The Rocky Horror Show Creative And Band

Producer

Rise Hanifan

Risë Hanifan is the Executive Director of Buckhannon Community Theatre and is producing The Rocky Horror Show. This year, she has produced Willy Wonka, The Single Man, and co-produced Finding Nemo Kids and the McNeish Memorial Youth Theatre Summer Camp. Risë is a reluctant producer and much prefers being on stage. Most recently she portrayed Glinda the Good Witch and Aunt Em in The Wizard of Oz. You will see her again portraying Grace in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Director

Jeremiah Smallridge

Jeremiah Smallridge holds two bachelor degrees in music, music education (Glenville State University) and vocal performance (West Virginia Wesleyan College). While at Wesleyan, he also completed two minors, one in musical theatre and one in dance. He earned his master’s in music education at Shenandoah Conservatory and a doctorate in music education at Liberty University. He is an active theatre and music performer in central WV and is a founding member of Maestri Vocale (a professional choir). He has been involved with BCT for over twenty-five years in various capacities including: actor, director, music director, chorographer, and board member. This is his fourth time working on The Rocky Horror Show with BCT!

Guitar

Tony Rohrbough

Tony Rohrbough is an innovative musician whose eclectic style seamlessly blends Grind Jazz, Death Folk, and Swing Core, creating a sound that is as captivating as it is unconventional. Drawing inspiration from a diverse array of influences—ranging from the theatrical flair of Voltaire to the charisma of John Bon Jovi, the unexpected wisdom of William Shatner, and the strategic insights of Carrot Top—Rohrbough crafts music that challenges the norms and invites listeners on a journey of sonic exploration. Though his accomplishments may seem unconventional, they speak to his creativity and dedication. Notably, he once participated in a casual game competition. Additionally, his ability to pass a hearing test without studying is a testament to his innate musicality and a reminder that true talent often transcends traditional preparation. Beyond music, Rohrbough is involved in a variety of intriguing projects. Currently, he is teaching cats to mime. He is also sorting all known matter and concepts by whether or not they are "metal". Furthermore, Rohrbough's passion for bird watching reflects his appreciation for nature and the intricacies of life, which often inspire his artistic expressions. As he continues to push musical boundaries and explore new creative avenues, Tony Rohrbough is a beacon of originality in the contemporary music landscape. His work invites audiences to experience the unexpected. Ham sandwich.

Eliza Taylor

Synthesizer

Eliza Taylor (she/her) is a native of Frostburg, MD and currently resides in Elkins, WV. Ms. Taylor holds a BME in Music Education from West Virginia Wesleyan College and an MM in Flute Performance from The Ohio University School of Music. Eliza is a versatile performer with years of experience on stage, backstage, and in the pit. Her notable on-stage roles include The Music Man, Crazy for You, and Bye Bye Birdie. Her notable orchestral experience includes Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, A Year with Frog and Toad, Little Women (Adamo), The Nutcracker (Ellington), and Peter and the Wolf. She has also Music Directed, notably B-UHS's 2023 production of “The Music Man”. Eliza has performed and collaborated with a variety of individuals and groups across Appalachia and the Mid-Atlantic. She is excited to be a part of the pit band for this highly anticipated show.

Lighting

Bryce O'Loughlin

Bryce O'Loughlin is a musician and video artist from Buckhannon, WV. He made his BCT debut in the 2000 production of "Fiddler on the Roof." In 2023 Bryce played the role of Tinman in BCT's "The Wizard of Oz, and most recently starred as Willy Wonka in "Willy Wonka ".

Bass

BJ Hoffman

BJ Hoffman is an elusive man who only makes the snowy trek down from his mountaintop cabin two times a year. One time is in November for the long anticipated return of the fabled McRib™️, and the other time is right now, whatever month it is right now. And I really do mean right now. He might be outside and he really needs you to open the door for him. He carries his tuba everywhere he goes so his hands are too full to get the door himself. He skis down the mountain and his tuba actually has its own pair of skis; it’s quite adorable. BJ’s fans have described him as “tubariffic”, whatever that means, and his enemies have described him as “dangerously cheesy”. No one really knows what he does for fun, but Ecologists have documented him drinking as much river water as humanly possible in one sitting. When asked about this he simply replied, “It’s quick, easy, and free.”

Piano

Amanda Flesher

Amanda Flesher has a Bachelors Degree in International Studies and Minor in English from WVU. She is an active member of her community where she is the accompanist for Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, a piano teacher and has played piano for several BCT productions over the course of the past ten years. This is her third time playing for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Sax

Jason Barr

Jason Barr was born in Huntington, WV but grew up in Myrtle Beach, SC where he graduated from North Myrtle Beach High School. While living in Myrtle Beach, he spent 15 years as the house saxophonist with the Myrtle Beach House of Blues and taught middle and high school band for Horry County Schools. Jason is currently Department Chair of Fine Arts at Glenville State University where he teaches courses in Music Theory, Music Appreciation, Applied Jazz, Applied Saxophone, and directs the GSU Jazz and Woodwind Ensembles. He has an undergraduate degree in Music Education from Marshall University, a Masters of Music in Jazz Pedagogy from WVU, and a Doctorate in Education from Walden University. He lives in Glenville, WV with his wife Kelly, their children J.P. And Erin, and their dog Rigby.

Drums

Garrett Hacker

Garrett Hacker is a Lecturer of Music at Glenville State University and teaches percussion lessons, percussion ensemble and several music technology courses full-time. He received his B.A in Music from Glenville State College in 2019 and his M.A in Music Performance from Ohio University in 2021. Even though he is a classically trained percussionist he has played drum-set in pit orchestra for Oklahoma! and Little Shop of Horrors with the Landmark Community Theatre in Sutton, WV in 2014 and 2015 and The Music Man with Buckhannon-Upshur High-School in 2023. Garrett has played percussion of all kinds in numerous ensembles including but not limited to symphonic bands, concert bands, marching bands, jazz bands, orchestras, jazz combos, percussion ensembles, jazz percussion ensembles, chamber percussion, African percussion, Latin percussion, Indian percussion, and vocal ensembles. In his spare time, he plays video games and saves worlds that do not exist. He also considers his virginity to have grown back after years of being involuntarily celibate, not at all due to playing video games.

Original Creative Team

As an out-of-work actor in London in the early 1970s, Richard O'Brien wrote The Rocky Horror Show to keep himself busy on winter evenings. Since his youth, he had developed a passion for science fiction and B horror movies; he wanted to combine elements of the unintentional humour of B horror movies, portentous dialogue of schlock-horror, Steve Reeves muscle films, and fifties rock and roll into The Rocky Horror Show.[2] A major theme running throughout the musical is transvestism, which according to O'Brien was not originally meant to be as prominent as it ended up being. He conceived and wrote the play set against the backdrop of the glam era that had manifested itself throughout British popular culture in the early 1970s;[3] he has stated "glam rock allowed me to be myself more", allowing his concept to come into being.[4]

O'Brien took a small amount of his unfinished Rocky Horror to Australian director Jim Sharman, who decided he wanted to direct it at the small experimental space Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square, Chelsea, London, which was used as a project space for new work.[5] Sharman had received considerable local acclaim as the director of the original Australian productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. He went to London to direct the first British stage production of Superstar, during which he met O'Brien, who had played King Herod for just one performance. Sharman brought fellow Australians Nell Campbell and long-time scenic designer partner Brian Thomson into the production.

Star Tim Curry recalled his first encounter with the script:

I'd heard about the play because I lived on Paddington Street, off Baker Street, and there was an old gym a few doors away. I saw Richard O'Brien in the street, and he said he'd just been to the gym to see if he could find a muscleman who could sing. I said, "Why do you need him to sing?" [laughs] And he told me that his musical was going to be done, and I should talk to Jim Sharman. He gave me the script, and I thought, "Boy, if this works, it's going to be a smash."[6]

The original creative team was then rounded out by costume designer Sue Blane [7] and musical director Richard Hartley, although Pete Moss would later take over as musical director. Michael White was also brought in to produce Rocky Horror. As the musical went into rehearsal, the working title for it became They Came from Denton High, but it was changed just before previews at the suggestion of Sharman to The Rocky Horror Show.[5][8]

After two previews, the show was premièred—without an interval—at the Royal Court's 63-seat Theatre Upstairs on 19 June 1973, and ran until 20 July 1973.[9][10] The cast included Tim Curry, who had decided that Dr Frank-N-Furter should not just be a queen, he should speak like the Queen of the United Kingdom, extravagantly posh,[4] Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell (billed as Little Nell), Julie Covington, and O'Brien, with each performing in an all-out camp style.[11][12][13] It was a creative triumph and a critical and commercial success.[14] A reviewer at the premiere for The Guardian wrote "it achieves the rare feat of being witty and erotic at the same time", and Curry gives a "garishly Bowiesque performance as the ambisextrous doctor."[9] Record producer Jonathan King saw it on the second night and signed the cast to make the original cast recording over a long weekend—The Rocky Horror Show Original London Cast—that was rushed out on his UK Records label.[15][16] King was involved heavily in the initial promotion for the show, as well as being the minority backer of it financially with White having a majority share.[16][17]

The impact at the Royal Court Upstairs allowed the production be transferred to the 230-seat Chelsea Classic Cinema nearby on Kings Road from 14 August 1973 to 20 October 1973.[18] Rocky Horror found a quasi-permanent home at the 500-seat King's Road Theatre—another cinema house, even further down Kings Road—from 3 November 1973. The show received critical praise and won the 1973 Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. When Richard O'Brien played Riff Raff in the original Broadway production of Rocky Horror in 1975 Robert Longden took over the role in London.

The show's run at the King's Road Theatre ended on 31 March 1979; it then transferred to the Comedy Theatre (now the Harold Pinter Theatre) to begin performances on 6 April 1979. At the new venue, Rocky Horror required some restaging, for the Comedy was the first theatre at which the musical had played that possessed a traditional proscenium arch stage. For the first time, the musical was also broken into two acts with an interval. It finished its run there on 13 September 1980.

Source:

Rocky Horror Show Wikipedia