Review: ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, Manchester Opera House, 24 October 2016

When its most devoted audience is known to shout expletives at the stage, it takes a certain kind of understanding of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to be able to work its magic.

But with the musical entering its 46th year of showcase and its 10th year helmed by renowned director Christopher Luscombe, its time-warped tradition served as the highlight of the Opera House's year to date.

Although a citing of tradition would normally be taken as a lack of invention, Rocky Horror is one of the few shows that certainly shouldn't be tampered with. The infamous Halloween-inspired blockbuster, which sees American sweethearts Brad (Richard Meek) and Janet (Haley Flaherty) taking an ill-fated turn towards Dr. Frank-N-Furter's castle is still a timeless formula, and the swathes of audience dressed in Frank-inspired fishnet stockings and heels have found themselves a performance to be very happy about.

Eerily akin to the personality types of cardboard cut-outs, Flaherty and Meek tackled their portrayals of Janet and Brad with humorous abandon, never faltering even in the heat of dealing with the audience's constant interjections as they perfected the unheimlich characters' descent into pelvic thrust-induced catastrophe. Greeted by the spellbinding vocals of Kristian Lavercombe's Riff Raff, the pair eased into the chaos of sex and singing with the amusing wonder of children who have just seen colours for the first time.

Coronation Street's Charlie Condou won over the hearts of the audience as he invited their saucy rapport and showed a confident freedom as the Narrator. It's one of those rare times that a Narrator losing their lines worked better than a mindless trill of the originals, as the actor bought into the fun of the performance and refused to take himself seriously.

Of course, as it always has to be, Liam Tamne's performance as Frank-N-Furter stole the show. Oozing sexuality and confidence, Tamne's rendition of "Sweet Transvestite" was carried off with vivacious aplomb, with no character left unturned in the cross-dressing scientist's pelvic exploration. Hugh Durrant's bed, which stood on end so that the audience knew exactly what went into Frank-N-Furter's seduction technique, only added to the fun.

A novel performance from Paul Cattermole (of S Club 7 fame) as Eddie reminded the audience that Rocky is a show that's thrived thanks to popular culture, and will continue to do so because of its astute execution of references and casting that makes the performance so very appealing.

Thanks to Luscombe's artful execution of a production with fantastic choices and a brilliant sense of humour, it's clear that Rocky's seduction will continue to triumph above and beyond its unmissable season at the Opera House.

Rocky Horror Picture Show at Manchester Opera House until 29 October