THE Rocky Horror Show, Blood Brothers and Salad Days have two things in common – they all had modest beginnings, before going on to enormous success. Rocky Horror began in the 60-seater Royal Court Theatre, Upstairs. Willy Russell’s play Blood Brothers, re-written as a musical, only met with modest success in Liverpool’s Playhouse. Salad Days, intended by Julian Slade and Dortothy Reynolds, as an end of season romp at the Bristol Old Vic … that ran and ran.

The first two have developed cult followings, which means that respectively 50 and 40 years-plus on from their first productions they are still successfully touring. But Salad Days, the former holder of the record for longest run for a musical in the West End, with 2,283 performances, and once the darling of amateur groups, is now rarely included in their programmes and almost never produced professionally.

Many a theatrical producer would like to know how this cult status came about and, like Bill Kenwright with Blood Brothers and Richard O’Brien, writer and composer of Rocky Horror Show, would love to reap the rewards of so many years of successful productions.

Looking around the audience as it assembled at the Bristol Hippodrome, you were struck by the wide age range, from pensioners, who probably have memories of seeing early production of the show, to teenagers. And age was no barrier to joining the cast in sporting outrageous Sue Blane-like costumes – perhaps not as many as in days gone by, but still a fair proportion of the boisterous audience. Every song and piece of business was cheered to the rafters, by every age group dressed for the occasion – sparkling dresses, bright red corsets, stockings and suspender belts and high heeled shoes.

With such an audience, who were equally willing to join in with olde tyme music hall-like banter with cast members, those involved were on to a winner from the moment that Laura Bird appeared as the Cinema Usherette. She also doubled to make a delicious Magenta, sister to the sinister Riff Raff (Jesse Chidera, pictured) to take us into the unique world of comedy-horror and rock and roll conjured up in 1973 by Richard O’Brien.

This is one of those rare occasions when actors can happily over-act to their heart’s content and not feel the wrath of the director. Shouting ‘Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war,’ director Christopher Luscombe lets his cast loose and they need no second invitation to enjoy every OTT moment of dialogue and action. Nor for that matter does the band, hidden away at the rear of the stage, who at times seem determined to be heard down the road at Temple Meads Railway Station.

Leading the charge, following in the footsteps of Tim Curry, is Stephen Webb, unashamedly wallowing in the role of Frank-N-Furter, the transgender owner of the eerie castle, where the beautifully straight-laced, naïve, newly-engaged couple, Janet (Haley Flaherty) and Brad (James Bisp), find themselves when their car breaks down.

There they meet not only brother and sister Riff Raff and Magenta, but Columbia (Daisy Steere), another of Frank-N-Furter’s loyal misused servants, Rocky (Morgan Jackson), the perfectly handsome young man made by the evil Frank-N-Furter, with Edward Bullingham neatly marrying the roles of Frank’s past out of control love, Eddie, with that of rival scientist Dr Scott.

Just how this 50-plus year-old brash, often political and decidedly socially incorrect show has managed not only to maintain its core audience but attract a new young cult following is hard to work out. But there they were, responding lustily and cheering enthusiastically as vigorously as any audience who have seen it over those years, which leaves you with the feeling that this is by no means the last we have seen of the Rocky Horror Show.

GRP