‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: (left to right) Amber Gray, Juliette Lewis, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez & Andrew Durand. Photo: Joan Marcus.

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
Book, music & lyrics by Richard O’Brien
Directed by Sam Pinkleton
Through November 29, 2026
Roundabout Theatre Company at Studio 54
254 West 54th Street
https://rockyhorrorshowbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

“Let’s do the Time Warp again!” The beloved cult classic The Rocky Horror Show returns to Broadway for the first time in 26 years. It still bursts with infectious songs and bizarre, lovable characters. Now, Tony and Olivier Award-winning director Sam Pinkleton (Oh, Mary!) reimagines it for a new generation.

Meanwhile, the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, just marked its 50th anniversary. Its legend comes as much from unruly midnight audiences as from Richard O’Brien’s subversive creation. Anyone who attended those screenings (including this reviewer) may feel surprised by this first Broadway revival since 2000. “It’s Live Theater, Not a Movie,” signs warn in the Studio 54 lobby. During the opening number, cast members even hold up signs that read “Don’t Be an A**hole.”

Restrained but divinely decadent new spin

This is not the cult-film free-for-all many remember. No shouted callbacks erupt. No flying props or shadow-cast antics take over. Instead, restraint drives the evening. Even so, the show remains a great deal of fun. Pinkleton delivers a sleeker, more controlled Rocky Horror. He still invites you to do the “Time Warp”…just not as loudly.

Juliette Lewis makes her Broadway debut as Magenta. The Oscar-nominated actress (Cape Fear, “Yellowjackets”) plays the demented domestic servant with a delicious edge. When she sings “Science Fiction Double Feature,” she nearly talks her way through it, and the choice lands beautifully. Her ghoulish glamour sets the tone. Throughout the show, she shifts between a punked-out French maid fantasy and a kooky usherette. As a result, the performance and her look both land somewhere between Siouxsie Sioux and a glam-rock banshee.

Brad & Janet enter a weird & wacky world

Soon, straight-laced couple Brad (Andrew Durand) and Janet (Stephanie Hsu) run into car trouble. They search for a telephone and stumble upon the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Luke Evans). Then, the eerie Riff Raff (Amber Gray), a Nosferatu-style hunchback, answers the door. He pulls them into a world of seduction and self-discovery. With bold contemporary casting, the revival goes further into the weird, the wacky, and the gleefully gender-bending.

Inside, the couple meets a string of eccentrics. Each proves stranger than the last. There is the twitchy Riff Raff, Magenta, and the tap-dancing groupie Columbia. All remain loyal to their flamboyant master. That master, of course, is Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He presides over the chaos with total authority. Soon enough, he unveils his latest creation: Rocky (Josh Rivera), a musclebound creature built for pleasure.

At first, Brad and Janet simply want help. However, the night quickly spirals into sexual awakening, blurred identities, and rising tension. As the castle’s inhabitants draw them deeper inside, the story turns increasingly surreal. Unexpected arrivals shift loyalties. Gradually, something sinister emerges beneath the surface. In the end, the couple plunges far beyond its comfort zone and into a free-fall of anything-goes sexuality and mayhem.

Controlled chaos

Here, director Sam Pinkleton blends genres with confidence. The show feels part creature feature, part alien invasion flick, and part rock ’n’ roll fever dream. He mixes everything into a glitter-drenched, gender-bending fantasia. At the same time, he maintains tight control. His staging favors precision over audience chaos, and it works.

Design elements support that vision. Dot leans into a retro B-movie aesthetic with heightened flair. David I. Reynoso’s costumes carry much of the storytelling. They swing between kitschy excess and sleek glamour. Meanwhile, the staging keeps everything moving at a brisk, almost cinematic pace.

Killer performances

The cast commits fully, and their killer performances drive the night.

Luke Evans commands the stage from his first entrance. His Frank-N-Furter feels as camp as Christmas, yet something sharper lurks underneath. He pushes the role further than Tim Curry’s iconic take while keeping it distinctly authentic. When he launches into “Sweet Transvestite,” he owns the room. He moves with seductive swagger and total confidence. In that moment, he embodies “Don’t dream it, be it” without slipping into caricature.

Andrew Durand grounds Brad with clean-cut sincerity. Even as chaos builds, he keeps the character rooted. Stephanie Hsu brings Janet to life with bright, searching energy. Each shift in her performance registers clearly, and her powerful vocals soar with glee.

Amber Gray delivers a striking Riff Raff. She pairs eerie physicality with a surprisingly beautiful voice. Meanwhile, Juliette Lewis continues to haunt the edges of scenes. Her watchful, conspiratorial presence adds unpredictability.

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez reshapes Columbia into something more grounded. She strips away the “cutesy” edges and finds a quieter strength. Josh Rivera plays Rocky with playful charm rather than brute force, which adds warmth. Finally, Rachel Dratch anchors the evening as narrator. Her droll delivery and winking irony keep the show self-aware without slowing it down.

Sinful splendor

Ultimately, this Rocky Horror feels more restrained than its midnight-movie counterpart. Still, it remains wildly entertaining. Sam Pinkleton celebrates liberation and self-expression, even as he asks audiences to behave just a bit better. The result is a decadent delight, and an evening of sinful splendor for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Published May 3, 2026
Reviewed at press performance on May 1, 2026.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: (left to right) Juliette Lewis, Andrew Durand, Stephanie Hsu & Amber Gray. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: (left to right) Larkin Reilly, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Durand & Caleb Quezon. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: Luke Evans & Josh Rivera. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: Luke Evans. Photo: Sarah Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: Rachel Dratch. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’: (left to right) Stephanie Hsu, Harvey Guillen & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.Ha

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‘OH, MARY!’ Cole Escola. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

OH, MARY!
By Cole Escola
Directed by Sam Pinkleton
Through January 3, 2027
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 49^th Street
https://www.ohmaryplay.com/

By Scott Harrah

Don’t go to Oh, Mary! expecting an historically accurate portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln. Do go if you want to see Broadway’s funniest show in many years. The show recently transferred to the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway after a sold-out run downtown at the Lucille Lortel. Original comedies are almost unheard of on Broadway nowadays, and no one ever thought we would get one that’s consistently hysterical from start to finish.

Cole Escola wrote Oh, Mary! and stars as Mary Todd Lincoln in a show that is like a very raunchy, family-unfriendly extended skit from TV’s “Carol Burnette Show” with shades of humor similar to the absurdist gender-bending genius Charles Busch and his many farcical shows. However, Cole Escola has a unique comic style all their own, from their manic energy to the endless pratfalls and exaggerated facial expressions.

There’s not much a reviewer can tell you about the show without giving away all the crazy comic twists but here’s the basic premise in this totally unauthorized, inaccurate “historical” bio-comedy: Mary Todd Lincoln is an alcoholic diva who will do anything for booze. She tries hiding it and her husband, President Abraham Lincoln (Conrad Ricamora), goes to great lengths to keep her away from the bottle but is always unsuccessful. The president is watching the Civil War wind down and is worried that news of Mary being a boozer will damage his already fragile public image, but he has a scandalous secret of his own: He’s gay and has the hots for his assistant, Kyle (Tony Macht).

Mary is also at odds with her friend and chaperone, Louise (Bianca Leigh). Mary insists she is a cabaret star and her time would be better spent working the cabaret circuit around the country rather than sitting around bored, being First Lady of the United States in the White House.  The humor is tasteless, silly, stupid and completely juvenile, and that’s what makes Oh, Mary! so much fun. From Mary desperately drinking paint thinner when she can’t find her booze to puking in a bucket, Cole Escola’s comedic sensibility is shamelessly lowbrow, in the same way that early John Waters films were vile, gross, inane but also hysterical. Everything is done for cheap laughs here—and it always works.

To humor Mary’s dreams of being in show business, Abe hires a handsome young acting teacher (James Scully) to teach Mary how to act in classic Shakespearean dramas. Mary reacts like a spoiled brat of a child, insisting the Bard is beneath her and she’s much more suited to wearing showgirl costumes in a ridiculous cabaret act.

This reviewer will not give any more of the story away, but of course we all know how the story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln ends on that fateful night at Ford’s Theater in Washington. Or do we?

Director Sam Pinkerton gets outstanding performances from the entire cast and manages to keep all the insanity together for 80 glorious minutes. Conrad Ricamora as “Mary’s husband” (as he is listed in the Playbill) gives a gleefully goofy portrayal of Abraham Lincoln as a horny closeted gay man, and his performance shows what great range he has as an actor considering that, last year, he played Philippine senator Ninoy Aquino in Here Lies Love on Broadway. Bianca Leigh, Tony Macht and James Scully are all marvelous supporting players. Cole Escola as Mary is simply brilliant, a true master of the absurd. Cole Escola is Broadway’s newest, most original gender-fluid clown, and they have set a new high standard for comedy in the American theater.

2024 is year when most Americans have little to bring us joy and something so absurd and mirthful that it makes us guffaw and howl with delight. Oh, Mary! is a gift to a troubled city and a deeply divided nation in need of genuine laughs.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 11, 2024
Reviewed at July 9, 2024 press performance

‘OH, MARY!’: (left to right) Tony Macht, Cole Escola, Conrad Ricamora & Bianca Leigh. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘OH, MARY!’: Cole Escola & Bianca Leigh. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘OH, MARY!’: Cole Escola & James Scully. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

‘OH, MARY!’: Cole Escola & Conrad Ricamora. Photo: Emilio Madrid.

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