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Talk about your time warps.<\/p>\n
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Last week marked the 50th anniversary of \u201cRocky Horror Picture Show,\u201d the counterculture-turned-mainstream musical that brought a generation out for midnight showings, live interactions with the movie \u2014 and for many of its audience, a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
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Roxy\u2019s Downtown brings \u201cRocky Horror\u201d back next weekend, and artistic director Rick Bumgardner said it\u2019s taking a retro approach.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m taking it back to 50 years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cBack to that more innocent of a time and blurring the line between repression and liberation and what that looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
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That, Bumgardner said, varies per individual.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think our audiences are going to look at the show and see the show and think, \u2018I thought I was a zero, right in the middle of this spectrum of liberation. And no, I may be more toward the liberation side or more toward the repression side.\u2019 And just open their lens a little more about what that looks like for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The \u201cRocky Horror Show\u201d stage version preceded the movie by two years. It was first produced in Wichita by Christine Tasheff in 1995 at Roxy\u2019s predecessor, Cabaret Oldtown.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt just made sense\u201d to bring \u201cRocky\u201d back, Bumgardner said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great show, so iconic, and there was no other organization had claimed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Bumgardner said he asked all of the performers to put themselves in the 1950s mindset, where \u201cRocky\u201d takes place.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m asking my actors to adopt those feelings. Are Brad and Janet (played by Nick Wetta and Sisillia Shaffer) incredibly, incredibly na\u00efve from the period of the \u201850s?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
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The cast also includes Zoe Reitz as Frank-N-Furter, Jack Wilson as Rocky and Lorenz Looney as Riff-Raff.<\/p>\n
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The opening number, \u201cScience Fiction Double Feature\u201d will be a nod to the story\u2019s screen success, Bumgardner said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re trying to do it through the lens of a camera, and the opening scene is our big projection screen,\u201d he said. \u201cThey step out on the screen and the show starts on stage in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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While some of the stage and screen versions include audience members bringing their own props, Bumgardner said a \u201cRoxy\u2019s Rocky Party Pack\u201d will be sold, with the only caveat that \u201cwe\u2019re just asking they don\u2019t throw them at the actors or the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Music director Simon Hill said all but one of the cast members has been a part of a \u201cRocky\u201d production as a performer or audience member.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is all very near and dear and familiar to them. Fifty years later, it is still as meaningful and connective as it was 50 years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just been a riot and a lot of fun. The songs are iconic and beloved, and it\u2019s just a fun, rocking score. The cast came in eager and excited to sing these songs. It\u2019s a party putting this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Bumgardner said the retro theme continues with the selection of vintage candy offered by the usherettes roaming the audience.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMaybe we\u2019ll remind them of an easier, simpler time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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When:<\/b> Oct. 10-Nov. 15; performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. matinees on Oct. 18, Nov. 1 and 15<\/p>\n
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Where:<\/b> Roxy\u2019s Downtown, 412 \u00bd E. Douglas<\/p>\n
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