Brighton - always a favourite venue for The Rocky Horror Show

Especially as there is a date coming up in Brighton – at the Theatre Royal from April 14-19.

“I just love Brighton,” Adam says, “and I said to the director recently ‘Have you got a favourite venue for the show?’ And he just said ‘It has to be Brighton. There is such a queer culture in Brighton that the whole show just works so brilliantly!’

“I only started in the show on February 3. I'm relatively new. I came straight from Aladdin which I did for 18 months and then straight into Frank! I had the best time with Aladdin. I'd never worked with Disney before but they were just amazing. It was unbelievable, all the preparation and the treatment of people in general behind the scenes. We did a week's training in mental health and diversity and racial bias and inclusion and all those things before we did anything creative. And that's great because touring can be hard. Being with people for 18 months who are living in each other’s pockets the whole time can be difficult, and the schedule can be quite gruelling. And every half term you're doing like nine shows a week. It can be really hard. But I'd always wanted to be a Disney villain. I gravitate towards the villains! It's easier to play someone that is opposite to the way you are! But for me as I am Egyptian, being in a Middle Eastern musical was just fantastic.”

But now it's Rocky Horror: “I had seen Rocky Horror many times and it still works which is unbelievable. It is still relevant after 52 years. But I think it's just a chance to let your hair down and enjoy the craziness of it all and the bonkers songs. Everybody knows the songs, and the audience have got all their shout-outs. You can even get an audience script. It started at the Royal Court back in the 1970s when the audience just started shouting things out. And it's really important to the show especially if you're playing Frank. Those audience shout-outs can really help with the comedy and I miss them if they don't happen.”

Fortunately Aladdin and Rocky Horror coincided over Christmas in Liverpool which meant that every Monday Adam, knowing he'd be doing the Rocky Horror before long, was able to pop along and see the show: “I actually only had five days’ rehearsal and one day’s tech. For Aladdin it was six weeks’ rehearsals and ten days’ tech so I had to know what I was doing straight away!

“But I am loving it. I'm such a fan of the show and I've been singing Sweet Transvestite for many, many years. I always wanted to be in it. I was saying to one of the understudies that you feel an odd sense of power when you play Frank because he controls everything around him. He is quite playful. He is teasing the other characters all the time but basically he is mainly about sex. That's all he really cares about. He even makes a man for himself for his own pleasure, and he is parading this muscle man around. And you just assume that he has slept with everyone around him and then the opportunity comes along with this all-American couple... and he ends up sleeping with both of them as well!”