When I found out that a performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show was going to be happening in our little town, put on by the brand-new motley collective, I was pretty excited. I figuratively peed myself in excitement because I used to go to Rocky Horror Shows literally whenever my parents would let my fourteen-year-old self out dressed like that.
On October 31, I went into the Halloween showing of The Rocky Horror Show not really sure what to expect. How would this live up to my misguided childhood? Could local theatre ever manage to accurately portray a cornerstone of glorious camp?
Well, I gotta say, nostalgia is pretty overrated. The motley collective put on a show that lived up to the lofty promise of leaving me chilled, thrilled, and fulfilled. While I did spend the entire show muttering call-outs under my breath, the little script that came with the prop bags was helpful for virgins.
It was my first time going to Gordon Best, located right above The Only Café, and the first thing I’ll say about it was that it was very small. Being a small venue isn’t always a drawback, but unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the narrator (dubbed “The Criminologist”) had to sit in the lighting booth instead of at the bar as planned. Admittedly, this was a little awkward. Other than that, the actors were able to use almost the entire bar to bring the audience into the late-night, double feature, picture show.
So many of the scenes were memorable, but especially stood out to me were the dramatic entrances of Frankenfurter, Eddie, and, of course, Rocky Horror. On the subject of the unconventional conventionalists, this was a very well-cast play, and I mean very well-cast. It was a great collection of voices and dancers.
Now, this next thing I’m going to say is not a very popular opinion, and I hesitate to express it. But I guess I’ll take the plunge and say that one of my favourite songs is “Hot Patootie.” I love that era in music, I love the over the top cheesiness of it, and holy cats! did I love the choreography the motley collective had for that scene. I’m not sure if there’s much use in describing it, but Andrew Sheddan was an unbelievably awesome Eddie. For some reason, I relate to this character. Maybe I shouldn’t have given half my brain to the man in the corset?
Giving a shout-out to the entire cast and crew would be clunky as anything in such a small article, but they more than deserve it. Every single actor brought something new to their role that made it seem like I hadn’t seen this story more times than I’d care to mention.
From the phantoms first welcoming the audience to the Annual Transylvanian Convention, to the reprise of “Science Fiction, Double Feature”, I was fully engrossed. Hopefully this marks the start of a new Peterborough tradition!