People Like Us: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Hello friends! On the eve of People Like Us’ third anniversary, I sat down with The Acoustic Pedestrian’s Jim Dorman to discuss the book, as well as some projects I’m currently working on. Check it out!

"A stunning accomplishment by Lauren Everett. Rocky Horror is the longest running film In Cinema History; read this book and understand WHY!" 

Outtake of the day; Paul as Dr. Frank-N-Furter - Haledon, NJ - The Home Of Happiness

See the pic that made the cut in People Like Us: The Cult of The Rocky Horror Picture Show! 

peoplelikeusrhps.com

"I'm relatively new to the world of shadowcasting Rocky Horror. I joined New Jersey's "Home of Happiness" in late 2009. I remember watching "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" when I was 12 years old on a worn down VHS copy of the film off cable TV. I didn't understand what was going on in the movie at the time. I remember liking the "Time Warp" and the guy from "It" dressed in fishnets but my appreciation for the film wouldn't come until seeing it a few more times in my teens on VH1 when it would be played during Halloween. I have always loved movies, especially B-Movies. 

When I was of age and I could understand the pop cultural references, the B-Movie aspects, the sexuality of the movie, as well as having an even greater appreciation of the music I found myself wanting to revisit the film in a proper theater setting. I always heard of people dressing up in costume to see the film I dismissed it as crazy fandom but when I saw the film for the first time in a theater with a shadow cast I was blown away. I was 17. To perform Rocky Horror in front of the movie screen to me was pure and simple magic. The costumes, the set pieces, the almost Catholic Mass-like call back lines all factored into an experience that I can never forget. Still, for some reason I did not attend another show until I was 23. That's when I discovered The Home of Happiness led by Mr. Legend himself, Larry Viezel. It wasn't long when I approached him asking if he needed an extra hand for tech. He promptly asked me to remove my shirt....hope you're still reading. 

Bridgid as Columbia Barely Legal Tracy, CA

(Outtake from People Like Us)

“I went to a show with my boyfriend many years ago and immediately decided that if this was to be a regular thing we did as a couple, I needed to be on the stage, not in the audience.  I am a participator of a different sort...not an audience participator, I am a Leo! So, I asked to audition. Instead, I was asked to perform as my audition on stage due to my theater and dance background (plus I went to the show in a kick ass costume!) The rest is history!

Jane as A Transylvanian Blue Mouseketeers/Vicarious Theater Company Seattle, WA

Jeb as Dr. Frank-N-Furter Bawdy Caste Half Moon Bay, CA (outtake from People Like Us)

“I first went to Rocky Horror when I was a senior in high school (2001).  I joined the cast at my university and I quit that and joined Bawdy Caste in 2006.  I am currently in graduate school for literature at UCSC and working on my PhD, which would make me yet another in a long line of Bawdy Caste members in the education field.

Rocky has served a number of roles in my life.  At the most basic level it provides a center around which a significant part of my social life orbits.  I love the people I have met through this cast.

But more than that I like the way that Rocky forces you to question categories that we are used to taking as just 'natural'.  I am not talking just about categories like gay/straight (which can actually be reinforced and reinscribed by this movie if the shadow cast doesn't handle things right) but rather more fundamental ideas about the performative nature of identity itself.  When you are watching an actor playing an actor playing a character masquerading in drag, and moreover, you yourself are a part of that performance, it becomes difficult to maintain any sort of rigidity to the lines that separate actor from performer, identity from performance, self from other.  Where does Frank-N-Furter end and Tim Curry begin?  where does Tim Curry end and I begin, where do I end and the audience begin? 

The radical potential of rocky is not in the content of the film, it is not in the 'queer themes' or the anti-puritanical message...  What I see in Rocky Horror is a critique space in which audience and cast alike can rehearse and enact a healthy skepticism about a whole range of relationships and roles-- The task then becomes one of  making sure that this critique that begins in the theater is not confined there.

While it might look like the shadow casts at Rocky Horror shows just materialize magically, there’s actually a ton of work behind the scenes that goes into producing the classic midnight experience. I’m teaming up with the Portland, OR cast, the Clinton Street Cabaret, to make a short movie about everything that they do to bring the bi-weekly shows to life. In addition to their importance to the general choreography of the show, rehearsals are a way for the cast to get to know each other, and from an outside perspective, look like a lot of fun!

Jaimie as Janet Weiss Indecent Exposure Long Beach, CA

“I first went to Rocky Horror after reading an article in the school newspaper about de-virginization.  The local cast (The Denton Affair – Santa Cruz) made virgins get on their knees, fill their mouths with whipped cream and a cherry, then a cast member would eat the cherry off.  My friends and I were curious so we went but did not admit to being virgins.  After much coaxing from my friend Toby that I looked like Janet, I volunteered to fill in one weekend and that was it! I became Janet.  I went on to join “the World’s Most Dangerous Cast” Indecent Exposure – Berkeley and became their main Janet as well as the Costume Mistress.  

Janet has always been something that comes naturally to me.  I would say she is me, but truthfully I am more Janet Majors than Janet Weiss.  But I do love performing.  I love knowing I do it well.  I love knowing I look *GOOD*.  And I love that people are entertained by my performance.  I have been very fortunate in my 22 year Janet career (yes, I was 6 when I started and VERY precocious) to perform in some amazing venues, The UC Theater – Berkeley, The Rialto Theater, Phoenix Theater – Petaluma, The Loft – Tucson, NYC, Denver, Long Beach, The Pantages, The Roxy, The Hollywood Bowl, The Joint – Las Vegas.  

As a life-long devotee of cinema, part of what fascinates me about the Rocky Horror phenomenon is it’s unique place in film history. It breaks the conventions of the dominant paradigm, wherein information flows in one direction; from the creator of content to a passive, receptive audience. It’s a relationship of maker and consumer, in which the maker holds considerably more cultural and social capital by virtue of their position and the nature of mass media. In this case the audience organically began to integrate themselves into the film through responsive dialog, and within a year or so of its release, there emerged a practice of costumed pantomime of the action on screen, which was the beginning of what we now know as “shadow casts.” 

Though there are other films that inspire fanatical devotion, Star Wars for example, this is the ONLY one with a participatory subculture of this complexity and longevity. Not only is it unique in that sense, but even more exciting from a theoretical and critical perspective is that the cult phenomenon is now an inextricable part the film and it’s history. Rocky Horror will always be known for, and defined by its fans, and that is truly revolutionary.

Jen as Dr. Frank-N-Furter NYC RHPS New York, NY

“I joined the New York City Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast in late 2006 after the "Creatures of the Night" episode of Cold Case revitalized my love of the show, which I first saw in a Toronto-area theater in 1989 at the tender age of 15. Mad Man Mike, the cast leader of NYC RHPS at the time, asked if I would be interested in playing Frank-N-Furter, and while it wasn't the part I originally had in mind - being female and 5'2" - I threw myself into preparing for the iconic role before taking the stage in early 2007. The rest, as they say, is history!

Within months my debut as Dr. Furter, I started producing a temporary tattoo of the heart and dagger design Frank wears on his right arm. This item became the flagship product of my Rocky-themed costume accessory business, Deadly Sting Tattoos (founded in 2007), which became Deadly Sting Tattoos & Wigs in 2010.