Still, is the tourist trade ready for a number called "Big Black Man"? "Well, clearly they are," says Yazbek, "because whether it was in San Diego with a conservative blue-haired audience or here, the first time [Andre De Shields] sings that line, there's this wild round of applause and laughter, so much so that you can't hear the whole next verse. Which drives me crazy, but I'd rather get the laugh." One cast member, though, views success with some trepidation: John Ellison Conlee, who, in the role of the hefty best friend, has to retain his girth while getting an aerobic workout eight times a week. "I don't anticipate having any real trouble," the actor jokes, "but wouldn't that be the ultimate drag irony? To get the best job I've ever had in my life and then get fired because I've lost too much weight?"
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW - Opening date: Nov. 15
Christopher Ashley, the director of The Rocky Horror Show, has a problem. "When the play and the film came out in the early '70s, a guy putting on a dress was really cutting edge. [Three decades]later, how many times have you seen RuPaul on network television?"
What's the way out of this time warp? Cast a bizarro mix of rock stars (Joan Jett as Columbia), ex-talk show hosts (Dick Cavett as the Narrator), stage musical up-and-comers (Tom Hewitt as that sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania, Frank 'N' Furter), and vets (Rent's Daphne Rubin-Vega as Magenta; On the Town's Lea DeLaria in the old Meat Loaf role). Get a fancy architect like David Rockwell to do the sets. And put the whole happy mess in Broadway's snug Circle in the Square Theatre, where audience interaction is damn near unavoidable.
Acolytes of the 1975 Tim Curry cult film should be advised, though: Throwing rice could bring a dancer down. "We're [also]trying to discourage water pistols," cautions Ashley, "because they short out the mikes." So what can you do? "For the hardcore fans, there's about 40 props," says the director of the $3.5 million show. And, failing that, you can always cozy up to Cavett, whose narrator's perch is right down in the seats. Says the actor, "People can hand me notes and ask me what does the play mean, and have you gotten laid much yet, Dick? And you didn't hear it from me, but I am going to sneak my moonwalk in some night."
