In the velvet darkness of the blackest night, Athens locals and students strutted to West Union Street in corsets, leather, red lipstick and fishnet stockings to experience Lost Flamingo Company’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
The production ran Oct. 16-19 at The Union Bar located at 18 W. Union St, a long-standing partnership between LFC and The Union. Tickets were purchased at the door, $10 for underage viewers and $8 for 21 and above.
Produced by LFC, an OU student-run theater company, the shadow cast production returns to the bar for its 21st show, reviving the long ticket lines and outrageous outfits from previous years.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a film released in 1975, is a fractured retelling of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Adding a comedic spin and risque outfits to deviate from the film along with featuring queer characters and same-sex couples on screen, the film centers on themes of liberation and originality.
The movie and production follow Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, a newly engaged couple seeking shelter amid a storm in Dr. Frank-n-Furter’s castle, a mad scientist inventing “Rocky,” a living muscle man.
In Athens, the movie’s legacy lives on with LFC’s annual show.
“So many people that have been in Rocky have said it has helped them realize their identity and who they are,” said Alexis Butt, a junior majoring in marketing and business analytics and the assistant director for the show.
Butt said LFC and her involvement in “Rocky” connected her with queer-identifying people on campus.
LFC’s rendition of the movie is a shadow cast show, meaning the cast acts while the original film plays behind them. The 20-person cast has rehearsed since September to perfectly align its movement and dialogue with the horror-comedy.
Along with memorizing the characters’ movements and mannerisms, actors also learned choreography original to LFC, referred to as “whoreography.”
Sarah Cooper, a senior majoring in management information systems and business analytics, is this year’s “whoreographer.” She has reclaimed her role for a second year, and made adjustments to the chorus, or "whorus,“ routines from previous years, including reworking the performance of the song “Sword of Damocles.”
“Rocky” is Cooper’s favorite show to choreograph because of the bold and accepting atmosphere it brings.
“It’s just so much because (Rocky) is such a confidence booster,” Cooper said. “I always tried to make sure the environment was fun and safe, and (the cast) felt they could create (their own) poses and feel sexy and feel like they were having fun, and feel ready for the show.”
The "whorus” choreography is part of what makes Athens’ “Rocky” production so unique, according to Cooper.
“A lot of other places do Rocky Horror (and) they do shadow casts and whatnot,” Cooper said. “We have our own twist of having this dance chorus, and it also gives 10 or so more people the opportunity to get to dress up and dance.”
Paired with audience competitions, chants and responses, the show is a unique production for both returners and first-timers attending this "late night, double feature picture show."
Along with watching the show, “Rocky” fashion and style is a pivotal part of the experience, with dressing up being one of LFC’s “Do’s,” for the production, according to an Instagram post.
“I know people have (had) their outfits picked out since last year,” said Anna Martin, a senior studying hearing, speech and language sciences and Rocky’s director. “Everybody comes in whatever they’re comfortable in. Everybody’s complimenting each other and hyping each other up in their own sexualities in the crowd, as well as on stage.”
For Charlie Lakus, a freshman studying English literature and portraying Brad Majors, this form of acting was a step out of his comfort zone and helped grow his acting skills.
“This has been a tradition for years and years and years,” Lakus said. “There’s a lot of pressure, but it’s guaranteed we have a full house every night.”
He said the guaranteed audience and friends coming to the show have motivated him to perform his best and learn his lines quickly.
New faces in the show, including Lakus, allow returning audience members to witness a new “Rocky” experience, despite the storyline remaining the same.
“(There) is a fresh perspective to seven different roles, which is eye-opening,” Martin said. “(Returners are) able to see how (new cast members) take their turn on this new act and position they're part of.”
With the outrageous, electric and fiery nature of LFC’s Rocky, stage and audience members gathered to celebrate themselves in their most authentic and wild forms.
For Cooper, who performed in “Rocky” for the last time on Saturday, the show’s impact on her is unmatchable.
“Seeing what (“Rocky”) means to other people and to see this is something so important to a lot of people and to Athens, I just became so attached to it,” Cooper said. “That’s not even to mention getting to work with the cast and crew … getting the opportunity to feel a part of something that is so much bigger than yourself.”
