There are movies. And then there are movie experiences. "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is truly a movie experience. It's not what happens on the screen, but what happens in the audience, in the aisles and on stage in front of the screen that makes "Rocky" an experience.
The movie, based on a British stage production, premiered in 1975, and was a huge flop. But in 1976, the Waverly Theatre in New York's Greenwich Village decided to make it a midnight show complete with audience participation, and the cult of "Rocky" was born. The film has never stopped being shown on a movie screen somewhere in the world. It's the longest running theatrical release in film history and more than 200 cities have had live "Rocky" shows. "Rocky" returned to the stage and ran as a revival on Broadway from 2000 to 2002 where it was nominated for four Tonys.
For more than a decade here in Lexington, a local tribute troupe called Lips-R-Us has brought "Rocky" to life. The massive main auditorium of the Kentucky Theatre is home to a dedicated cast and crew who perform "Rocky" at weekend midnight shows throughout the year. Usually they perform once a month, but this fall, they've crammed five shows into three months.
I recently attended a "Rocky" show at the Kentucky. Before the performance, Greg Levrault, a veteran member of the cast and crew, told me, "This is our chance to let our hair down. We get a little crazy. I just want to warn you."
As it turns out, I wasn't a total "Rocky virgin," as first-timers are affectionately known. Sometime around 1980, I was in the audience of one of the first "Rocky" midnight shows in Chicago. I'll never forget it. Audience members yelled lines back at the screen, people raced out of their seats to mimic the songs and dances on screen, and I was drenched by squirt guns and pelted by toast. I had never seen a movie generate such a reaction. It was quite a scene.
On the surface, the plot of the movie doesn't seem to be the stuff of legend. One stormy night, a young couple-Brad and Janet-have a flat tire and end up at the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, where strange and kinky things are happening. Frank is about to bring his creation to life-a bronze boy toy in gold Speedos named Rocky. Before the night is over, the cast has engaged in big musical numbers, some bed swapping, a little bit of gore and a space trip back to the planet Transylvania.
The movie blends classic movie creatures, mad scientists and aliens with lavish old-time Hollywood musicals. But Rocky is a raunchier monster mash, a skewed sci-fi saga where this mad scientist prances around in a corset and sings "Sweet Transvestite from Transylvania."
Over the years, the audience participation at a "Rocky" screening has grown into full-blown stage productions. There are auditions for roles, weeks of rehearsals, elaborate staging, props and special effects.
Our own Lexington show is a prime example. Debbie Birge has been a cast member for 11 years here and directs the production, bringing control to the chaos. "We have to have some sort of organization to keep our sanity," she says. She sends out flyers for the shows, helps with costumes and choreography, organizes auditions, coordinates an army of behind-the-scenes volunteers and generally makes sure the "Rocky" shows go off without a hitch.
Debbie says that in the early days of the Lexington celebration of "Rocky," an overly excited fan rushed the stage and, in his enthusiasm to reenact a scene, managed to rip a hole in the Kentucky's screen.
Fred Mills, Kentucky Theatre's manager, was not amused. After that incident, the "Rocky" performances were no longer welcome at the Kentucky, and the show moved to the theaters at Fayette Mall. But when those theaters closed to make room for the food court, "Rocky" came back to a newly remodeled Kentucky. But this time, there were ground rules. First and foremost, keep your hands off the screen. "We damage that screen and we're done for," Debbie says. Plus no liquids of any kind are allowed (thus no squirt guns), and you can't throw anything on stage or at the cast or screen.
Inside the theatre, cast members make opening announcements and lay out a few of the ground rules. If you didn't bring your own "stuff" to throw, the Lips-R-Us gang offers "virgin kits" for a dollar. Each kit provides you with toilet paper, a rubber glove, rice, a playing card, a newspaper page and a slice of bread (not toasted) for the appropriate moments in the movie.
All virgins are asked to stand and recite a "Rocky" oath, and a few random virgins are invited on stage for some fun and games. Then the lights go down, the giant lips come on screen singing the intro song and the show is underway. Over the next hour and 38 minutes, performers come and go, sometimes giving a perfect imitation of onscreen action, sometimes inserting a few inspired touches - such as creating the illusion of climbing down the church steeple in the film's opening shot.
Audience involvement is key. Fans in the seats are encouraged to shout their callbacks at the screen, throw their stuff and generally get into the spirit of things. During the signature dance scene, the audience members come down in front of the stage for a kind of mosh pit to do the "Time Warp."
Keeping up with the action on screen, on stage and in the audience makes for a three-ring circus. Greg Levrault recommends that first-timers might want to rent the movie and watch it at home first to familiarize themselves with what's going on. "Being at a live 'Rocky' show is a very different experience from just going to the movies and sitting in the theatre," he says. "It's a very communal experience."
Greg also advises: "Expect anything from this crowd. Everyone has a chance to express themselves in the way they dress and the things they scream, which is the fun of it. Every event is a carnival. Come with an open mind."
Perhaps that's ultimately the appeal of "Rocky Horror Picture Show." It's an experience that breaks down the wall between performer and audience. People get out of their seats, join the action on screen, perform their favorite roles and, for one night, leave the confines of their own world.
The Kentucky Theatre will host a midnight show of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, as well as on Nov. 29. For more information, go to www.kentuckytheatre.com, or check out the Web site for Lips-R-Us at www.lipsrus.org.