Local resident and thespian-about-town Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp — along with a mix of Springfield and Yellow Springs actors and musicians — will bring the musical “The Rocky Horror Show” to the John Legend Theater stage as part of the Springfield Civic Theatre’s current season of shows. Pictured doing the “Time Warp,” left to right, are cast members Amy Korpieski, Katie Thorpe, Meghan Tubbs, Ian Williams, Emily Parsons and Taylor Nelson, who also serves as the show’s choreographer. (Photo by Lauren "Chuck" Shows)
Yellow Springs director brings ‘Rocky Horror’ to the John Legend Theater
- Published: February 12, 2025
If you’re looking for something to occupy your Valentine’s Day weekend, why not spend it with a “sweet transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania?”
The Springfield Civic Theatre will present the cult-comic musical “The Rocky Horror Show” Thursday–Saturday, Feb. 13–15, at the John Legend Theater. The production — directed by Yellow Springs’ own Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp — features a cast of Springfield and Yellow Springs actors and musicians.
The musical — with music, lyrics and book by Richard O’Brien — debuted on the stage in London in 1973, and was developed for the screen as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” two years later. The latter in particular has generated such widespread familiarity with the show that it hardly seems necessary to describe it — but just in case: The show’s opening number, “Science Fiction/Double Feature” lays out its trajectory as both a tribute to and sendup of B-movies from the ’50s and ’60s.
Against a glam backdrop and with plenty of eyebrow-waggling sexual innuendo, “The Rocky Horror Show” follows young American lovebirds Brad and Janet as they stumble into the lair of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his strange compatriots. Music, murder and hilarious hedonism follow.
During a recent rehearsal for the upcoming musical, director Sparrow-Knapp said she had initially pitched a performance of “The Rocky Horror Show” to the Civic in 2019.
“They said, ‘Well, we can do it in 2020,’” Sparrow-Knapp said. “Insert loud laughter here.”
Though the pandemic halted initial plans for the show, Sparrow-Knapp said it remained on her mind as a “fun, funny treatise on American sexuality and how uptight we are.” Though the show is more than 50 years old, she said, it feels like the right time — and the right cast — to bring it to Miami Valley audiences.
“This is the best cast I’ve ever worked with; they are incredibly dedicated, they bring such enthusiasm and ideas — and they put up with my gestalt dissections of ‘Rocky Horror,’” Sparrow-Knapp said. “But you do have to think about it seriously as a play; we’re in a time when everybody wants to tell everybody what they can’t be, and here’s a play about finding out what can be — mind expansion, sexual freedom, all these things.”
She added that she hadn’t initially envisioned the show as a reaction to the current political climate — one in which sexual and gender identities are increasingly under threat — but that now there’s “something behind it,” pushing the production along with a new sense of both joy and urgency.
Nathaniel Beard — who Yellow Springers may remember from the YS Theater Company’s 2023 production of “SHREW!” — takes on the role of the gender-subverting Frank-N-Furter. As a longtime drag queen with a years-long familiarity with “Rocky Horror,” Beard said one of the most challenging things about stepping into Frank’s thigh-high boots was avoiding a performance that parrots actor Tim Curry, who brought the character to life for the screen. Another has been imagining a world in which the cast and crew are not free to put on a show like “Rocky Horror.”
“Lorrie and I have worked on honoring [Curry] as the iconic Frank without being a copy-paste of him,” Beard said. “But times are very scary right now for drag queens, because they’re trying to make drag illegal in so many places.”
Beard referred specifically to Ohio House Bill 245, a bill introduced in the summer of 2024 that would place heavy restrictions on where and for whom drag could be performed, and bring felony charges down on drag performers in public spaces. The bill has, thus far, remained in House Committee.
Katie Thorpe, who plays the doe-eyes-turned-bedroom-eyes Janet, said it’s been an interesting challenge in terms of navigating the kinds of roles traditionally written for women — particularly in the B-movies that “Rocky Horror” lampoons.
“To be a woman playing any sexual role, you’re either the boobs or you’re the damsel in distress,” Thorpe said. “To start out as one and then want to be the other by the end of the show has been interesting; she starts out meek and dismissed — I play her with a little bit of Betty Boop — but she becomes more outspoken and courageous, and in my mind, she’s kind of a hero.”
“From Betty Boop to Betty Page,” chimed in Steven Morganstern, who plays the Narrator.
For Ian Williams, who portrays the initially straight-laced and sexually repressed Brad, it’s been easier to play the character’s liberated end-of-show persona than the one who first wanders into Frank-N-Furter’s laboratory.
“It’s hard to embody the asshole and to make it feel believable without being a complete caricature — but that’s what the job is, right?” Williams said. “But I’m bisexual, and I really do think that Brad might be the first character I’ve ever gotten to play who’s a queer character. And that’s been really special for me.”
“Yeah, as a gay man and a drag queen, this show has really lit a fire under my butt,” Beard added. “We need people to see that we are people, we’re not invisible, and our characters celebrate that.”
Though they acknowledged the real-world anxieties that sometimes fuel their performances, the cast said their overwhelming sense as they approach opening night is one of joy and gratitude.
“I never would have expected that ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ would become my sense of normalcy,” said Meghan Tubbs, who plays one of the Greek-chorus-like Phantoms who are onstage for most of the show. “You wake up in the morning and hear the worst news you’ve ever heard — and then you get to the end of the day and you’re singing the ‘Time Warp.’”
With “Time Warp” in mind, the cast added praise for the musicians — who include Yellow Springers Mary Fahrenbruck, Caryn Diamond, Ed Knapp and David Diamond, who serves as musical director — in bringing verve to the production.
Payton Morgan, another Phantom, said “Rocky Horror” was the show that first piqued a personal interest in theater. Having seen the film “a bajillion times,” Morgan said it will be a thrill to finally join the cast.
“I can’t wait to hear the audience participation instead of doing it myself,” Morgan said.
Sparrow-Knapp added that, as with the overwhelming majority of stage performances or screenings of “Rocky Horror,” audience participation and costumes are encouraged — but she asks that audiences not bring props, for the safety of the actors. She also cautioned that the show’s sexual content might make it inappropriate for those younger than 16.
Outside of those considerations, Sparrow-Knapp said she hopes folks will come out and support the show — particularly if they’ve only ever seen the film version.
“If you’ve never seen it live, I would surmise that you are probably still a ‘Rocky’ virgin,” Sparrow-Knapp said.
Morganstern added, with a twinkle of the eye: “And there may be some special attention paid to virgins.”
“The Rocky Horror Show” will be performed Thursday and Friday, Feb. 13 and 14, at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m., in the John Legend Theater. Tickets are $20 for general admission, and $18 for seniors, students and veterans, and are available online at jlttickets.org.
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