by Jessica Yates
The Dysk was, inevitably, packed with an audience trembling with anticipation. Many of us had seen the original Rocky Horror Show on stage or film and had certain expectations, some of which would be fulfilled, others completely overturned. Convention members had all received the invitation to take part and we knew that the final cast had prepared their roles in isolation, only meeting for an intensive four days of rehearsal at the Convention itself. The regulars of the Reduced Discworld Company are used to performing Terry’s works as plays, so a musical with dance moves would be a new challenge! However, the professionalism of the cast and backstage team produced a triumphant hour of magic and won Terry’s acclaim.
From the start, when the Vampire Candy Girl crooned Science Fiction/Double Feature in her sweet dumb blonde voice, we knew it would be all right. Then Tim and Jacqui as Carrot/Brad and Angua/Janet – two experienced performers in great City Watch costumes, did their proposal scene. Pat Harkin appeared as Narrator, and you could not expect the audience, in a show which invites heckling, to forgo the occasional quack!
They somehow travelled to a mysterious castle, shown on the screen, and soon Igor/Riff Raff appeared. John Hicks was suitably grotesque and introduced the Time Warp for which a third of the audience were already on their feet for dancing. Next came the big reveal. We knew from the special booklet that Vetinari would play Frank N Furter but the big surprise was Richard Atha-Nicholls coming on with the beard and moustache looking just like the drawings and very like Briggsy himself. Vetinari first wore a cloak, but gradually the well-known costume was revealed, to screams! He then performed Sweet Ubervestite with his backing group, while Carrot and Angua looked suitably bemused.
Next came the unveiling of Rocky. I, and presumably some of the audience, were expecting to see a handsome body-builder. However his name was Rocky so of course he had to be a troll and his song was therefore Club of Damocles. Good costume and worn with panache by Mark Burilin!
About now we had some exposition about how Carrot, Angua and Vetinari had fallen through a dimensional warp, and the wizards were asked to get them back, all recounted by Pat Harkin who produced a duck-quacking device to deal with the hecklers. Death (Tony Perkins) made his appearance to sing Hot Patootie, with BORN TO RUNE on the back of his cloak.
Somehow Ridcully appeared in the castle, somehow he got the missing folk back to their own world. After several more songs adapted from the score and all too soon the show was over with the finale Don’t Dream It. Then there was a rousing Time Warp which had everyone on their feet to Pat’s direction: “It’s just a jump widdershins...” Nobody wanted it to stop, and eventually, after the curtain call, applause and the special thanks to Elizabeth MacMichael, John Hicks’ writer and co-director, we let the cast retire and all went to the bar. We then found that Richard was so pleased with his outfit that he came out into the bar wearing still in costume, and posed for photos alongside Briggsy!
Members of the convention all received a special programme for the show listing all the cast and crew, with the story of how the show came to be, and so I end with the words on the back cover “If you missed it – you missed out.”
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