It only took a 65-year-old man bending over in a stuffed thong to make the crowd go wild.
Actor Barry Bostwick, who played Brad Majors in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” received a thunderous round of applause for each of his five re-entries to introduce the movie.
Corsets, fishnets and shiny, golden bun huggers were the scene at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown Los Angeles for the 35th anniversary of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Hundreds of people dressed up as their favorite characters like Brad Majors (aka ***hole!), Janet Weiss (aka Slut!) and the many Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s.
Slideshow Media Credit: Louis Roche
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a twisted musical where transsexual transvestites from planet Transylvania seduce and corrupt an innocent stranded couple (Brad and Janet) seeking shelter. The bewildered couple falls into a singing, dancing, orgiastic cult.
There really isn’t another film quite like this which is why more than half of the audience has been returning fans for with ages ranging from grandparents to young adults who keep the tradition alive.
A slide show of photographs from previous anniversary screenings from all over the country were shown on the screen while guests danced to punk music on the stage floor.
Sins Con was the host of the event and they entertained the audience with a preshow. They selected a few “virgins” (people who haven’t been to a Rocky Show) from the audience to go up on stage and make sexual innuendos for the crowd.
After making the crowd scream their favorite curse words at the top of their lungs, they screened a short video. A “Rocky Horror Picture Show” entertainment group from New Jersey called The Home of Happiness, created a parody of the song “Shots” by LMFAO ft. Lil John. The video contained the group’s Rocky characters drunkenly dancing around at a pool party.
When it ended, the crew of The Home of Happiness danced down the aisles to the floor stage and thanked the audience.
The cherry to the pre-show was the special guest star Barry Bostwick, who was accompanied by two additional actors of the film; Patricia Quinn (Magenta) and Nell Campbell (Columbia). Magenta wheeled Columbia out in a wheelchair. Then about two minutes later, Columbia tap danced around the stage and did the splits, proving that even at the age of 66, she’s still got it.
They reenacted what Bostwick called “everyone’s favorite scene,” which was his welcome to the Transylvanian castle. Magenta and Columbia began undressing Bostwick as he commented that the rumors of stuffing his underpants are not true and that it is indeed “all Brad.”
A beautiful but sailor-mouthed woman walked on stage to explain the use of props in the film. In each $3 bag purchased, there was a variety of toilet paper, glow sticks, newspapers and playing cards to fling around the theater when the proper clip queue came on. People had a particularly amusing time tee-peeing the seats with rolls and rolls of toilet paper.
The enjoyment of watching the film live (aside from dressing up in drag and trashing a gorgeous theater without repercussions) is to observe the performers reenact the classic on stage.
Sins Con recruited a large and international cast. Every scene gave a different actor the opportunity to play their character. There were about seven Brads, six Janets, and about 10 Frank-N-Furters.
The costume design was impeccable. Every outfit looked as if it was the original used in the film, from the corsets and shoes to fake tattoos and hairstyles. Even Riff Raff the handyman, possessed a galactic pitchfork gun which was molded to perfection.
As entertaining as the screening was, one should definitely see the film first before attending a show like this; otherwise the audio wouldn’t make any sense. The reason why is because hardcore fans shout out comical commentary throughout the entire film. It’s as if they all had scripts in front of them and were asked to audition together by replacing the original lines from the film with profanity.
Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on Blu-ray at the end of October.
