‘Rocky Horror’ is still a refuge for fans, 50 years later
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
There are cult classics, and then there's "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Beloved by midnight moviegoers, it came out 50 years ago in the U.S. Some fans call it the original immersive experience. NPR's Neda Ulaby joined some of them at a theater in Wayne, Michigan, and has this story.
(CROSSTALK)
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: People here are wearing fishnets and feather boas, corsets and keffiyehs. It's a sold-out show of a couple hundred enthusiastic fans who gather twice a month for a late-night screening organized by the Michigan Rocky Horror Preservation Society.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: We proudly welcome you to the classic State Wayne.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) State Wayne.
ULABY: In the lobby, volunteers sell bags of toast and other props to throw at the screen at key moments in the movie. Fans sing along as it begins.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Early morning, Rocky Horror.
ULABY: The call and response sounds like an absurdist avant-garde tone poem if you're not part of the culture.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Shouting) Get the dogs. Get the dogs. Get the dogs.
BECKY MILANIO KOUPPARIS: It's a lot to take in when you first come to a show.
ULABY: Becky Milanio Koupparis dressed up for her first "Rocky Horror Show" in Berkeley, California, 44 years ago. Now she's this group's director emeritus and chief operating officer. There are dozens of Rocky Horror groups around the country. People join what are called shadowcasts and act out the movie underneath the screen as it plays. They pride themselves on precision, says Moonbeam Albin-Frey, another of this group's co-founders.
MOONBEAM ALBIN-FREY: We are trying to mimic every single small movement, lip sync, dance move - every single thing that they're doing.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW")
BARRY BOSTWICK: (As character) We must've taken the wrong fork a few miles back.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) Or taken the right spoon.
ULABY: Back in the 1970s and '80s, Rocky Horror aficianados had to go to the theater over and over to nail down those details. Some theater owners would have special screenings with the lights on so hardcore fans could take notes, says Jessica Harris. She's this group's current director. Patience and discipline, she says, was a must before DVDs and VCRs.
JESSICA HARRIS: You couldn't rewind to rehearse your performance. You couldn't stop and pause to see costuming details.
KOUPPARIS: And now people are able to 3D print those costume pieces.
ULABY: Becky Milanio Koupparis says you cannot overstate the importance of what she calls screen accuracy. There's an entire Facebook group dedicated to recreating just one jacket worn by a main character. But even new technology has not settled arguments among fans, says Harris, like the exact color of sequins on a character's costume.
HARRIS: The debate has always been, are they blue? Are they purple? Are they oil slick? I tend to fall on the oil slick side of that debate.
ULABY: What do you get out of this...
ALBIN-FREY: Extreme anal-retentive behavior? Well, a lot of us in the community are neurodivergent. I'm just going to throw that out there. Ding, ding, ding.
ULABY: That is Moonbeam Albin-Frey.
ALBIN-FREY: When you are neurodivergent, acting out your favorite movie week after week after week is actually pretty appealing. Not going to lie.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET TRANSVESTITE")
TIM CURRY: (As Frank-N-Furter, singing) Let me show you around.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) What's around?
ULABY: "Rocky Horror" is about a very square young couple who get trapped in a castle with a bunch of gleefully bizarre people who are actually aliens of polymorphous sexual persuasions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET TRANSVESTITE")
CURRY: (As Frank-N-Furter, singing) A sweet transvestite from...
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Boom shaka laka. Boom shaka laka laka.
ULABY: The language, let's be clear, is dated. This castle is run by a glamorous male mad scientist in a glittering corset and heels. And you can never tell which characters are going to start canoodling, says Jessica Harris.
HARRIS: Right now, there's a lot of pushback on personal freedoms. And I think that "Rocky Horror," it's good queer representation, and it's good to protect drag.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET TRANSVESTITE")
CURRY: (As Frank-N-Furter, singing) I'm just a sweet transvestite...
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) Check him out.
ULABY: The things people yell at the screen have changed. Once homophobic and antisemitic slurs were common. It's all still pretty raunchy. You're just hearing the broadcastable bits right now.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL, "THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW")
CURRY: (As Frank-N-Furter, singing) Don't get strung out...
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Like a tampon.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET TRANSVESTITE")
CURRY: (As Frank-N-Furter, singing) ...By the way that I look.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Like a tampon.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET TRANSVESTITE")
CURRY: (As Frank-N-Furter, singing) Don't judge a book...
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) By the tampon.
ULABY: Becky Milanio Koupparis.
KOUPPARIS: Yeah, it's not PC in a lot of ways. "Rocky Horror" was the place to push the envelope as much as possible.
ULABY: But this is a safe space, says one member of the Michigan Rocky Horror Preservation Society. Ember Dupont-Funk is 19 years old.
EMBER DUPONT-FUNK: I grew up in a really Christian conservative city, and "Rocky" was the first time that I saw myself represented, even if it wasn't the best representation.
ULABY: Dupont-Funk says, look, it's not a great movie.
DUPONT-FUNK: I love it 'cause it's bad.
ULABY: "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is weird, he says, and fun.
DUPONT-FUNK: Just like me and most of my favorite people here.
ULABY: The 50-year-old world of "Rocky Horror," he says, is one where people join together, entertain and uplift each other, where being outside the norm is celebrated. What a refuge, he says, right now.
DUPONT-FUNK: A world without volunteer work, a world without community, a world without going out is not a world I want to be in. And it's kind of a thing that we're losing nowadays.
ULABY: Not in here, though.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TIME WARP")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Doing the time warp.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) Kick. Kick.
ULABY: In this theater, it's like they're in a - it's like they're doing a - oh, what's the word for it?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TIME WARP")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Let's do the time warp again.
ULABY: As far as "Rocky Horror" fans are concerned, the movie is not 50 years old. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is timeless.
Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TIME WARP")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) With your hands on your hips...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) You bring your knees in tight. But it's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane. Let's do the time warp.
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