‘SNL’ Alum Rachel Dratch Is Putting a ‘Different Spin’ on a Cult Classic (Exclusive)

Rachel Dratch is taking audiences on a strange journey as she hits the stage on Broadway for a “different spin” on The Rocky Horror Show.

The Saturday Night Live alum opened up to PopCulture.com as part of her partnership with American Home Shield about the antici…pation of bringing the cult musical to life on stage ahead of its official opening on April 23, revealing that it’s been “really fun” making the role of narrator her own, despite the inherent difficulties of bringing a cultural phenomenon like The Rocky Horror Show back to Broadway.

“We’re kind of navigating, how much are people yelling at this — I was gonna say the screen, and that’s kind of the problem,” Dratch said of the ongoing preview performances, adding of the audience, “Sometimes they think they’re in a movie theater, they’re yelling out as much as they would at the midnight showing.”

“So we’re kind of navigating, sort of telling people like, ‘You’re in a theater now,’ but they’re still encouraged to yell out at certain times,” she explained. “But we’ll see how that ends up.”

Taking on the role of the narrator, originally played by Jonathan Adams, is right in Second City alum Dratch’s wheelhouse, as there’s “kind of an improv element to it” in terms of working with the audience.

“I feel like this is the moment I’ve trained for now,” she told PopCulture, “Having done a lot of improv, it’s sort of helpful. I’m so far not super rattled — I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m sticking to the script, I’m trying to serve the story in that way.”

Taking on the role played in the film by a “stodgy, older man” and making it her own is “definitely a different spin” on the beloved show, and Dratch pointed out that Tony nominee Amber Gray is gender flipping the character of Riff Raff as well, “So we’re playing with various things and making this our own.”

The “fantastic” cast also stars Luke Evans as a “really great” Frank-N-Furter, as well as Harvey Guillén as Eddie/Dr. Scott; Academy Award nominee Stephanie Hsu as Janet; Academy Award nominee Juliette Lewis as Magenta; Josh Rivera as Rocky; and Golden Globe winner Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Columbia.

Dratch also got to flex her theater skills in the third iteration of her American Home Shield marketing campaign, reprising her character Warrantina in situations ranging from a “wacky” community theater production to a fortune-telling session as she helps educate homeowners about the home warranty category.

Dratch called her Warrantina commercials “super fun to do and play,” telling PopCulture, “It feels like doing a comedy sketch, so it’s nice when you happen to be doing a commercial that could also be a comedy sketch, in terms of this character is just really fun.”