Antici...pation!
It's officially a joke now. It's been in The Onion.
Last night I went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Joyo. There were 209 people there, which is the largest crowd I have ever seen the movie with. I think of the RHPS in blocks of time.
I saw it at the Westroads Mall in the 80s. We were the only ones with props in those days at the Westroads.
I started going again when I found out about the shadow cast at the Joyo in 2005 or so. You could actually buy a prop kit in the lobby.
I have always been more of a prop person - rice, newspaper, lights, party favors, cards, hotdogs (in the old days at the Westroads before they banned them)...I do have one line that I like and that is at the dinner scene, "What, meatloaf again?!"
They stopped showing RHPS at the Joyo on Saturdays a couple of years ago and decided to run it in October. The response has been phenomenal. They even got a write up in the local paper.
It's not something that everyone understands or embraces. Last night I stopped at the house between a friend's wedding at the midnight show. A few of us decided to hit RHPS after the reception. I toasted bread and looked for rice. Bill shook his head. I could not find rice and ended up bagging quinoa - about 6 bags of it - and made up prop kits for others that might not know to bring stuff. I stopped at Super Saver at 11pm dressed for the show and asked about party favors. "What kind of party are you going to?" asked the amused stocker.
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show," I said.
"I think I have heard of that," he said.
They had party hats. I bought two packs. They didn't have the shaking party favors, so I bought the popping kind.
I showed up at the RHPS by myself and as I walked up to the theater I felt a little self conscious. Everyone was with someone. But then I saw someone I knew and we hugged and got in line. Inside there were more people that I knew. And most importantly, and this is a Rocky Thing, there were people I didn't know.
"You'll need a party hat!" I said as I walked through the theater and handed out hats to people with red "V"s on their cheeks. (I should have bought 10 packs of hats - I had no idea there would be that many people there.) "Do you need a prop kit?" I asked the kids ahead of me as I handed them a trick or treat bucket of newspaper and quinoa, etc.
I sat with some veteran RHPS folks. They knew all the lines. I was grateful that I was able to catch them off guard with some of my props.
"I have rice all over me," Eric said.
"Actually that's quinoa," Justin informed him.
And when I handed out the party poppers they said, "What are these for?"
"Confetti!" I said as Frank and Rocky walked up the stairs to the Wedding March. We popped them and threw the resulting confetti. I think Dr. Frankenfurter would have enjoyed the ceremony.
I gave a ride home to a friend that had never seen RHPS. "I think it would be more fun if I knew what to shout," she said.
"I dunno. I think it should be more organic. If it's going to survive then it needs to change a bit," I said. You know, it's 2010, like, throw quinoa.
I am heartened that the younger generation comes to the show. And I am heartened that some of us still cling to RHPS. It was important to me. It was somewhere to go on a Saturday night. You can go to RHPS and know people and make friends - they are always glad to see you.
I hear that "Glee" is featuring RHPS this week. Several of the kids around me were talking about it. They knew about RHPS without having actually seen it.
I've never seen a single episode of "Glee." I think that makes me a Glee Virgin?
Last night I went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Joyo. There were 209 people there, which is the largest crowd I have ever seen the movie with. I think of the RHPS in blocks of time.
I saw it at the Westroads Mall in the 80s. We were the only ones with props in those days at the Westroads.
I started going again when I found out about the shadow cast at the Joyo in 2005 or so. You could actually buy a prop kit in the lobby.
I have always been more of a prop person - rice, newspaper, lights, party favors, cards, hotdogs (in the old days at the Westroads before they banned them)...I do have one line that I like and that is at the dinner scene, "What, meatloaf again?!"
They stopped showing RHPS at the Joyo on Saturdays a couple of years ago and decided to run it in October. The response has been phenomenal. They even got a write up in the local paper.
It's not something that everyone understands or embraces. Last night I stopped at the house between a friend's wedding at the midnight show. A few of us decided to hit RHPS after the reception. I toasted bread and looked for rice. Bill shook his head. I could not find rice and ended up bagging quinoa - about 6 bags of it - and made up prop kits for others that might not know to bring stuff. I stopped at Super Saver at 11pm dressed for the show and asked about party favors. "What kind of party are you going to?" asked the amused stocker.
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show," I said.
"I think I have heard of that," he said.
They had party hats. I bought two packs. They didn't have the shaking party favors, so I bought the popping kind.
I showed up at the RHPS by myself and as I walked up to the theater I felt a little self conscious. Everyone was with someone. But then I saw someone I knew and we hugged and got in line. Inside there were more people that I knew. And most importantly, and this is a Rocky Thing, there were people I didn't know.
"You'll need a party hat!" I said as I walked through the theater and handed out hats to people with red "V"s on their cheeks. (I should have bought 10 packs of hats - I had no idea there would be that many people there.) "Do you need a prop kit?" I asked the kids ahead of me as I handed them a trick or treat bucket of newspaper and quinoa, etc.
I sat with some veteran RHPS folks. They knew all the lines. I was grateful that I was able to catch them off guard with some of my props.
"I have rice all over me," Eric said.
"Actually that's quinoa," Justin informed him.
And when I handed out the party poppers they said, "What are these for?"
"Confetti!" I said as Frank and Rocky walked up the stairs to the Wedding March. We popped them and threw the resulting confetti. I think Dr. Frankenfurter would have enjoyed the ceremony.
I gave a ride home to a friend that had never seen RHPS. "I think it would be more fun if I knew what to shout," she said.
"I dunno. I think it should be more organic. If it's going to survive then it needs to change a bit," I said. You know, it's 2010, like, throw quinoa.
I am heartened that the younger generation comes to the show. And I am heartened that some of us still cling to RHPS. It was important to me. It was somewhere to go on a Saturday night. You can go to RHPS and know people and make friends - they are always glad to see you.
I hear that "Glee" is featuring RHPS this week. Several of the kids around me were talking about it. They knew about RHPS without having actually seen it.
I've never seen a single episode of "Glee." I think that makes me a Glee Virgin?
posted by Lea at 7:07 PM
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