41: Act on Passions: And a step to the right

During my time with the cast, I have met some wonderful people. Some of them have had my safety in mind every step of the way, even questioning my previous relationships and offering to kick some asses for me. Despite being younger than a lot of the cast, they treat me as an equal and as a manager, just as they would someone their own age. It’s quite rare, from what I have found in life so far, to be treated as an equal by someone older, even if both people are equally experienced in the thing at hand. I’m glad that I have this experience so I can know to require that respect of people I work with in the future. They respect my opinion on the other cast members and their abilities and what I think needs to be done to make our show better.

I’m glad to have met a community of people that also like this show, including the friends and significant others of those on the cast. I’ve met local drag queens and burlesque dancers and and on a first name basis with may of them. Rocky Horror Picture Show is part of a amazing larger community of performers and amazingly talented people in Richmond. I have met so many local people who are heading straight to the top of the charts in their chosen profession or hobby because of this show. I will be forever grateful!

I even met my boyfriend at a Rocky Horror Picture Show. He came to a show and was drunk by Eddie’s debut. I knew he was coming to the show and was super nervous! From then on though it was all flirting and cuteness. Apparently, Rocky Horror Picture Show controls my life!

Such a loving couple.

In my future with the Rocky Horror Picture Show cast, I plan to take on more roles. I want to be a person that can fill any character needed at the time. My next task will be Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He’s the biggest character to take on, but I think I am ready to do it! I know I have the support of my cast behind me. They would help me through any obstacles that I come across. I’m not sure where I will be with this cast in the next few years. I hope I still find it as fulfilling as I do now. If I move on from it though, I will always remember the loving relationships I made here and I will definitely always remember those silly callbacks!

40: Act on Passions: It’s just a jump to the left

I have very few problems with Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Sometimes though, it feels like I waste my life on it. I have a drawer full of costuming. I have spent hours sewing sequins and ribbons on clothes. I have searched thrift stores for days to find the perfect shoes. I have a box full of otherwise useless makeup. Glitter, gluesticks, dark brown foundation. I have so much brain space taken up by this movie. Every line, every scene in order. When a callback comes and what to say exactly, throughout the entire movie. What props need to be on stage for every scene and the scene after it. I know a ton of random facts about the show.

In the original stage production of the show, Tim Curry was blonde.

Dr. Scott busts through the wall because they forgot to make a door in the lab.

When the show first aired, it flopped, but gained success as a midnight show.

Riff Raff’s shoes have a cuban heel (curved in at the back like a cowboy boot).

Columbia’s floorshow corset is on upside down.

There is an actual Easter egg hidden under Frank’s silver chair. (seen below)

But then I remember that these people are like my family! It seems like a chore to have to some months. When I have too many other things to do, and it just seems like another obligation. Parties come up, exams are the next day, friends are in town, but then I get to Rocky Horror and see my cast and I remember why I love it! These people are a second family. They know me and my troubles and my strengths. They have helped me through hard times. They get concerned that I eat enough and that I’m being safe getting to the shows. When I brought my boyfriend to a show, it was like introducing him to my family. I was glad when they approved and told me he was a good one.

Like a family, we have our problems and our arguments, but at the end of the day, we all go to breakfast after the show and chat about our lives and interests, which are generally quite nerdy.

I’ve learned a lot about myself from Rocky Horror Picture Show. I gained a lot of my self-confidence through doing the show. I spend every show in front of an audience acting, and often acting in my underwear. Because of this, I’m confident in my body and my ability to rock that stage! From running the merch table, I have grown in my selling skills as well as my ability to talk to people and explain everything we have to offer in a few seconds to grab their attention.

All in all, I believe that I am a better person because of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 

39: Act on Passions: Don’t dream it, be it

After being Columbia for a whole year, I realized that our only Riff Raff was going to be studying abroad and that we needed a new person to play him. I decided to step up to the plate. Being Riff Raff was a whole different animal. Columbia is bright and cheery and confident throughout the movie. Riff Raff is mopey, a bit strung out and angry. It took a few shows to get used to it, but I eventually settled into the character, with my own twist.

Women rarely play Riff Raff in Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow casts. It is a traditionally male played character. I wanted to girl it up a bit! This was a big moment because it took the confidence in the rest of the cast in me to trust that I could do it and still be an effective Riff Raff. Thankfully they did!

For reference, here is our old, male Riff Raff and me as Columbia

And here is me as the new Riff Raff, complete with a sequin bra

Not the best photo face, but it shows off my feminine cut jacket and shirt and sequined bra. I also do my makeup in pinks and purples, except for those deep cut cheekbones, of course!

From taking on this second character, I must have proved something to the managers, because they asked me to be the manager of the transies. It is my responsibility to teach all of the new transies the Time Warp and what they should wear for the show. It is a huge responsibility because it is the part the audience generally come in already knowing. They know what to expect for this! They have real expectations that I have to meet with my transies! The good part is that I am incredibly proud of my transies! They are willing to learn and willing to change when I ask.

I am also in charge of running the merch table, at least for the last few months and until our merch queen returns after having her baby. This is also the cast managers putting a lot of trust in me to run the table and large amounts of cash, really, our only income.

It’s really a wonderful feeling to have people put that much trust into you. I hope I do not disappoint them, and take their points to improve at every turn.

For funzies, here is a picture from the end of the show when I’m Riff Raff

 

 

38: Act on Passions: It seemed a fairly ordinary night

I got started in Rocky Horror a year and a half ago after only seeing the movie twice beforehand. I started as a props person, which was a great place to start. I had to learn every part of the movie and the order it went in, so I could have the props set out and ready for the face characters to use. It’s a lot like being a behind the scenes, tech person for theater. I started with a large group of people on Halloween weekend and I was the only one to stick around for the next month.

After earning my wings as a props person, I moved up to being a transie, a party goer and member of the planet Transexual, where Riff Raff, Magenta, and Frank are from (post 37 has the whole plot written out if you’re confused). Transies still set up props for the majority of the show, but also get the fun of dancing the Time Warp, which is the one song everyone seems to know from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

By February, I was more comfortable with the show. I knew every scene in order and the props it needed. I told the manager that I wanted to start playing Columbia, so I spent a month making my own costume. I hand sewed a ton of sequins to a tank top and a corset, and ribbons to pair of shorts. I collected the perfect socks, fishnets, pajamas and shoes. I was ready!

I was ready. I knew my lines. But I was so nervous! I would be on stage in my underwear. With a whole audience watching me, with a screen behind me. I couldn’t watch it while I was performing, so I had to know everything that was going on on the screen by what was said. The first show, I was really nervous. After the second show, I was getting better. I improved every show, watching it several times before the show every month and practicing in my house.

The strangest part was that I started to get past the whole, being in my underwear, thing. I’m not sure what changed exactly. Maybe I got more confident in that I was screen accurate. Maybe I just stopped caring what the audience thought about my body.

I think that this is probably the best thing I have learned from doing Rocky Horror Picture Show. I became more confident in myself. I could be in front of an audience. And not even just that, I could be in a corset and thigh highs in front of an audience! I didn’t care what they thought about my body or my acting or me in general. They could all be sitting there thinking “What a walrus of a human being that is” and I wouldn’t care!

This has translated to me being more confident in my day to day life. My fashion choices grew. I cut off all my hair, because I look damn good with short hair. If I meet someone and they don’t like me, that doesn’t bother me. They can go away. I have confidence in my job too. If my makeup is a bit off one day, who the hell cares? I can talk to just about anyone I meet.

37: Act on Passions: I would like to take you on a strange journey

My one of my passions is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical from the 1970’s. It stars Tim Curry as the mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

Susan Sarandon as newly engaged woman, Janet Weiss. Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors, Janet’s soon-to-be husband.

Little Nell as Columbia, a groupie and fan of Frank. Patricia Quinn as Magenta, a maid. Richard O’Brien stars as the butler, Riff Raff, and is also the creator of the original play and many of the songs.

The story follows Brad and Janet as they get engaged, then as they are driving one night, they get a flat tire. They remembering seeing a castle up the road and go there to see if there is a phone they can use. They then get swept up into a party of Transylvanians. Frank invites them to see his newest creation, a man. A man made for Frank to use sexually. It’s a weird movie, don’t get me wrong.

Things go downhill for Brad and Janet from there. They watch Frank murder an old creation. Then they are forced to stay the night, where Frank comes into their separate bedrooms, and … well let’s just say this movie is rated R. Then Janet gets mad a Brad and sleeps with the creation, Rocky. Frank gets mad at all of them. Then a former Nazi and science teacher of Brad and Janet shows up, looking for his nephew, who Frank murdered a few scenes earlier.

They all have a very angry dinner together, which ends in a chase scene. Frank then turns them all to stone to get ready for the floorshow, aka, a dance scene.

During their group dance, the butler and maid (Riff Raff and Magenta) burst in and state that they are in charge now and will be returning to their home planet, without Frank. After a heartfelt song, Frank and a few others are killed, and the entire house gets lifted up to go home to the planet of Transexual.

It’s a weird movie. A movie that I have seen at least 100 times. I did not look up the order of these scenes before writing them, and it’s been a month since I last saw it. That’s how well I know this movie.

The reason I know it so well is because I am part of Orgasmic Rush of Lust, Richmond’s only Rocky Horror Picture Show live shadow cast. We perform the movie the first weekend of every month at BowTie Cinemas, acting it out in front of the screen while the movie plays on the screen behind us.Part of the fun of the show is that there are callbacks that the audience can yell at the screen. The callbacks are generally mean and hopefully dirty.

I joined the cast after I had only seen the live show twice. I started because it seemed like fun! A good way for me to get out of my shell a bit and try something new. I started on props, then moved to be a Transylvanian, then into the face characters of Columbia and Riff Raff. I’ve been doing it for a year and a half and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!