Kit Wilder as Frank, destroying all hope of a future in politics.

UPDATE: We've been extended yet again. The Rocky Horror Show will now be running through July 26th. The weekend of the 17, 18, and 19, George Gemette will be playing Dr. Scott, as I'm going to be down in San Diego covering the Comic-Con. I knew it was going to happen, gang, and am really glad that George is going to get a weekend doing the role. So if you haven't come seen it yet, we'll be lurking for you. More information at the City Lights website.

Two All-American kids get a flat tire on the way to visit their favorite high school teacher. Luckily, they just passed a castle on the road; surely, they reason, the people who live there must have a phone, among other amenities.

Hey, the San Jose Mercury-News just posted their review of the show. Here it is, by critic Karen D'Souza:

The audience was stomping on the floor and baying at the moon at the City Lights Theater Company in San Jose on Saturday night. And that was before the show even started. The opening-night crowd came ready to do the ``Time Warp'' again, and this ``Rocky Horror Show'' certainly delivered. In one of the liveliest productions this scrappy company has done in recent memory, Richard O'Brien's quirky cult classic turned out to be 95 minutes of good old-fashioned camp and debauchery.

Director Tom Gough has outdone himself in the kitsch department. From the B-movie posters on the walls to the S&M fetish costumes, there are many cheesy pleasures to be had. If some of the cast remains a bit tentative with the perverse universe of the show, Jessica Webber and Nathan Beason shine as Janet and Brad, the sexually repressed young couple who wander into the abode of diabolical doctor-transvestite diva Frank N. Furter (Kit Wilder).

Webber and Beason make the perfect straight-faced foils for Wilder's high-voltage vamp turn. Webber proves herself to be a first-rate screecher, and Beason acquits himself well as the nerdy boy next door.

Of course, it's Wilder who steals the show. From his first entrance in a black bustier, red panties and ripped fishnet stockings, Frank makes eyes at those in the front row. It's a monster part, and Wilder throws his back (and other body parts) into the ``Sweet Transvestite'' sequence.

Camp is a much harder genre than it appears, and it's because of Wilder's facility that this musical hangs together. Although there are times when some of the show's deliciously raunchy lyrics aren't articulated well enough by the ensemble, the leads hold their own with this creepy masterpiece.

Derek McCaw brings down the house with his full-throttle rendition of ``Eddie'' as the mysterious Doctor Scott. John Byrd turns skulking into an art form as the cringing Riff Raff.

Jana Morris fills the stage with high-energy choreography that plays to the strengths of the cast while staying true to the zeitgeist of the hit '70s film. As in the movie, a lecherous menagerie of scantily clad hangers-on is at the center of infamous ``Time Warp'' number.

Only in this incarnation, you can interact with the performers. Indeed, on the few occasions when one of the actors was late with a line, the audience cheerfully supplied it.

Let's just say that the actors were definitely not the only ones in fishnet stockings and black leather. Audience participation is the lifeblood of this show.

``Rocky'' aficionados have rules about which responses to shout out to which lines. Most of them are not printable in a family newspaper, but you can look them up on the Internet if you want to be in the know before you go.

Otherwise you can just harmonize with the hard-core ``Rocky'' crowd, who turn the musical into a singalong from the word go. It's a totally tasteless and thoroughly fun theatrical free-for-all that culminates with a ``Time Warp'' dance reprise to which the audience is invited. You know the drill. It's just a jump to the left and then a step to the right.

Derek McCaw