Promotional Photo

Rocky Horror calls for agility in high heels

Rocky Horror Show
Playhouse on the Green, 177 State St., Bridgeport. Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 8 p.m. & midnight through Nov. 14.
$26-$29. (203) 366-4647, www.playhouseonthegreen.org

As the wind whips leaves around McLevy Green, an encore production of the campy, vampy Rocky Horror Show is heating up the Playhouse on the Green across the street. Richard O'Brien's sex-charged cult favorite, which the Playhouse first presented last year, opened a new 12-show run with a standing ovation.

The spirited cast flashed plenty of flesh as they presented an encounter between straitlaced couple Brad and Janet and the debauched Dr. Frank N. Furter and his entourage. The cast's spunkiness, combined with the spontaneity of the audience, a few of whom dressed in costume, made for a memorable evening.

As nerdy Brad, Brian Michael Riley portrayed the character's tepid sexuality with spastic slapstick movements that owed more to the herky-jerky Kramer from Seinfeld than the low-key portrayal by Barry Bostwick in the famed film version. Jessica Ferraday's Janet channeled the conflict between her character's wild side and her position as a square bride-to-be.

Jim Nassef captured the inflections of Frank N. Furter, as minted by Tim Curry in the movie. Bubbling over with tension and queen-ish drama, he pursued his playthings like a lovestruck hippo. As he tried to throw his arms around a fleeing Rocky (Kevin Thompson), Nassef showed great agility on high heels, leaping off the stage and chasing his studly creation around the theater.

The narrator was superbly played by Nigel Victor Rees. During the "Time Warp," when many in the audience instinctively stood up and danced, Rees' bemused moves were hilarious.

Give the Playhouse a tip of the hat for having a live band perform the score (and for serving a mixture of peach schnapps, tequila and grapefruit and cranberry juices called a "Time Warp on the Rockys" at the bar during intermission). Keyboardist Roger Twerion played creepy liquid lines during apt lapses in the dialogue and the rest of the group, led by drummer and musical director Timothy Heavner, ably fueled the fun.

Guitarist Jim DeVivo, standing astride the mixing board in the balcony, opened the second act with a rousing slide blues solo. He also contributed spacey atmospherics during the rest of the act, in which wheelchair-bound scientist Dr. Scott, played with comic aplomb by C. Papsidera, enters the play and Rocky Horror turns into a sci-fi send up performed to a doo-wop beat.

Renee Kaminsky was appropriately ditzy as Columbia, Frank's live-in groupie. Melinda Zupaniotis, playing the maid Magenta, showed off the evening's best pipes, adding some gospel-like embellishments. (She also plays the popcorn girl who opens the show with "Science Fiction/Double Feature.") Rob Nichols presented Riff Raff, Frank's rebellious assistant, as a menace to friend and foe alike.

For some cast members, the singing morphed into screaming, but the harmonies blended well in bigger production numbers, like "The Charles Atlas Song" and "I'm Going Home."

During "The Floor Show," the cast, dressed like strippers in corsets, halter tops, fishnets and scanty panties, executed dance moves with precision. Oddly, Riley, as Brad, did some of his best high-stepping with high heels on. All the actors seemed to enjoy choreography that called for them to lick their lips, grope each other and simulate fellatio and intercourse.

The audience and cast engaged in exuberant interplay throughout the show as pauses from the stage left room for one-liners from the peanut gallery. When Frank delivered the line, "There's no evil in giving yourself over to pleasure," one of the louder attendants retorted, "There is in Connecticut!," eliciting laughs. Yet on that night, in that place, she was wrong.