‘Rocky Horror Show’ returns for Halloween, again filling an empty Harvard Square store
Alexander Boyle as Brad and Carly Grayson as Janet meet Peter Mill as Frank N. Furter in 2019’s Moonbox production of “The Rocky Horror Show.” (Photo: Sharman Altshuler)
The production of “The Rocky Horror Show” that came to Harvard Square in 2019 is back beginning Oct. 16 and naturally ending with a show Oct. 31, the night of Halloween.
It’s also back in the former Hidden Sweets shop at 25 Brattle St., known for “Rocky Horror” purposes as “The Lab” – a storefront that has been empty since December 2016, aside from the play’s run in 2019 and a five-month Lululemon popup in 2018.
Richard O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror” began life as a live musical satire of cheesy horror films and celebration of 1974-era sexual liberation, but its long life is more due to a 1975 film production that gained cult status, playing as a midnight flick across the country with elaborate, fan-run live shows and extensive audience interaction. The midnight shows were a staple at the 10 Church St. AMC Loews Harvard Square 5 from 1984 to the cinema’s closing in July 2012; Harvard Square briefly hosted the film and play simultaneously, as the Gold Dust Orphans out of Boston and Provincetown brought a production to Oberon for the three months ending 2011.
This Moonbox Productions version will seem familiar not just in story – repressed Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, just engaged, seek shelter from a rainstorm at the castle of Dr. Frank ’N’ Furter, a transvestite scientist with an insatiable libido and a hot Frankenstein-style monster – but in its cast and crew. It’s again directed by David Lucey and starring Peter Mill as Frank ‘N’ Furter.
Tickets are $35 general admission ($20 for students) with remaining seats available at the box office before each performance on a pay-what-you-can basis. Information is here.
- Read Michele Markarian’s review of Moonbox Productions’ “Rocky Horror Show” from 2019 here.
