Well, I guess I should finally get around to this ... yet another scathing review of Rocky, as seen from the eyes of this one fan. After visiting T.H.E.M. at River Oaks last week, I was really anxious to see an awesome show back at the more familiar haunts of Southpoint's Sadistic Pleasures. Big mistake.
The mistakes started early and lasted wayyyyy too long. I'm referring to the preshow this time. Ever seen a car wreck that was so bad, your first reaction was awe and amazement that you could witness something so awful? You point and maybe even laugh, not knowing the victims, befitting a real cruel streak within you that maybe even you didn't realize. Then it turns to sheer horror as you realize how truly traumatic the events are. Then you just want to go somewhere and cry. That was what it was like watching Barry doing preshow. The first instinct from the heckling corner of the theater is to barrage insults and heckles towards any preshow victim. Barry was no different. Yet, somehow, it went downhill for Barry ... fast. First off, he was reading from a script. A SCRIPT!!! Yeah, nothing says spontaneous fun and merriment like reading from a f$%*#'n script. Brilliant move there. Secondly, Barry has neither the voice to carry the theater ... nor did he opt for the headset mic. BIG mistake. He was easily drowned out by the heckling quadrant of the show, then he was upstaged by others in the audience, then by Carlos, and then (the ultimate indignity) by one of the virgins he decided to single out. To even further compound matters, Barry goes for the cheap applause line of "Welcome to the Rocky Horror Picture Show" ... TWICE. You know you're sinking when you have to go to the same well again for a lifeline. Normally I like to point out a thing or two that went well anytime I feel compelled to rip into something like this. The only positive I can say here is that ultimately, it ended. Now where do I sign to make sure Barry is permanently barred from doing preshow ever again?
As for the rest of the show, there's actually little to really cover. Clay broke out with his first stint as Riff. He didn't do too badly, but he has no acting ability, at least as demonstrated last night. Steve as Brad, that was a chore to watch. Steve puts forth a lot of effort, but like myself, I'm just not sure he's got the look to play any role convincingly.
The real classic moment of the show was during Frank's "entrance." There wasn't one. Frank was nowhere to be seen during Sweet T, and David, playing Frank, does a kick-ass Sweet T. At first glance, it looked like maybe David was waiting outside the fire exit doors for his entrance, only to have nobody let him in, and when he did get in, it was too late. Upon further investigation, it turns out David was busy getting his makeup put on and dilly-dallied too long. Yeah, its another fine moment of stuff on stage being funnier than the movie. All-in-all, David recovered later in the show and performed one of the most intriguing bedroom scenes with Kassi as Janet. Needless to say, I think they found a position not even in the Kama Sutra.
That's about all there was to report. Maybe next week will be better. The bar has been lowered sufficiently, so its doable.
