I spent an excellent summer going to the midnight showings of Rocky Horror at the Art Cinema in New Brunswick, NJ every Saturday night. This one of the earliest showings of the movie outside of NYC apparently, and the cult was still in its infancy when I started going -- there'd only be a handful of us in the early days, but by the end of the summer, the house would always be packed, and people were shouting more and more things at the screen. We were encouraged to dress up, of course, but it hadn't yet reached the point where people started doing full-scale shadow performances during the screening (which I'd have found annoying anyway).
The point is, it was an excellent summer, and I have great memories of it. I do watch the movie now and again at home, but it'll never be the same... or so I thought...
Well, this live show isn't quite the same. Which is probably what makes it so excellent. The great cast, great performances and -- above all -- the great spirit both by the performers AND the audience really makes this a new experience of its own.
My favorite of the cast was Haley Flaherty, whose Janet Weiss was perfection. I really appreciate the fact that she, and pretty much all the performers, didn't try to reinvent their roles, but stayed true to the original performances. It was great to see Richard O'Brien there too.
