DCMusical
The Rocky Horror Show
Dance Place
Monumental Theatre Company
August 25, 2026
PreviewsAug 20, 2026
OpensAug 24, 2026
ClosesSep 6, 2026
Monumental is back with a disruptively fun ride via their novel take on a camp classic.
Book / Music10/ 10
Quality of the script, book, and the music and lyrics
Acting5/ 10
Strength and consistency of performances across the cast
Production9/ 10
Direction, choreography, and technical stagecraft
Viz8/ 10
The marketing, identity, and visual development of the specific production
Intro
When I first saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show put on by a live shadow cast at E Street Cinema (RIP), I didn't quite get it. Everyone had told me going in that the "point" of the film was that it was nonsensical, a "so bad it's good" genre of film. You see, what I didn't get was not the film itself, but how what those people said was remotely true at all. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a masterpiece, full stop. The plot was strange, yes, and the performances are incredibly campy, but it made some semblance of sense to me, especially as the opening number spills all of its influences out in front of you. But despite all the times I've seen the film, I have never seen its original work, The Rocky Horror Show. I couldn't have asked a better group of weirdos to introduce it to me than those at Monumental, who are staging this power trip at Dance Place in Northeast.
Book / Music
The book is perfectly fine. Sue me.
...but I will admit, I can see where people got the idea that it isn't, having witnessed it on stage. For Rocky Horror virgins, firstly, this is a show about newly-engaged couple Brad and Janet trying to find their way out of a rainstorm when their car breaks down, and their attempt at finding a telephone leads them to a mysterious castle full of some peculiar figures, starting with the vampiric Riff Raff. Most notably of the residents is the towering Dr. Frank-n-Furter, a Sweet, humanoid Tranvsestite (that is to say, an alien species by that name) from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. As the warm host he is, he quicky introduces everyone to his latest project, the Frankenstein-esque creation of a tanned, blonde muscle man named Rocky. What happens after this, and why, is anyone's guess: characters happen and situations spring about with reckless, random, abandon. Yet, the film succeeds, if you can say that, by consistently setting its action in a series of proper sequence with a consistent theme, only narratively losing its mind after the introduction of Dr. Scott. The stage version is markedly less clear about what is going on at this stage, but in a way, it makes its nature as a hodgepodge piece of plundervisual media even more heartfelt. Richard O'Brien's show is earnest and unabashed in its influences from 50's B-movies, and somewhere through all the wackiness is a message about self-expression and freeing oneself from the rigid pressures of heteronormative society, and how many have died trying. Oh, yeah, and the score -- that is actually a masterpiece, no irony about it. No matter how you feel about the plot of the piece, O'Brien's score is so insanely catchy, so massively well-composed and lyrically creative, that there's a reason "Time Warp" was a top-30 hit all over the US, Australia, and Europe and continues to be a hit at parties. But even outside of that, the stretch from its glamorous "Science Fiction/Double Feature" opener to "Touch-a..Touch Me" is basically nonstop earworms, including my personal favorite, "Hot Patootie": Whatever did happen to Saturday night?10/10
Acting
Cera Baker is a terrific, must-see narrator, even though she has a normal, very visible neck (something my callback-slinging audience didn't seem to grasp). No matter which characterization she leaned into, it was always intense and commanding, and I loved every second of it. By the end, when she's a drunken hybrid of David Byrne and Act II-of-Cabaret Sally Bowles, you kinda just want her to keep riffing on everyone for the fun of it. Dutifully she reminds the audience what bad words to call our protagonists, Brad "Asshole" Majors (a spunky Oscar Madson) and Janet "Slut" Weiss (Clari Swaggard, in a devilish and taut turn) and exactly how meanly to say it. Madson and Swaggard are themselves delightful everypeople in this madhouse, particularly when they are afforded the opportunity to step all over the score, such as in Janet's ferocious "Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me". Two elements I was less impressed with, however, include arguably two-thirds of the show's entire appeal: a comparatively weak Frank-n-Furter. Christian Montgomery succeeds in the physical presence of the trouncing transvestite, but I found his voice unmatched for the grandeur of the role, an element made up for by over-acting much of the lines. Similarly, Jane Lyons under5/10-develops her spin on Eddie, whose number is one of the more bombastic -- you know, with the motorcycle and blue-collar swagger his character has. But the slower arrangement of this number meant he has less of a firey, rock and roll backdrop to work with, and she leans into this flow more than she tries to stand out from it. The good news is that Lyons makes a funny return as Dr. Scott, looking like an angelic mad scientist who hilariously changes accents like she's a radio being tuned.
Production
In my latest interview with Marika Countouris, who music directed this production, she mentions there being some changes to the experience that longtime fans would notice, including the apparent inclusion of "beats". Act I, for the most part, doesn't really provide on that note: it's par for the course Rocky Horror, which is to say....pretty excellent. The soft rock Carpenters-like sound that pervades through "Science Fiction/Double Feature" is a warm welcome, and the orchestrations retain a loud coziness even through the more erratic numbers such as "Time Warp". There's still a bazillion things happening at once here, such as hilarious projection work from Julian Kelly, sensationally dynamic choreography by Ahmad Maaty, and gorgeous neon costuming from Justin Sosebe. Amazingly, directors Jimmy Mavrikes and Michael Winsdor make the piece feel as crazy as it ever was without it feeling like a retread -- I'm sure the just-right amount of callback toleration helps. Make no mistake, though: the (pretty good!) beats do make an appearance as part of a wildly obtuse second Act, which takes what was already the show's weaker, less comprehensible part and turns it on its head. It gets loud, it gets bubbly, and it gets salacious. Rocky Horror: The Jellicle Ball9/10, anyone?
Visual Identity
While the marketing identity for this production has, from the outside, felt a little generically Hedwig for my taste, I'm pleased to announce the in-space environs evoke a gay dive bar with some pleasant soft rock over the aux. Divine, leather daddies, neon beer signs, and alien green tinsel, check, check, check. It's not quite Rocky Horror as I expect it, but in a way, it feels like you're about to get into a community production of whatever equivalent to Our Town8/10 they have on the planet Transsexual (I can't imagine it's remotely tranquil there as our version is.)
Overall
32/40
