Published in Title Fashion Magazine
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Photograph by Branden DeVine
Maggy McDonel Fall 2018
Exhilarating energy erupts throughout The Esquire Theater as everyone-from the sequined-clad cast members to the nervous high schoolers-stand in the audience up and dances the Time Warp. The large light from the back is entirely blocked by people standing in the aisle and doing the pelvic thrust with complete strangers. Meanwhile, noisemakers shriek, toilet paper flies between the rows, and little regard is given to what is playing on the screen, as it is almost guaranteed every person in the audience knows the movie by heart.
The local theater group, The Denton Affair has been performing shadow cast shows for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in Cincinnati since 1979, according to Anjali Alm-Basu, program coordinator, MC, and the actress that plays Columbia. Shadow casts perform a pantomimed version of the film in front of the screen, the style is relaxed, yet it is obvious the actors have put considerable work into these performances. The show has been performed every other Saturday at The Esquire Theater since the late 90’s, according to Diane Janicki Operations manager for The Theater Management Corp, although at first, she could not think of when “Rocky” began showing at The Esquire stating, “we’ve been doing it so long we don’t even remember when it started.” Shows like the one at The Esquire have prolonged the popularity of the cult film that was initially released in 1975.
A movie that still permeates the culture four decades after its release must be something extraordinary. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” revolves around actor Tim Curry’s character Doctor Frank-N-Furter, a scientist, transvestite, alien from the planet Transylvania. The film is full of both wacky and “normal” characters, playing on the dichotomy of common culture versus counterculture. Although much of the movie makes little sense, unless considering it allegorically, the main focus is sex, singing, and straight-up strangeness.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” or “Rocky” as it is often referred to by the cast, gets its namesake from the character Rocky, a Frankensteins monster type character created by Dr. Frank-N-Furter. In the shadow cast Rocky, who in the film is a golden boy with mussels for brains, is played by a woman who prefers to be known as Jensen. Although she is a cis woman, Jensen plays up her femme side with golden spandex shorts and a sparkling golden bra.
The atmosphere with the cast is relaxed but eager before the audience arrives. They exchange small talk and discuss which members will be missing because of a trip to New York for Comic-Con, or who is out for family emergencies.
“I have been up since 5:15 in the morning because that’s when the kids go off the high school,” says the man who is known by Peter who plays Dr. Everett V. Scott. He is tall and has a big smile, and you can see how excited he is for the performance. He is wearing a t-shirt and jean but later on will be happily dancing up and down the isles in fishnet stockings and underwear.
“It’s our anniversary tonight,” says stagehand Andrew, who has been a part of the crew for three years. He gestures towards his wife, she smiles, happy to be a part of the festivities.
The 30-minute pre-show begins at 11:55 p.m. and people start to file in decked out in everything from bustiers, to laced-up corsets to t-shirts and jeans. “We’ve been here almost every other weekend since we started dating,” confesses a couple with matching bleach-blonde hair sitting in the front row, they have been dating for a year. In the front left corner, a group of terrified looking high schoolers is sporting rainbow flags and gay pride shirts, many are here supporting their virgin friends who are easily spotted by the bright red V’s on their foreheads.
“Rocky Horror Picture Show” virgins are those who have yet to experience the show, and before the movie begins, they have to be “devirginized.” By this, they all get in a line at the front of the theater, turn around, bend over, and get spanked by Alm-Basu with a rubber chicken. Tonight, there is a special spanking for Andrew and his wife. As the film and performance begin and audience members explode in a ferocious deluge of callbacks and perfectly timed jokes, it is obvious that many audience participants know every single word of the movie.
“Rocky” establishes its avant-garde style not only in the crazy plot and music but especially in the costume design. Although the shadow cast doesn’t have the budget of a Hollywood movie, they make do. Some of the costumes are easy to thrift but there are other pieces, like the character Columbia’s gold tailcoat cost at least $200 so the coat is shared among the cast members.
Most of the cast at one point or another wears a corset, Alm-Basu, says that most of the cast buys cheap corsets from eBay and modifies them. The cast often gets together to help each other with their costumes because, as Alm-Basu says while some of the members are experienced seamstresses, others can barely glue on sequins.
One of the most memorable looks in the movie is Columbia’s blue-and-white striped pajama set accessorized with Mickie Mouse-ear and heels. Alm-Basu pulls off this look perfectly. In 2004 she was a freshman fine arts major at U.C., and her roommate convinced her to join the Rocky cast, ever since she has been able to get out of her fashion comfort zone. Now when she contemplates wearing something that might be considered too “out there,” she says, “A lot of people in this city who I don’t know personally have seen me in my underwear, so I might as well wear this.” She now loves to experiment with fashion in any way she can.
“When the Time Warp comes on, everyone get up and dance and if you don’t know the dance… well the movie tells you,” she says, knowing full well everyone unquestionably knows what to do.
Maggy McDonel 