I first saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) when I was twelve years old. I hated it. I thought it was lewd and pointless. True, the musical is lewd, but I now see immense value in it. I fell in love with the movie about a year later, but I don’t remember what changed my mind. For my fourteenth birthday, I went into Chelsea, New York, to see my first shadow cast. I was far too young to fully understand, appreciate, and participate, but it remains one of my fondest memories.
Through the years, I’ve held casual parties in my home where my friends and I do our own shadow casts, I’ve joined the shadow cast at my college (and was supposed to play Frank one year, until the production was canceled), I’ve gone to a dozen midnight showings, I’ve seen a stage production, and I’ve taken countless people’s virginity. Let’s just say this film is important to me.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Its Queer Cultural Impact
The musical was monumental for the queer community when it debuted on stage in a tiny, 63-seat theater in London in 1973. At last, an overtly gay, bisexual story with unconventional gender expression that wasn’t swept under the rug! It then played in various theaters in London until closing in 1980. Although the movie was not too well-received when it was first released, it has, of course, amassed an enormous cult following since then. On April 2, 1976, less than a year after the film’s US release, it was first screened at midnight in New York, spawning the audience participation tradition.
Rocky Horror is still running strong, both in shadow casts at midnight screenings and in live stage productions. Even the COVID pandemic couldn’t tame this wild thing: a theater in Portland, Oregon, continued showing it to an empty house for 54 weeks of closure, and a huge team of celebrities joined forces to support the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s election efforts on Halloween 2020 with a live-streamed reading. Now that shadow casts are back, the hordes of Regular Frankie Fans can do the Time Warp together once more.
What to Expect at a Rocky Horror Midnight Showing With a Shadow Cast
But what can you expect from a midnight showing with a shadow cast? To avoid giving away too much, I’ll go over the basic goings-on and prepare you for a night you will remember for a very long time.
Before you go to the movie theater, you should check with them about their prop policy. Many shadow casts will sell prop bags with approved items, but people can also bring their own. The most common props are toilet paper, toast, water guns, newspaper, and rice. Not every theater is okay with patrons throwing rice and such because it’s annoying to clean up, so you shouldn’t just go in with everything and expect to use all of it.
Costumes, Theme Nights, and Audience Participation
Dressing up as characters from the movie used to be a huge event, but I’ve noticed a significant decrease in that over the years, so don’t feel pressured to go in costume. A lot of casts will have events that encourage certain dress, like prom night or lingerie night.
Every show I’ve been to has had some sort of virgin initiation though, the specific ritual changes from cast to cast. You’ll have to see for yourself what your local cast does! You may be asking, What is a virgin? Besides a social construct that has no basis in fact, a Rocky Horror virgin is someone who has never been to a live show before. You may have seen the movie beforehand, but that experience is nothing like a midnight showing. It should be noted that the initiation is just for fun, and it is totally optional. Consent is key.
Callbacks, Chaos, and the Joy of Collective Mayhem
Once the movie starts, be prepared for a lot of yelling. There are tons of callbacks, or lines that the audience will shout at the screen and at each other. This is probably the biggest appeal of a live show. It’s a wild community effort to engage with the movie, the shadow players, and your fellow audience members. When watching at home, callbacks are fun, but it’s so much better in the theater. Don’t expect to hear much of the actual movie or the individual lines, though. It’s chaos. (As a side note, I was known as the queen of callbacks in my college cast because I knew so many for every scene.)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a cult and cultural phenomenon for good reason. Even if you haven’t seen the movie before going to a midnight showing, which is actually what I recommend for the full experience, you’re in for a wild time. It’s raucous, inappropriate, potentially offensive, and the best night out I can imagine.