For several years, local actors have been doing the Time Warp onstage each fall in a shadow cast performance of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” This year, the performance is held at the Kenai Cinema, with a second showing on Saturday, Nov. 2.
The shadow cast is a performance onstage by actors while the film is playing. Each character in the film has a double who will lip-sync along and perform with props and costumes of their own before what has reliably been a raucous crowd.
The show follows a young couple, Janet Weiss and Brad Majors, as their car breaks down outside the castle of mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter — in a memorable turn by Tim Curry.
At a rehearsal on Monday, Oct. 21, the cast and crew of the show played out each scene in front of a television — director Robyn Chai’s garage a small-scale facsimile of the movie theater auditorium that hosted the show last weekend and this Saturday.
Maggie Winston, who plays Dr. Everett Scott and with Chai is a leader on the production, said there’s a long history of midnight showings for “Rocky Horror,” an experience that has over time garnered a unique mythos and a prescribed set of audience engagements — topped off with some unique ad-libs.
“Rocky Horror” bombed in theaters when it was first released in 1975, she said, and first found a cult audience when it was repackaged as a double feature and “really took off with the midnight showing crowd.” In short order, some of the familiar engagements began to catch on — like yelling at the screen to admonish newlywed Janet Weiss for not purchasing an umbrella.
“It started this culture of yelling things at the screen,” Winston said. “Every year, since then, at midnight it’s been this cult following.”
Putting on that experience, especially in Kenai and Soldotna, means creating a space to be weird and have fun, Winston said. The “Rocky Horror” shadow cast is “ridiculous and over the top,” also “kind of counterculture.”
Attendees don’t have to worry about studying up on the details of when to shout or what props to bring. The production will sell goody bags for $3 with instructions and all the required items — like a page of newspaper to cover their heads as Janet walks in the rain without an umbrella.
Audience participation is what makes the late-night screenings of “Rocky Horror” fun, Winston said. Her favorite bit is the insults hurled repeatedly at the leads, Janet and Brad. She encouraged people to dress up, for fun and for the costume contest.
Another major element of the live show is the christening of newcomers to the late-night “Rocky Horror” experience. Those who haven’t attended a “Rocky Horror” performance before are labeled for their inexperience and undergo a brief “sacrifice” before the opening number.
Chai said they describe the show as akin to an R-rated film, which is what the original film was rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.
“We get a little risqué,” she said.
The local show annually, since starting in the mid-2010s, has been a fundraiser for a local nonprofit, first a local roller derby team. Chai said all the actors are still volunteer and all the funds still go to a nonprofit — though as of Monday they were still deciding which would be this year’s benefit.
“It’s community theater, but it’s also a classic thing,” Chai said. “Everyone that’s come together has always just done it because they love it.”
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” shadow cast, hosted by Intuition Salon, performed at the Kenai Cinema at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 and will hold a second performance on Saturday, Nov. 2. Tickets can be purchased for $25 at the theater or at Intuition Salon in Kenai.
For more information, find “Rocky Horror Picture Show – Shadow Cast” on Facebook.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Maggie Winston and the cast of Intuition Salon’s shadow cast of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” rehearse in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Robyn Chai, center right, directs Intuition Salon’s shadow cast of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” during a rehearsal in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The cast of Intuition Salon’s shadow cast of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” rehearse in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
