Vail Theatre Company presents ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ for Halloween

The Vail Valley Theatre Company is excited to bring back a classic for the Halloween season. Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show” will be performed Thursday-Saturday at the Cascade Theater at Grand Hyatt Vail. The Vail Valley Theatre Company produced the show three times to sellout crowds in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The musical is accompanied by a full live band and audience participation and costumes are encouraged. Goodie bags filled with all necessary audience participation items will be available for sale at the venue before the each show.

The plot follows a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet, and how they get caught in a storm, which brings them to the house of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, who unveils his new creation, Rocky, a sort of Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man.

The cast is comprised of some of the actors who performed the show in 2010-2012 and some cast members are newcomers to this production.

“I’m glad to be back but very excited to play a different role because it presents a different challenge for me. There’s work to do; if I were playing Frank again, I’m so familiar with that role that there wouldn’t be any discovery. I’m also excited about a new generation taking on this show culturally and counter-culturally,” said Lance Schober, who will play the part of Riff Raff.

“Playing Janet in “The Rocky Horror Show” is a thrill, but the real honor is sharing this experience with such a vibrant mix of local talent,” said Michelle Cohn-Levy. “Some of us perform professionally, and others are just beginning their journey. In the midst of life’s demands, we’ve carved out time to create something strange, beautiful and deeply communal.”

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“The Rocky Horror Show” is celebrating its 52nd anniversary since it took the stage at the Royal Court Theater for the very first showing in London on June 19, 1973. The film version, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and the musical appeared on Broadway 50 years ago, as well.

“This show is extra special as this year is the 50th anniversary of the iconic film and we’re pulling out all the stops to celebrate,” said Martin Martucci, who plays Phantom. “You’ll get the complete Rocky Horror experience with all the infamous audience participation elements including bags of props to use during the show and a fun pre-show game for the uninitiated, whom we in the Rocky Horror community refer to as “virgins.” We strongly encourage shouting out your favorite callbacks and showing up in costume for our contemporary celebration of the cult classic.”

Production manager Sandy Apps is not only excited to work on this show but to also be back in this venue. The Cascade Theater has had many cycles of vacancy.

“I personally wanted to work on the show because I was obsessed with the challenge of performing in the Cascade Theater and had been working on finding a way to do it for the last two years. It finally became a reality, and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring this abandoned theatre back to life,” Apps said. “We chose to do ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ because of the huge interest we had three years ago when we could not get the rights. Many of those actors still really wanted to do it and the time felt right after three years of doing Halloween revues. It’s time to celebrate!”

“Rocky Horror is a show where everyone is welcome to come as they are and explore the elusive ingredients of life (& death!),” said Blake Novy, who plays Frank-N-Furter.

Come dance and sing along to “Dammit Janet,” “Sweet Transvestite” and get ready to do the “Time Warp” with the cast. Tickets are going fast, and these shows will take place Wednesday-Saturday at the Cascade Theater at Grand Hyatt Vail. For showtimes, ticket prices and more information, go to VailTheatre.org.