u/Mattmainframe

I am a complete newbie to Rocky horror, as the title suggests. I know the characters, I know some songs, but I haven’t seen the entire thing until just yesterday. And holy shit I need to go back. This was one of the Funnest shows I’ve ever seen on broadway (aside from operation mincemeat of course) and it left me wanting MORE of this show. The set was gorgeous, the lighting was fun and impressive, the crowd was vibing with it and I really need to go back before Luke Evans leaves especially because he was GOOD. Let’s actually talk about the performances, shall we?

Who I labeled as “company MVP”, aka my two favorite performances

Andrew Durand as Brad Majors: I FINALLY SAW ANDREW PERFORM! MY LIFE IS FINALLY COMPLETE! Unfortunately, I missed him in Dead outlaw, and I missed him in little shop of horrors— but I wasn’t going to miss him a third time. I thought he was a very strong performer in this show, and really took the role and played it wonderfully, and maybe better than what I’ve seen of Barry Bostwick. I already know we’re not going to get a cast album for the show, but I need them to release a recording of Andrew singing once in a while, which is my favorite song in the show.

Luke Evans as Doctor Frank n Furter: I mean duh. This was the very first time that I had ever seen anything of Luke Evans as Frank, and safe to say that I was not disappointed. In fact, I was extremely impressed by Evans’s performance and voice. Also screaming “say it” at him while he kept teasing the audience on about it is so much fun. Again, I really need to get back there to see him one last time. The costuming was also absolutely brilliant, and I was terrified by the fact that he was so tall in those heels. It was a fantastic cast all around, and honestly I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

My only complaint about the show is that it was short and I need more. I think act one was around 45 minutes tops, I believe? I said to myself after act one ended, “that’s it?” Because I thought there’d be more. But I wasn’t disappointed by act two. In fact, I was very impressed. I’m also really sad that we won’t get a cast album for this show. I need recordings of Sherie Renee Scotts science fiction double feature and Andrew Durand’s once in a while IMMEDIATELY. GIVE THEM TO ME NOW.

I think I might also need to go to an evening show, since I went to a matinee and the audience was honestly a little bit dead. The actors paused a lot kinda waiting for callbacks, and it made me a little sad that they were waiting and didn’t get anything back. There were definitely a lot of callbacks at my performance, but I need more of them. I need to go to a more active performance.

But overall, I’m extremely happy that the show got extended again, because that means I’ll definitely be back at studio 54 very soon!

My second Robert show so far, and I finally collected my thoughts to write a personal analysis of his performance— as someone who is very deep into analyzing similarities in actors’s performances.

Honestly I think he’s a bit like David, but more anxious and jumpy. Like he’s about to crack under the smallest amount of pressure. Act two especially, he’s practically shaking in every scene. He’s really done his homework with the role and you can tell what he’s taken from those who’ve come before him and what he himself added to the character.

He’s also quite dorky. It’s a bit leaning into Seymour Krelborn territory, which makes sense considering Robert played him in the past but we’re talking stereotypically nerdy. Hunched shoulders, heavy breathing, very aggressive glasses cleaning (at my performance, he was using his breath and his tie to clean his glasses. Unsure if that’s like odd to say but you get it), he’s jumpy too! During Spilsbury part in MAM (which was wildly unhinged by the way, Jeff finally found his groove of the gut wrenching tragic and the insanely trippy) he jumped into Julia’s arms. He’s a weirdo in the best way possible and I honestly love his choices.

He’s a hodgepodge of the new and the old with his own twist on the traditional character choices that make Charles…well Charles! Overall really fun performance of the role, can’t wait to see what he does next.

TLDR? Arizlie is awesome and I love him to bits. Also really fun highlight is that Julia knocked his glasses off! It was hilarious and very *very* in character.

Operation Mincemeat round six— May 9th, 2026 matinee show ($35 rush ticket)

Cast: Brandon Contreras (Charles), Julia Knitel (Monty), Jessi Kirtley (Jean), Amanda Jill Robinson (Bevan), Sam Hartley (standby Hester, this was a scheduled date from my knowledge)

It’s been almost 5 months since I saw Sam as Hester; I saw him my very first visit to MI5, and I fell in love with his portrayal of one of my favorite characters. Just last weekend? I finally saw him again after months of waiting for a scheduled date I could go to! I still hold the sentiment that he has one of the best voices I’ve heard live. In my opinion. I haven’t seen Nicholas Christopher or Joshua Henry live yet, so maybe that’ll change once I see them. Whenever that is. But Sam is amazing either way!

I feel like I should also note that this was my first time ever sitting in the center orchestra! For any show! I got there pretty early (at around 8:20) and was the fifth person in the rush line. I was sat in the back, row P to be specific but it was still a fantastic view of the stage. I find it cool that I’ve sat almost everywhere in the golden theatre. All I need is to sit in the front mezz and the right side orchestra! That’s neat! I’ve found it really easy to rush Mincemeat, and on a Saturday too; I was surprised how easy it was. There isn’t a big line like the shows next to it (BVSC and The outsiders) which is good for me because the amount of people at those lines— or more specifically the outsiders is terrifying. Someone had a whole ass TENT over there. Insane.

This was a dream combo for me- Sam, Amanda, Brandon and Jessi, with Julia on top to round off the perfect cast combo. I saw Sam with Jessi my first time seeing the show and him. I loved their chemistry together and I still do, because it’s so fun! Useful got me in my feels once again, but obviously so did that dear bill. Let’s talk about that, shall we?

The obligatory dear bill section of this post

This man came firing on all cylinders with his dear bill, the vibrato, the delivery, his high notes? The high notes were gorgeous. Sam himself started to get choked up right around the “and it’s fine, and we’re fine” part of the song if I remember correctly. The only thing that kind of ruined it for me was the people laughing at “that your roses quite frankly were the first thing to go,” another part where Sam was choked up. I never really understood why people feel the need to laugh at that part of dear bill, but that’s just me. His performance of that song is beautiful nevertheless. I felt a little awkward being the only person to give him a standing ovation but that’s just me. I love Sam, okay? He’s my favorite actor and I feel like he deserved it. It was a little embarrassing for me to be the only one standing but it’s fine!

The other highlights

^((I’ll be using she/her when talking about Hester. Mainly because I don’t want it to get confusing when I talk about Sam, and when I talk about the character))

- I forget how giggly his Hester can get. She’s very giggly at times, and her moments of playfulness are always so cute! The stamp line especially was really cute, I love how excited she gets over her very complicated stamps.

- Not related to Sam, but Brandon broke the chalk they needed to write down on the blackboard. This is the first time I’ve seen an audible mishap like this happen, and it was incredibly funny. They stayed in full character during the mistake too, which made the entire thing even funnier.

- Sam’s Willie Watkins and Spilsbury both had a lot of rasp and growling for some reason, and honestly? I dig it. The evolution of his Spilsbury specifically is so fascinating. His runs during that part of making a man are so crisp and clean too! I’m actually in love.

- Her interactions with Jean during both the first scene we see them and useful meant the world to me. I’m not close with the grandmother figure in my life, our relationship is very rocky and I don’t want to get into it. Sam’s Hester is so grandmotherly and warm. So understanding, and poised. I want to give her a hug. A genuine hug. His Hester gives me a lot of comfort, and I find myself thinking about her more than I should.

Did I spend 15-20 minutes on the bus writing a post that’s practically glazing this guy and his performance? Yes. But did I enjoy glazing his performance? Also yes. Sam is a fantastic performer, with a fantastic voice! He deserves his flowers. Roses to be more specific. I don’t know why I feel the need to post every time I see this show, but I do. I feel like people should know my thoughts on it, and any silly mishaps that happened at that specific performance. And hey! Free will!!