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(Photo: Jeff Malet)
Rocky Horror and Halloween go together like Hollywood stars and hit-and-run accidents. Whether it’s a midnight screening at E-Street Cinema or a local production of the Richard O’Brien musical, the show takes on a special significance during this time of year when “sexy” costumes of all kinds are in vogue. What makes Rocky Horror different from any other show is the musical’s culture of attending performances in costume, heckling the cast with call-outs, and taking part alongside the show through the use of props. As a result the campy tale of Brad (Chad W. Fornwalt) and Janet’s (Ali Hoxie) night at a mysterious castle inhabited by a trans-sexual cohort turns into a cult performing arts experience that everybody has to experience at least once.
The Washington Savoyards paid special attention to the Rocky culture as they opened their production of The Rocky Horror Show at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The audience on H-Street maybe a bit too hip to show up to a performance in heels and corsets as they demonstrated this past weekend but the vibe was still there with bags of props sold to patrons in the lobby and a healthy encouragement from the cast for audience members to shout some of the more commonly known Rocky call-outs. Director Jay D. Brock and company understand that the audience entertains themselves as much as the actors on stage and have created a production that plays to the Rocky Horror fans out there.