Broadway, Film & TV Choreographer Shannon Lewis Joins THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW Team at Bucks County Playhouse

The weekend of October 13 was a whirlwind for choreographer Shannon Lewis, who spent her time shuttling back and forth between New Hope, Pennsylvania, where she was putting the finishing touches on her choreography for Bucks County Playhouse’s production of “The Rocky Horror Show” while wrapping up hours on a New York City set, creating choreography for a film on the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live.”

By end of day, Saturday, October 14, Shannon’s choreographic work on “SNL” —in a “Barbie Parody” directed by Mike Diva and starring Pete Davidson entitled, “I’m Just Pete” — had just aired, and the Playhouse’s new production of “The Rocky Horror Show” was up and open. 

Saturday capped a week where Lewis also learned she was nominated for a 2023 World Choreography Award in the Digital Content category for “Don’t Go,” a short dance film she created, directed and choreographed.

It seems appropriate that choreographer, Shannon Lewis, just keeps moving. She last worked at Bucks County Playhouse in 2019, on the Playhouse’s record-breaking production of “Mamma Mia!” with director John Tartaglia, and creative team and audiences have been calling for her return ever since.

Through October 28, those audiences can see Lewis’ choreography on display in an all-new production of “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show.” In 2013, after the Playhouse first reopened, Playhouse Artistic Associates Hunter Foster and Lorin Latarro were challenged to rekindle a New Hope tradition, by creating a new production of “The Rocky Horror Show” for the recently reopened Bucks County Playhouse. A last-minute addition to the schedule, the show was produced for just two weekends, in a physical production that was designed to be used once. The cast was stellar, and audiences and critics loved the creative team’s work and so the production continued — every year (except in 2015) until the shutdown of 2020. 

So now, for the first time since October 2019, we’re doing the Time Warp again! To mark the occasion, this year’s production of “The Rocky Horror Show” was revitalized and reinterpreted for the next generation, with a glam new style and a sizzling new star, social media sensation, Frankie Grande. Foster returned to direct the new production, this time with Lewis as choreographer. 

“I’m so excited to collaborate with Shannon on ‘Rocky Horror,’” said director Hunter Foster. “I’ve been wanting to work with her for such a long, and with her vast experience both on Broadway and in regional theater. Together, I think we delivered a fantastic show!” 

“‘Rocky Horror’ is an iconic thrill ride of a show. The music really lends itself to movement and dance,” said Lewis. “To have the opportunity to be a part of reimagining this show for the Playhouse was a big ‘yes’ for me. I always come to the table with strong ideas for a physical vocabulary and have done lots of research. But the thrill is working closely with the director, creative team, and the actors to realize the nuances and lock in the style and feel of the show.” 

One major choreographic part of the show that remains iconic is The Time Warp. In the Playhouse production, audience members are invited to the stage at the end of the performance to dance The Time Warp with the cast.

“The Time Warp will be very familiar to everyone movement-wise. I have created choreography that utilizes the original shapes and can be easily followed but has my stamp on them,” says Lewis. “We want the fans to have that moment that they crave. I cannot wait for everyone to time warp with us!”

With book, music, and lyrics by Richard O'Brien, “The Rocky Horror Show” inspired the 1975 cult classic film. The musical follows innocent couple Brad and Janet as they seek shelter at a mysterious old castle on a dark and stormy night. There they encounter transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter, who is unveiling his maniacal experiment to create his “perfect” man Rocky. 

Lewis is a creative force who is passionate about her unique vision of storytelling through the collaborative process of theatre, television, and film. As a performer, she has a 25-year Broadway legacy. Her performance of “I Gotcha” in the Tony Award winning original Broadway cast of “Fosse” along with ten blockbuster Broadway musical credits, the Radio City Rockettes and countless television and film appearances, have solidified her iconic status in the dance and theatre worlds. 

As a creative, her expertise in all levels of content ranges from small, focused solo scenes to original live theatrical events, to complex network television production numbers. Recently, Lewis was the Creative Director and Choreographer of the "We Need Ads" Opening Sequence at the NBCU Upfront Show live at Radio City Music Hall. She has also choreographed multiple digital and live projects for NBC's “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show” starring Jimmy Fallon and HBO's “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver. 

Lewis created the choreography for the groundbreaking world premiere new musical “The Secret Silk” by Stephen Schwartz, John Tartaglia and Jim Henson Creature Shop. Other favorite projects include theatrical and dance works at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, CLI, Dance Out Loud, Bay Street Theatre, Bucks County Playhouse, Maltz Jupiter Theatre and The York Theatre Company.

Through her newly founded Firestart Creative, she conceived, produced, directed and choreographed the original dance short film sensations “Joy~Full”,” My Discarded Men Suite”, "Don’t Go”, “Sway” and “Comanche.” Lewis has been a “reconstructeur” and Master Educator for the VERDON/FOSSE Legacy, setting and passing on her formidable knowledge of the work of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. 

She is also an adjunct professor in the Commercial Dance BFA Program at Pace University in NYC, and guest Director/Choreographer and Educator at CLI Academy. Lewis is on faculty at the world-renowned studio STEPS on Broadway in NYC, where she teaches popular, sold out, professional level classes. For more information, follow Shannon on Instagram @realshanlew or visit ShannonLewis.net.

“The Rocky Horror Show” runs through October 28. Currently tickets are very limited. Best availability are special late-night performances on Fridays at 11 pm. For full details, and to purchase tickets, please visit buckscountyplayhouse.org, call 215-862-2121, or visit the box office at 70 South Main Street, New Hope, PA.

ABOUT BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE 

Steeped in a theatrical history that stems back to its founding in 1939 by a roster of theatrical royalty, Bucks County Playhouse is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its 2012 re-opening and restoration. With more than 75,000 patrons walking through its doors every year, the Playhouse is leading the economic resurgence of New Hope and the surrounding community. In 2014, Tony Award-winning producers Alexander Fraser, Robyn Goodman and Josh Fiedler took the helm of the Playhouse, reclaiming its reputation of attracting Broadway and Hollywood artists. Playhouse productions of “Company” starring Justin Guarini, and William Finn’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” were named by Wall Street Journal to its “Best of Theatre” list for 2015. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal again hailed the Playhouse and Artistic Associate Hunter Foster in its Best of the Year listings for its production of “42nd Street” and in 2019 labeled the Playhouse “one of the best regional theaters on the East coast.” Box office records have been repeatedly broken by Signature Productions of “Steel Magnolias” directed by Marsha Mason, “Mamma Mia!” directed by John Tartaglia and “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” “Million Dollar Quartet,” “42nd Street,” and “Guys & Dolls” (all directed by Hunter Foster). In 2021, the team developed and presented Candace Bushnell’s “Is There Still Sex in the City?,” which the Playhouse then partnered to move to New York. In 2023, the Playhouse has emerged from the pandemic with critically acclaimed productions including a new mounting of Jonathan Larson’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” which Robyn Goodman originally produced off-Broadway. The creative teams who come to create new productions at the Playhouse are among the most talented artists working in the professional theatre today and relish the opportunity to work on the historic stage where Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, and Jessica Walter began their careers.

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