Rocky Horror Picture Show Sing-a-long-a at the Civic Theatre Barnsley Review
Rocky Horror Picture Show Sing-a-long-a
The Civic Theatre, Barnsley
3 October 2015
Reviewed by Carron Charlesworth
Firstly I need to say that Rocky Horror Picture Show is my number one favourite film of all time so I had high expectations for our night at the theatre – and thankfully we weren’t disappointed! We did have one regret though… not dressing up! When we entered the theatre bar area, we were met by nearly everyone dressed up as a character, or in some sort of Rocky Horror attire, everyone had made a real effort, and we felt decidedly under-dressed, or should that be over-dressed…?
We arrived around 15 minutes before the show started. We travelled by taxi so we didn’t need to worry about parking but there are lots of parking spaces around the theatre and it isn’t too far from the bus and train stations. We were served quickly at the bar by friendly staff and then it was soon time to go in. We were all given a goody bag before we were seated, which contained a number of random items, some we could figure out for ourselves, and some we were totally bamboozled by!
Before the film started, the compere appeared before us, dressed in typical Rocky Horror apparel. He was just brilliant, probably not for the faint hearted, but we thoroughly enjoyed his introduction and his banter. He explained all the items in the goody bag and when to use them at what points in the film. Then there was a fancy dress competition for anyone who wanted to take part – which was practically everyone in the crowd! He truly warmed the audience up, and then it was time for the credits to roll! I must say, I felt a little bit nervous as I didn’t really know what to expect from the sing-a-long but as soon as the first song started, that was it, everyone in the audience sang their hearts out. There was no need to worry about forgetting/not know any of the words, all of the song lyrics were along the bottom of the screen. When the Timewarp came on there was no stopping us, we were all up dancing!
There was a short intermission half way through the film, where we picked up our pre-ordered drinks to quench our dry throats and then we were back in for the remaining part of the film. I must say, I have seen the film many, many times over the years but our night at the theatre watching it was a real eye opener. It answered some of my questions about the film, and I saw some parts of the film in a totally different light. In fact, the person who won the fancy dress competition, was actually a character in a deleted scene – which I knew nothing about and it kind of blew my mind!
If you are a Rocky Horror fan, I would totally recommend you go to this Sing-a-long. If you are a Rocky Horror virgin (and there were a few in the audience), I would say, go and see it, I dare you!
Rating: 5/5 
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Sing-a-long is currently touring the UK. For more information and tour dates visit www.singalonga.net/rocky-horror-picture-show.
For other shows at the Civic Theatre in Barnsley visit www.barnsleycivic.co.uk.
The Civic, Hanson Street, Barnsley, S70 2HZ | 01226 327000
