick Welsh, who shines as our narrator. You’re off to a fun start. And, with any luck, you’ll get these singing performers right next to you. And, already, here’s your chance to blow and glow.
From here, you head into the larger Oasis performance space for the two-act musical (with intermission). It is here we meet our host Frank-N-Furter, his minions (Snaxx as Columbia, trixxie as Magenta, Joe Greene as Riff Raff), and Rocky, the blond-ish hunk brought to life a la Frankenstein. The production gleefully leaps off the exact narrative and dialogue.
At one point, looking for Janet and Rocky, a sleuthing Frank-N-Furter — with the help of CCTV — discovers Janet and Rocky via a projected film clip hooking up. A used condom is discovered, held at some distance with his hand, like examining the color of some fine wine. The contents are then treated like a fine wine. Every time you look at the stage or the performers all around you, they sparkle and work off each other — kind of like scripted improv.
The plotting eventually gives way to a series of elaborately staged performances, including one with a performer surrounded by bands of fabric stretching in all directions. Whichever the room, and whether you’re watching a traditional stage or taking in dialogue from those surrounding you, you see and hear great performers. It’s what makes Ray of Light and Oasis such a gift to the Bay Area.
One final bonus over every Rocky in a movie theater: there are great specialty mixed cocktails. However, if you’ve just had a flu shot with a COVID-booster chaser like yours truly, the mocktails are great, too.
photos by Nicole Fraser-Herron
The Rocky Horror Show
Ray of Light Theatre and Oasis
Oasis Nightclub, 298 11th St. in San Francisco
Thurs-Sat at 7
ends on November 2, 2024
for tickets ($50.15-$106.53, incl. fees), visit Ray of Light