The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Not Safe For Work

Over the past four years I would drive down Santa Monica blvd and at the intersection of Sawtelle, the Nuart Theatre would always catch my eye with its headline of “Midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”  It wasn’t until this past summer that I finally decided to go watch it. I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve always heard of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but never really knew what it really was.  Apparently, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 British musical horror comedy/rock opera film that parodies science fiction. I just thought that it was an old movie about a bisexual man who chases another man in the movie, because a friend described it to me as that. Little would I know that it was so much more than that! This theatre production of the movie was a little bit different than watching a typical movie. It had real actors performing on stage to the Rocky Horror Picture Show as the movie played behind them. The actors were dressed up as the characters in the movie shown while lip syncing the words as if they were actually apart of the movie. It was truly one of the most unique performances I have ever watched! Firstly, it was to my surprise that the movie was a musical! I had no idea at first and it was a pleasant surprise. This night was also a special night. It was an all male cast, which it normally wasn’t. The theatre was very old fashioned and as the movie started, the real show also began. The curtains parted and you could see a silhouette of a woman figure, which was actually a man playing a woman, dressed up in red lingerie as she was sitting on a chair singing sultrily to the opening song to the movie. She did a little strip tease for the audience and to my surprise even flashed her (his) butt while wearing a thong while wearing nothing but tassle pasties on her chest. The movie was starting and after that performance I knew that this was definitely going to a very explicit, crude, and racy show! Great! Another thing about this show is that it is also known as a “cult classic.” There is a script list that is prepared for the audience to also say along in the show if they wanted to. Most people in the audience have been to watch this show multiple times and have already memorized what to say during the movie. However, I was a virgin to the show so I didn’t know what to say, while everyone around me were shouting out lines during the movie. Also, if you're a virgin to the show, before you get in the theatre they mark up your cheeks with a big "V" in red lipstick along with a crude word on your forehead such as "cunt" or "25 cents." It was amazing to witness such a thing, because I’ve never been to something that incorporated the audience so much. Everyone who came to watch the show was encouraged to dress up as their favorite characters from the movie, which gave a great atmosphere. People were wearing fishnets, lingerie, pajamas, little boy shorts, and Mickey Mouse ears to the show.  A lot of the people who went to watch were also drunk, loud, and obnoxious, which was actually fine for this because it went along with the mood of the performance. There is just so much ridiculousness in the musical, which made it very entertaining because it was not something to be serious about. For instance, the plot revolved around a Transylvanian bisexual transvestite man who creates a young boy for himself to be his lover, but his boy creation is not in love with him, so the transvestite tries to chase the boy down. There is also a young married couple in the show thatintervene in the transvestite’s life, so that there are many different love triangles. My favorite part of the show was where they do the “time warp” dance, which allowed the audience to learn and participate in it too! It was very fun and awesome to see every single person out of his or her seats doing the Time Warp. There were also parts of the show where it would be raining in the movie and cast members would throw water into the audience for an added affect. As for negative comments, I suppose the acting of the cast wasn't as good as in the movie but in all honesty, I don't think anyone cared because it was still entertaining to watch. Overall, this was probably one of the most fun I’ve had watching a musical and I would definitely go see it again someday. What made it so enjoyable was the environment and how enthusiastic the audience and cast were. I would definitely recommend people to watch it but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who gets offended easily because it was very crude. I also heard that the Rocky Horror Picture Show is doing a UK tour this year, so everyone should keep an eye out for that ;) 

Christine Luu

cluu17@ucla.edu