Review: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, Glasgow Pavilion

One of the most beloved musicals of all time, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is celebrating its 50th anniversary with this UK tour.

Squeaky clean teenagers Brad (Richard Meek) and Janet (Haley Flaherty) are newly engaged and heading home from a friend's wedding when the weather turns. Their tyre blows, leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere so they head to the creepy castle they passed a few miles back to see if they can use their telephone.

Things are even weirder than they anticipated in this strange house. Greeted by Riff Raff (Kristian Lavercombe), Columbia (Darcy Finden) and Magenta (Suzie McAdam), Brad and Janet try to make a quick escape before the master of the house arrives. Cue the entrance for "Sweet Transvestite" Frank N Furter (Stephen Webb) who is not like anyone the couple have ever encountered...

A lot of the fun in Rocky Horror comes from the audience participation. If you're new to the live show you might wonder why audience members are shouting obscenities at the cast but these cues have been perfected over the years. The audience at this performance were a little more subdued than usual (though it was a Tuesday) and there were fewer costumes than you would expect to see at a performance of Rocky Horror but several audience members in the stalls were giving it their all with the heckles.

The whole cast is superb but Joe McFadden is particularly excellent, taking on the role of the narrator. Bringing a bit of cheeky charm to proceedings, McFadden is more than ready for those heckles and has impeccable timing for comebacks.

The music in Rocky Horror is iconic and highlights include "Time Warp"; "Dammit, Janet" and "Hot Patootie- Bless My Soul". It's all an awful lot of fun and more than proves why The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been going strong for over fifty years. 

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