How Three Best Friends Collaborated to Bring A Fresh Perspective to THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Roxy Regional Theatre

As plans were under way for the eleventh year of The Rocky Horror Show at Clarksville’s Roxy Regional Theatre, Emily Ruck, the company’s interim artistic director, had the idea to assemble an all-woman team to bring a new perspective and to reinvigorate the classic show: the director, musical director and choreographer would all be women. More importantly, the creative triumvirate would be made up of women who are longtime friends, having met while working together on a show at The Roxy some seven years ago.

And that’s how it came to be that Ruck would choreograph the off-kilter, wildly entertaining musical, with Leigh-Martha Klinger Karg as director and Allison Kelly as musical director, a winning combination whose shared friendship is reflected in a new staging of The Rocky Horror Show that Roxy audiences are responding to with excitement and renewed vigor in 2023.

The three women graciously agreed to talk to BroadwayWorld Nashville and to answer our questions about their process and to offer some insight into their creative collaboration.

How did the three of you meet?

Emily: We all met doing Green Day’s American Idiot at the Roxy back in 2016. There were four of us sharing a room, and thank the heavens we all got along and bonded over Dairy Queen, Cher and Center Stage.

Leigh: And who would have thought back then, that seven-and-a-half years later the three of us would be on a creative team together and loving every second of it, of course still singing to Cher and having dance parties in the living room after rehearsal.

Allison: You get close on regional contracts, especially when you share a bedroom with three other women…

What other shows have you worked on (a) as actors and/or (b) creative team?

Emily: I started working regionally while still in college, and then of course I have acted in and choreographed numerous shows at the Roxy over the last ten years. I’ve found that I really enjoy being on “the other side of the table.” Into the Woods last fall was my first stab at directing. Leigh and I worked on a few shows together throughout 2016 as actors and then did White Christmas together last year as director and choreographer. We haven’t had the privilege of working with Allison since American Idiot, so it was definitely an exciting time to have the three of us together again!

Leigh: I moved to the USA from Germany, where I studied and worked for many years. Some of my favorite European credits include West Side Story (Bregenzer Festspiele), Rebecca (Vienna), Rudolf-Affaire Meyerling (Vienna), Les MIserables (St Gallen) and We Will Rock You in Berlin.

Since moving to NYC I have been in regional productions ranging from American Idiot, Murder Ballad to Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins. 

The pandemic really catapulted the idea of dipping my toes into directing, so when Emily reached out, it was a sign to jump head first.

Allison: In addition to regional theater and off-broadway workshops, I spend much of my year producing and creating concerts that tour nationally. I’ve always loved the Rocky score and felt right at home with the music. That said, this is my first official theater contract as music director. When Emily called, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to work at the Roxy with Emily and Leigh. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better team.

What has the experience been like to bring Rocky Horror to life?

Leigh: Having the opportunity to direct Rocky Horror and working with an all-female leading team was a dream come true.

The actors are truly the ones that have brought Rocky Horror to life, each individually had such strong ideas on how they wanted to portray their characters when they first came into rehearsals, that I really just gave them the freedom, space and sometimes a nudge to create this crazy magical world, that the audience falls in love with every night.

Allison: Working on such a beloved show is a privilege, and I felt the immediate respect and love for the show from the cast and crew. It’s an exciting challenge to honor the original material while making the show our own. I encouraged the actors to find their own voices, and they took that and ran with it.

Emily: I will say that the experience this year has been like no other for me. Of course, getting to work with two of my best friends (and them being the ridiculous talents they are) helped, but this group of actors would be any creative team’s dream. 

Who’s your favorite character? Have you been in Rocky Horror before and, if so, who did you play?

Emily: I honestly don’t know if I have a favorite! I was introduced to the movie my freshman year of college and just fell in love with the whole thing. I have done the show numerous times; usually I have had way too much fun playing Columbia, but one year I was Eddie. 

Leigh:  I have been fortunate enough to have been in two productions of Rocky Horror throughout my acting career, both times being cast as Magenta, who I adore. It is hard picking a favorite role, because I do believe it is an ensemble-driven show and none of the roles would be who they are without one another. But if I had to pick my absolute favorite it would have to be Frank N Furter, just due to me thinking even as a young child that Tim Curry was the coolest person on this planet.

Allison: I’ve never performed in Rocky, but I find a new character each night that I love to watch. Our cast is exceptionally talented. 

Does an all-woman team offer a different perspective on the show?

Leigh: I think an all-female team changes the perspective and creative process quite a bit working on a show that is this iconic. In the past Rocky Horror has been oversexualized quite often and that can make the creative rehearsal process difficult for actors and possibly uncomfortable.

Having been a working female actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with my own fair share of being put into uncomfortable situations or seeing colleagues struggle. I knew coming into this project that I wanted and needed to try as hard as I could as the director to create a safe environment for my actors and to feel empowered as performers. I did not try to reinvent the wheel, Richard O’Brien wrote a masterpiece about sexual liberation and being loved for who you are, with introducing fluidity into characters. I felt the need as a director to enhance that, what better time than now? 

Allison: Emily has done a fantastic job of ensuring the legacy of the Roxy Theatre, while allowing new life to breathe in the space, and I believe that a creative team led by women is just that. I agree with Leigh that this show, as well as many, can lend itself to toxic work environments of the past. We came in daily with the goal to actively work against that: How can we create a safe, respectful working environment? What have we endured in the past that we want to make sure doesn’t happen under our watch? How can we lift up voices that have been historically less heard? The trust in the room was palpable, and I believe you’ll see a more unified cast and crew as a result.

How have cast members responded?

Leigh: The cast has been incredibly open and vulnerable, which you do not see that often in theatre and I feel privileged to have been a part of this journey with them. They are all absolutely fantastic and I could not be more proud.

Emily: This cast has truly been a dream to work with. They were game to try things and really play with the characters and material, but at the same time they were comfortable enough to bring up issues or concerns and still voice whatever wacky ideas might have popped into their brains. It has been a true collaborative process and something that I feel made everyone excited to come to rehearsal even on those long days. 

Now that the show is up-and-running, what do you think about the final product?

Leigh: The last and final piece of the puzzle was adding the audience. Opening night was a whirlwind to watch each and every one of my nine actors soar, our band rock out and our crew be the glue that holds everything together. So much hard work has gone into this production and it shows.

Allison: I’m incredibly proud of this production – the work onstage is top tier. The band is killer, the characters feel alive – whether you’ve seen the show a hundred times or this is your first time, you’re going to have a great time.

Emily: Opening night was indeed a whirlwind, the three of us sitting in the back row watching all of the hard work pay off for everyone involved and the smiles and pure joy on each of the actors’ faces during that first curtain call. I am nothing but proud of each and every human who helped to make this show what it is. Being the only one of the three still in town, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to continue to watch the growth. I try to step in and watch the show every night (when it’s not sold out) for no other reason than simply because I’m able to and I love it.

Would you do it all over again?

Emily: In a freaking heartbeat. We’ve already tossed around the thought of next year.

Leigh:  Absolutely! We have only just begun.

Allison: We’re already plotting our next projects!

Any regrets – or new ideas since the show has opened?

Leigh: No regrets! New ideas? Oh yes, but those will have to stay a secret until the next production of Rocky Horror.

Emily: Zero regrets and a lot of new ideas! But I’m glad Leigh answered first or I probably would’ve blurted some out!

Allison: No regrets!

The Rocky Horror Show continues at The Roxy Regional Theatre through Saturday, October 28. For more information, go to www.roxyregionaltheatre.org.

Travis Ulrich is pictured as Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show at The Roxy Regional Theatre at top.

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