.
“I never got bored. I was always excited to do the show. And I think part of that is because the audiences in Rocky Horror are unlike any other show I’ve ever experienced. They are part of the show,” he says.
That makes every performance a unique experience, he says.
“Audiences in Rocky Horror can do what normal audiences would never think of doing. You know, you can stand up during The Time Warp, which is a song in the middle of the show. You can stand up and dance in the aisles.
“You can shout out at the actors. Often there are what we call call-outs, but they’re kind of set lines that the audience, if they want to, can call out in between the actors lines. And often they’re the funniest lines in the show.”
Rocky Horror world record holder Kristian Lavercombe Culture 101
When he auditioned for The Rocky Horror Show 15 years’ ago the one part he didn’t expect to play was Riff Raff, he says.
“My plan was to go in there and go, hi, I can sing anything from the show apart from Riff Raff, because I don’t think I can sing that.
“But I thought when I got into the audition, don’t be negative Kristian, just don’t say anything. They’re never going to get you to sing that. And of course, the first thing they did was, OK, we’ll get you to sing Riff Raff.”
Despite him being a natural baritone, Riff Raff’s high tenor is reachable when he’s in character, he says.
“When I get on stage and I think the adrenaline of it pushes your system into a new area and what was challenging and difficult when I’m at home in my bedroom singing to when I’m on stage became much easier.
“And it just came out when you’re in the character. It was it felt like no matter what, no matter what I did, it felt like it was Riff Raff’s voice.”
Now playing a different character, he almost mourns for Riff Raff, he says.
“When I stopped playing Riff Raff about 18 months, two years ago, then it really is going to seem very strange. But it almost seemed like I had broken up with somebody, or I had betrayed a friend and abandoned them. I’d left him, left him never to see them again.
“I almost went through a period of mourning, not from not doing the show, but just from missing the person who had been as strange as he was, had been part of my everyday life for such a long time. “
After 15 years as touring actor, he’s now putting down some permanent roots in Nelson, he says.
“I was literally leading that classic actor’s life of living out of a suitcase. And during that time, I really fantasised about having some roots somewhere. And Nelson I’ve always thought of Nelson as my hometown.”
After “eight or nine Christmases in a hotel room” he’s relishing the new-found stability in his life.
“I absolutely adore New Zealand and adore Nelson. And it’s such a beautiful place. And, you know, I’m very well-travelled now. So, I can safely say that New Zealand and Nelson have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.”
Rocky Horror world record holder Kristian Lavercombe Culture 101
