Let's do the Time Warp again...at Out Front Theatre!

♪♬ It's just a jump to the left...

And then a step to the right...

With your hands on your hips...

You bring your knees in tight...

But it's the pelvic thrust...

They really drive you insane...

Let's do the Time Warp again!

Let's do the Time Warp again! ♬♪

The Rocky Horror Show | Out Front Theatre | Photo: Brian Wallenberg

Launching its second season, Out Front Theatre is showcasing The Rocky Horror Show, based on the cult musical of 1975, in a way you've never seen...and it's magnificent! I saw their whole first season and was already impressed, but they knocked this one out of the park...out of the galaxy!

I had the great pleasure of attending Opening Night and, by a stroke of good fortune, my friend Matty and I got seats front row center! Second and third row are optimum viewing, but I like feeling like I'm practically on stage...the energy was spellbinding! 

"When The Rocky Horror Show was chosen to be the first show of our season, we knew we were dealing with a performance that people can be fanatical about," says Producing Artistic Director and Founder of Out Front Theatre, Paul Conroy. "We didn't want to rehash the movie, as much as everyone loves it, and we didn't want audiences knowing what to expect when they walked through our doors. With the cast and crew we have working on this show, I can confidently say that not a single audience member will know what has hit them!"

And Paul is right! THIS show, while wholly honoring the film that millions love, delivers laughter inducing surprises, gender twists, and character characteristic reversals...but don't worry. Your attention will not waiver, your eyes and ears will be filled with pleasure, and like me, I'll bet your cheeks hurt by intermission from laughing and smiling so much!

The Rocky Horror Show | Out Front Theatre | Photo: Brian Wallenberg

The callouts from the not-virgin audience members are hilarious! I'd not experienced Rocky Horror in a cinema setting until a few years ago, which was awesome, but seeing the show performed on stage by live actors is fantastic! 

You may have seen in the advertisements that this show is "Complete with sass from the audience!" You too can be part of that sass! 

Grab a bag of props from the concessions stand...1 for $3 or 2 for $5. You'll get toilet paper, a glow stick, a playing card, and more! The audience participation adds a whole other dimension to this "deliberately kitschy rock 'n' roll sci-fi gothic musical!" Your bag has a list of when which prop is to be used and the same list is in your program. Prop away!

The Rocky Horror Show | Out Front Theatre | Photo: Brian Wallenberg

If you're already a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, you're going to be floored by some of the character "modifications" in Out Front's The Rocky Horror Show. Like Paul said, you're not going to know what hit you!

A few notes about the cast...the absolutely AMAZING cast...

Kiona D. Reese (Frank N. Furter) is beyond phenomenal! You don't once think of Tim Curry (and Tim wasn't this pretty!) while watching Kiona's masterful performance! The audience, including me and Matty, loved her! 

Jacob Jones (Brad Majors) is casting perfection! I'd go as far as to say that Jacob is better as Brad than Barry Bostwick was. No disrespect to Bostwick, but it's not often an actor comes along and actually improves on such a beloved character. Jacob did!

Ally Duncan (Janet Weiss) is super animated as Janet, which is a 1,000% requirement for this show. Ally delivers a wholly entertaining, totally fun performance. You're going to give yourself over to absolute pleasure enjoying her! 

Max Mattox (Rocky Horror) is the perfect Rocky! In every way. From a learning-to-walk newborn creature, to making a ravenous convert of Janet who changes her tune from "I don't like a man with too many muscles" to "Touch-a touch-a touch-a me...", Max has all eyes on him! 

Joe Arnotti (Magenta) has inexhaustible energy, a witticism that radiates and demonstrates brilliantly through face, body, and movement across the stage, not to mention one of the best high kicks I've ever seen from someone so tall, or short for that matter!  

Emily Duke (Columbia) is one of my favorites in this cast. She gives 1,000% (read: one thousand percent!) to her role and it comes through! There's a LOT happening on stage, but I kept following Columbia's antics and laughter-inducing facial expressions. I'm laughing again as I type!

Rotating performers will read the role of "The Narrator"—the Criminal Psychologist from the movie. On Opening Night we were treated to Brigitte Bidet—"Atlanta's Best Drag Queen" - Creative Loafing. She was AMAZING! Had us all in stitches!    

The Rocky Horror Show is onstage at Out Front Theatre now through Sunday, November 5, with a special midnight show on Friday, October 27. Get your tickets and start your Rocky Horror experience with these words from The Narrator... 

"I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey..."

Out Front Theatre: Season 2

With one show still to go in its inaugural season, Out Front Theatre has announced an exciting, profound and what promises to be an exceptionally entertaining second season.

“It’s been incredible to see the outpouring of support we’ve received during our inaugural season and only hope that we can continue to grow that support in the season to come!” said Paul Conroy, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Out Front Theatre Company. “From beloved film tributes, to Southeastern premieres and more, the new season will continue to bring LGBTQIA stories to the forefront of theatre right here in Atlanta.”

Out Front Theatre Company's Season 2 Lineup (2017-2018)

I've had the great pleasure of seeing the Out Front's first two productions and can hardly wait to see everything else they bring to the stage! First up in Season 2...


The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show | Out Front Theatre Company

The 1975 cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring a quite young (and busty) Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry, had been out for some time when I first learned about it. While in high school in Wyoming, a fellow art class student, a transplant from California, created a LARGE format reproduction of the movie poster...of course I was fascinated. 

The Rocky Horror Show, a cult classic and smash musical, will kick off the new season from October 19 – November 6. Complete with cascading toilet paper and an array audience participation, this deliberately kitschy rock-n-roll, sci-fi and gothic musical is more fun than ever! With music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien, the show is a humorous tribute to science fiction and horror movies. The production tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and stumbling upon the home of a mad transvestite scientist just as he’s unveiling his new creation - a sort of Frankenstein-style monster. This monster takes the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man named Rocky Horror, complete "with blond hair and a tan.” The musical was adapted into the 1975 film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” starring O'Brien as Riff Raff, which has the longest-running release in film history.

Travis' first Rocky Horror

It wasn't until many (many, many) years later that I finally saw the movie in its entirety in a movie theater. There were a lot of firsts that first year when I moved back to Atlanta. In 2010, I went to a midnight showing—the "traditional" showtime for this film—to see it for the first time. 

While waiting in line, a young lady was walking around planting giant kiss marks on theatre-goers and painting—in lipstick—a giant "V" on the foreheads of Rocky Horror virgins. While I qualified, I opted for just the lips. 

Fast-forward to inside the theatre. It was packed! I was the oldest person in the theatre, but having the time of my life. It was very much like I'd heard over the years, lots of audience participation, but even more fun than I'd imagined!

Lips Down on Dixie performs "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in front of the movie screen every Friday night at Plaza Theatre. You've got time to catch a show there before seeing the stage play at Out Front!


The Mystery of Love and Sex

The Mystery of Love and Sex | Out Front Theatre Company

Let's be honest...the title alone makes you want to see this one, right? Ah, ah...I said honest. Truth be told, it sounds quite profound...and like so many true life stories I've heard in my lifetime. I'm anxious to see this one!

Second in Out Front’s season will be the Southeastern premiere of Bathsheba Doran’s The Mystery of Love and Sex. Deep in the American South, Charlotte and Jonny have been best friends since they were nine years old. She's Jewish, he's Christian; he's black, she's white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything in surprising, compulsive ways. The Mystery of Love and Sex is an unexpected love story about two souls meeting and the consequences of growing up. Playing February 1 – February 18, 2018, The Mystery of Love and Sex premiered in New York City at Lincoln Center in February of 2015.

Buyer & Cellar

Buyer & Cellar | Out Front Theatre Company

I honestly don't know what this show is about, but we were told that Barbra Streisand will not be making a guest appearance. It's still while off, so you never know, right? This show is a co-production with ART Station in Stone Mountain, another theatre that I've quite enjoyed and where I met Charlie Ross. That partnership alone makes me want to see this show!

In a co-production with Art Station in Stone Mountain, Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer and Cellar will set up shop March 8 – March 25, 2018. As a struggling actor in Los Angeles, Alex More takes a job working in the Malibu basement of a beloved megastar who thinks “people who need people are the luckiest people in the world!” One day, the Lady Herself comes downstairs to play. It feels like real bonding in the basement, but will their relationship ever make it upstairs? Winner of the 2014–2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show, Buyer and Cellar is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things and the oddest of odd jobs.

Sordid Lives

Sordid Lives | Out Front Theatre Company

I can hardly wait to see Sordid Lives! I love the movie (2000) and the television series (2008). I grew up mostly in the South and the humor in Sordid Lives is on point and bellyaching hilarious! I'm sure I'll see this one at Out Front more than once...May 2018 is going to make for a lot of anticipation, but I'm certain it'll be worth the wait!

Concluding Out Front’s second season from May 3 – May 20, 2018 is Del Shores’ black comedy about white trash, Sordid Lives. When Peggy, a good Christian woman, hits her head on the sink and bleeds to death after tripping over her lover's wooden legs in a motel room, chaos erupts in Winters, Texas. Her VERY colorful family must come to grips with her accidental death and deal with their own demons while preparing for what could be an embarrassing funeral. A cult classic with LGBTQIA fans, the original stage play premiered in Los Angeles on May 11, 1996 and ultimately won 14 Drama-Logue Awards, and was adapted into both a movie and television show.

Travis & Ann Walker (Aunt LaVonda, Sordid Lives)

When I was living in Washington, D.C., I had the great pleasure of meeting Ann Walker, who plays the hilarious Aunt LaVonda in both the movie and television series. Ann is magnificently sweet. She seems like she would be a wonderful real-life aunt and a wonderful friend to have. Grateful to have met such a sweet lady and talented actress!

Out Front Theatre is working with BRAVE Public Relations, a firm whose client base is as wonderfully diverse as is Atlanta. They've connected me with many shows and attractions, for which I'm extremely grateful.

"Thank you!" to Out Front Theatre Company for inviting me to the Season 2 Announcement Event, hosted at 10th & Piedmont (They have an awesome brunch!!!). It was great seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones and hearing about a season of theatre that is going to be great fun! All my best for continued success, Out Front...see you soon! 

A Kid Like Jake

This play isn't about Jake. You never actually see the kid. It's about emotional turmoil, love and concern for one's child, and parents wanting to do what's best for a child who's "different". Seriously, how do parents get their four-year old into the best private school when he likes Cinderella more than G.I. Joe?

This is the final weekend for A Kid Like Jake, its Southeastern debut, and I highly recommend seeing it. But know this...it will leave your heart torn and touched. If you see a play this weekend, head to Out Front Theatre...THIS is a must-see play!

A Kid Like Jake | Out Front Theatre | Photo: Brian Wallenberg

See this show...! Written by Daniel Pearle, A Kid Like Jake debuted at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2013 to rave reviews.

The first few scenes are steeped in character development and concerted setting the scene. Then all of a sudden the stage explodes...with drama!

Alex, Jake's mom (Lauren Megan McCarthy), is in conflict. Does she highlight Jake's being different to the area's top schools, not knowing if his love affair with Disney is only a phase, or does she hide it. She wants the best of the best for her son. 

Greg, Jake's dad (Justin Dilley) and a psychiatrist, is less conflicted with what to do about Jake and more concerned about how Alex's actions are affecting his wife. Words are exchanged that stress their relationship...at least temporarily.

A Kid Like Jake | Out Front Theatre | Photo: Brian Wallenberg

See this show...! Part of Out Front's inaugural season, and only its second play, A Kid Like Jake is Directed by Paul Conroy, who is also the founder and artistic producing director of Out Front Theatre, as well as an entrepreneur I wish great success. 

I didn't go to private school, but I have many friends who did and many friends who have kids that are in private school, so I have in fact witnessed first hand how stressful certain decisions can be. The competition is fierce and that competition is what fuels the primary story line of A Kid Like Jake.

Judy (Lisa Boyd), who is Alex and Greg's private school "placement counselor", is a character that you want to like, but from time to time you're not sure if she's giving Alex and Greg the best advice or only what she thinks they want to hear. In the end, she turns out to be yet another character who wants to do—what she thinks is—the best thing for Jake.

There's certainly no shortage of controversial topics in this exploration of emotional struggle. Personally, I liked the character Judy the most. Not only because Lisa's acting is superb, but because the character is steely, trying to do "the right thing", and unforgiving in what she feels is right...often all admirable qualities, but that will be up to you in this particular story.

A Kid Like Jake | Out Front Theatre | Photo: Brian Wallenberg

See this show...! Much of the cast is relatively new to Atlanta, but I believe each has a promising acting career here. I'd like to offer a personal "Congratulations!" to Paul and others for tackling such a sensitive, rarely discussed topic.

In a particularly tender scene, grown-up Jake (remember, we never see the 4-year old) appears in a dream to his mother Alex when he's dressed as Snow White—the personification of young Jake's fascination with Disney princesses. 

What do Jake's loving parents do. See the show to find out!

Small world story: I didn't know until I saw the show that my friend Michael did the set design for A Kid Like Jake! I knew that he has a love for theatre and stuied theatre in college, but didn't know he had contributed to this show. 

Even before I realized that Michael was the Set Designer, I'd already made mental notes to mention how awesome the set is. The stage at Out Front is huge! For this play, instead of having set changes between scenes, there are five vignettes on stage where various scenes are acted out. None distract from the other...the flow is seamless and each vignette is exacting for its specific scene. I particularly liked the vignette of Judy's office. 

I saw Out Front's inaugural play, Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert, starring Robert Ray of Broadway fame (and Atlanta fame, too), and loved it. A Kid Like Jake is the second of three plays in Out Front's first season. Keep an eye on their website and Facebook page for the announcement on Wednesday, March 8th of the FOUR plays in their second season...I hear it's going to be exciting!

The final show in Out Front's inaugural season opens Thursday, April 27. Written by Paul Rudnick, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told promises to be a...fabulous show! You can get tickets now!

A Kid Like Jake is running through this Sunday, February 26 and the theatre is located in West Midtown, where there are many fantastic restaurants to enjoy pre- or post-theatre dinner!

About Out Front Theatre

Out Front Theatre Company was established to tell stories of the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intergender, Allied) experience and community, giving voice to LGBTQIA authors, composers, artists, and creators through the medium of theatre and the performing arts. Out Front plans to develop new works and produce classic pieces of theatre that have communicated these stories of the LGBTQIA population to a wider audience over time.