“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” experience is a Halloween-time tradition that transcends the holiday it has been attached to. Since the 1975 film rose to its status as a cult classic, shadow-casted performances – a showing of the film with a cast of actors who (often wordlessly) perform the events of the film in front of the screen – have become tradition across the United States and even internationally.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” itself is not necessarily Halloween-themed, but it makes references to traditionally spooky things – notably “Frankenstein” and the gothic horror genre writ large – and its eccentric nature encourages eccentric costuming, matching the Halloween vibes.
This Halloween was no different as dozens of performances were held in and around New York City throughout the weekend. On Saturday, Nov. 1, I was able to attend The New School in Manhattan, New York’s performance of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with a shadow cast. The experience was much more than I had expected. I went in completely blind, having never even seen the film before, and I was blown away.
The shadow cast left nothing to be desired. From the character of Dr. Frank-N-Furter to the ensemble dancers, everyone was high-energy, interactive and clearly immersed in the roles they played. They kept up with the film all while running through and around the audience, dancing their hearts out to the musical numbers.
The show also highly supports audience participation, even encouraging viewers to yell lines and phrases at the film and performers. A program of prop cues was available to the audience and an “initiation” segment occurred for those who were “virgin” to the performance (i.e., had never seen it live before).
It took a moment to get used to the informality of that kind of behavior in a show setting, but veteran attendees made it easy to slip into the current of the performance. My audience was super active; there was barely a moment of the film that went unaccompanied by applause, callouts, hoots or hollers. The crowd was also more than happy to throw confetti, toilet paper and cards at the performers as the program saw fit and engage in some friendly hazing of those marked with the virgin “V.”
All this is quite customary to a live “Rocky Horror Picture Show” experience. It is part of the tradition to attend dressed in whatever’s comfortable and on-theme, and to stay loud and proud in participation throughout the film. Even before the opening number, the sense of community that filled the theater is undeniable. After seeing it once, I can confidently say I think it’s something everyone should see, especially if you are a part of Queer or LGBTQ+ spaces.
The film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” at its core, is a story about radical self-acceptance. While many of the main characters’ actions are denounceable at best and downright abhorent at worst, the story follows just about every character in the film going on a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
The themes of Queerness, sexuality, other-ness, deviance and hedonism – all in the direction of self-love – allows oneself to engage in their true self, which is powerful. Whether relating to all, some or none of the sub-themes of the film, this focus on the true self and self-acceptance is a huge reason this film has garnered such popularity among Queer people. It dares audiences to imagine their life as lived by their truest and purest form of self.
Watching the shadow cast perform this powerful message in a room full of dressed up, enthusiastic individuals, I couldn’t help but feel that life was imitating art.
