Let's do the Time Warp Again (and Again, and Again...)

There are very few musical productions that have made as great a lasting impression on me as Richard O’Brien’s 1973 sci-fi comedy The Rocky Horror Show. I can’t remember exactly when I first saw its 1975 film adaptation at a movie house in Cincinnati, but it was long before I knew it was based on a musical stage play. It was usually shown around midnight at one of those art movie houses that played foreign or indie or, well, slightly porn movies like I Am Curious (Yellow).

What made Rocky Horror stand out and solidify its position as a cult classic was the fact that somehow, audiences all across the universe knew every line and created responses yelling at the screen—which evolved into not just speaking the responses, but acting them out. People brought props to interact with specific scenes: throwing toast when the transvestite antihero proposes “a toast,” rice during the wedding scene, water from squirt guns during a rain storm, and so on…

Iron Crow Theatre continues the irreverent madness to this day. They’ve devoted at least one outing per season to their interpretation of the “Timeless” script (get it? Timeless? “Time Warp”? Again? oh, never mind… guess you had to be there.) What they manage to do each year is somehow reinvent the story tied to a season, or a holiday, or in this case Pride Month, with sets and costumes that reflect that year’s theme. I’ve seen this production many times, even played Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter AND the Narrator in a couple of outings, but every time, the show seems just as new and relevant as the year before.

With this year’s Pride theme, the production seems incredibly timely. Iron Crow Theatre exhibits its Pride 365 days a year by being known as Baltimore’s Queer Theatre, presenting entertainment that also educates audiences about what ‘Queer’ is to these creatives and why it’s so important to acknowledge.

But why Rocky Horror Show, that hoary old horror story that’s been around for more than 50 years, still as campy as all get out? I’ll tell you—it’s because this story was one of the first to develop cult status due largely to the weirdly wonderful wackos who formed the midnight audience, a good many of whom were and are Gay and those who we would just call ‘Queer’ these days—Gay, Straight, and every permutation in between.

They found a hilarious comfort in Tim Curry’s original pansexual, anti-hero, murderous drag queen, Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter, and his merry band of devotees. Iron Crow celebrates Queers unapologetically, gleefully, and you can’t find a better example of the genre than their version of Rocky Horror Show this year, during their “Season of Transgression.” But let’s put all that philosophical stuff aside for a minute and let me give you the skinny on the show.

Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, two normal kids somewhere in the Midwest, are on a road trip to visit an old professor friend. On the way, they are caught in a rain storm and their car breaks down. So they set off on foot to find a telephone (it’s the 70s, hons: no cell phones.) What they stumble on is a spooky castle, inhabited by a scary bunch of servants to a crazy transvestite, Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter.

Well, it seems the demented doctor has been busy making a real live man (if you don’t get the Frankenstein reference here I really can’t help you.) Once the creation is live, the evening kinda becomes an orgy of sex and seduction, with a dose of betrayal thrown in just to keep the storyline going. Hey, nobody said this was Shakespeare. Anyway, it turns out the Doc and his two best honchos are aliens. Cliché warning: hijinks ensue.

Every year Iron Crow reinvents this production but this year’s version is my favorite so far. Director (and Artistic Director of the theatre company) Sean Elias has once again shown his excellent ability to put together a crack team of pros on the tech side. The slickly appropriate set designs of Bruce Kapplin giving off white marble vibes with swooping bolts of perfectly draped sheer curtains framing the set are a perfect backdrop for the action on stage.

Thomas P. Gardner’s innovative lighting schemes have lots of bells and whistles this time around, with lasers and flashes and color bursts, oh my! Stacey Stephens has created some of the most creative costumes I’ve seen lately, blending a Roman Emperor vibe with lots of shiny 21st century materials.

Arthur Cuadros’ choreography suits the music to a T and the company does a rousing rendition of the classic “Time Warp” (does the reference earlier make sense now? no?) with enthusiasm and panache. Michelle Henning’s musical direction keeps the beat with her tight band and the excellent vocals from the cast.

Jack Taylor as Brad Majors and Kristen Stickley as Janet Weiss are the perfectly clueless couple of ‘nice kids’ out for an evening’s adventure, and they both are excellent in their parts. That Ms. Stickley has a Broadway belt to be reckoned with! Mr. Taylor’s vocals throughout are excellent, particularly when he sings his plaintive lament towards the end of the second act. The other powerful vocalists on board are the three Usherettes, Cera Baker, Brooke Donald, and Kiley Ernest—each of them full of energy and big voices.

But the star of the evening is the deliciously deviant Nicholas Miles as Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter. This Queen towers over the production, strutting and striding through the castle with the sureness of an emperor, seducing the guests, basically boinking anyone and everyone that catches their eye. Perfection, honey, perfection. RuPaul would love it.

All jokes aside, as the director writes in his liner notes, “In 2025, 16 states have introduced or passed legislation targeting drag performance and public expressions of gender identity…formally codifying the erasure of queer expression.” That is some scary stuff. And it is exactly why we need companies like Iron Crow and productions like The Rocky Horror Show. Because we’re here, we’re Queer, and we ain’t taking this assault on our lives without raising our voices with productions like this one to tell them exactly what they can do with their censorious edicts.

The Rocky Horror Show runs until June 29th at The Theatre Project, 45 West Preston Street. Tickets are available for purchase online.