Well... Jay said Webb was the best he’d seen since Bobby Crush – but since I was still in elementary school when Crush toured, I’ll have to take his word on that one!
As Frankie, Stephen Webb owns the role in the same way he owns the stage. He’s got the swagger, the sexuality, and the mischievousness to make Frankie his own in a way no else can.
Certainly not Jason Donovan.
It felt like I was alone when I complained that Jason Donovan was taking over the role for this year’s tour of The Rocky Horror Show. Jay pointed out that Donovan was supposed to have been very good in his day and argued that he might be even better than Webb. Not being British, I had to ask again exactly who Jason Donovan was supposed to be.
So when the show rolled around and the run started with Stephen Webb in the lead role, I was thrilled. It even made having Donovan take over halfway through the week a lot easier to stomach.
Until I saw it.
Was I biased going in?
Absolutely.
If you haven’t seen him, you have no idea how amazing Stephen Webb is as Frankie.
Was Jason Donovan still terrible?
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
You have no idea how bad he actually was.
At first glance, Donovan appeared to be drunk, slurring his way sloppily through the show. To the point where I was glad I knew the lyrics because I couldn’t make out half of what he was saying.
And we were front row, center.
After seeing a lot of reviewers saying the same thing for different shows, though, it makes more sense that Donovan either didn’t care about the role or is just plain past it. If you’re looking for proof to support the latter, just look at any of the photos of Donovan as Frankie on stage.
Ghastly.
Frankie is supposed to be a character full of raw appeal that makes you question your sexuality. He’s not supposed to be a character that makes you wonder how an old queen got out of the home...
I honestly couldn’t look at Donovan without cringing, which made me feel bad for the rest of the cast, who were fantastic – especially the guy filling in for Riff Raff who, by the way, was better than the usual actor.
Jason Donovan’s abysmal, half-assed performance as Frank-N-Furter did nothing but bring the rest of the cast down. I... I honestly can’t find anything nice to say about it.
If you do decide to go see the show with Donovan in the role (ugh, sorry,) do it for Nathan Caton as The Narrator. He’s as good as Jason Donovan is bad and was my favourite so far.
