By Nora Heston Tarte
F*** you. No refunds.
That quickly became the tagline—thanks to The Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Club president and emcee at the one-night-only Rocky Horror event at the Pioneer Center on Oct. 17. If that first line offends you, it’s probably a good time to stop reading. The rest of this article, I can promise you, will be NSFW – not safe for work.
His hilarious one-liner was repeated throughout the show’s opening to signal what was to come—an evening of chaotic enjoyment for all, and plenty of curse words.
The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” production was unlike anything I’ve seen before. It wasn’t a Broadway show. Instead, the movie played in its entirety, with sound, on a large screen on the Pioneer Center stage while a shadow cast from Tacoma, Washington, acted it out on stage—with some, um, creative additions.
Audience participation was encouraged, which largely included shouts of “asshole!” every time Brad Majors introduced himself, and “slut!” when he introduced his fiancée, Janet Weiss, played by Susan Sarandon. A few more innocent moments had the audience waving cellphone flashlights in the air.
As a casual viewer of the movie—I’ve seen it a few times over the years—the level of commitment to the antics was riveting. Much of the audience seemed to have an entirely separate script, with naughty puns and pointed jokes screamed during pauses. Some of it was almost impossible to understand, and some of it had too many expletives for me to write here without the future of my job being called into question.
In a traditional movie theater setting, these haphazard and almost constant outbursts would have been grounds for dismissal. At the Pioneer Center, they were both welcomed and applauded.
If you’re familiar with the cult classic film, you know this behavior is on-brand, especially for a movie based on transsexual transvestites and interplanetary relationships.
The production took creative license. The film’s quirky criminologist narrator was portrayed by a lip-syncing voluptuous vixen dressed in lingerie (who performed a striptease during the opening credits). A female took on the characters of Brad Majors and Rocky. The sex scenes were shielded behind a curtain so only shadows could be seen—somehow, those scenes were raunchier than the ones in the original movie.
I’ll spare you the details.
While some may take issue with anything that strays from the intrigue of the original film, I saw it as an on-brand update to the movie that many saw as a sexual awakening. After all, in 1975, the goal was at least partially (if not entirely) shock and awe, and if anything, the cast simply continued that tradition by taking it ten steps further into the future: 2024.
A six-foot inflatable penis occasionally made its way on stage, pointed purposefully toward open mouths and once at Barry Bostwick’s cleft chin.
If this is your type of humor, you were in for a treat as the audience bought prop grab bags filled with paper party hats and various items to throw during the show. Everything felt like an inside joke, and even if for one evening only, it felt good to be part of the club.
Before the film began, a costume contest was held during which a towering Frank-N-Furter won first prize. Other notable appearances included Janets and Brads dressed in their skivvies and a couple of convincing Riff Raffs.
Barry Bostwick, the actor who played Brad Majors’ iconic stiff, perhaps sexually confused protagonist, opened the show with a monologue and a brief Q&A. VIP guests also had the opportunity to meet him before the show and collect autographs on posters available for sale.
All in all, the evening was a wild journey and a foray into a world unlike any I’ve entered before.
While I may not have been converted to a die-hard fangirl, I’m thankful for the opportunity to live among them for an evening, soaking in the oddball, off-brand, positively filthy collective humor and getting to dance the time warp with a room full of strangers. Bucket list achieved.
The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” played for one night only, so you’ll have to wait for a repeat performance to get in on the fun. Or search it out at the next city stop. I hear Seattle will be seeing the crew soon.
