{"id":2254830,"date":"2026-01-28T17:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2254830"},"modified":"2026-01-28T17:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:34:11","slug":"highlights-upper-valley-rocky-horror-revival-features-shadow-cast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/highlights-upper-valley-rocky-horror-revival-features-shadow-cast\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlights: Upper Valley &#8216;Rocky Horror&#8217; revival features shadow cast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_eQjyeH6AV2P?ui_title_icon=headphones&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=2.7.1\"><\/iframe><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_eQjyeH6AV2P?ui_title_icon=headphones&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=2.7.1\" width=\"100%\" height=\"130px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to overstate the effect of representation in culture, particularly in TV and films.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Jordyn Fitch\u2019s first viewing of \u201cRocky Horror Picture Show,\u201d the 1975 cult classic in which a young couple (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) loses their innocence, was transformative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just, like, changed everything,\u201d Fitch said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>To be clear, the screening Fitch saw at age 15 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,  where they grew up,  was accompanied by a shadow cast, a group of people who get together to act out the movie during the screening and who encourage audience participation. It\u2019s a regular feature of \u201cRocky Horror\u201d shows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s just this culture around it,\u201d Fitch said. \u201cImmediately you just get pulled into this whole new world.\u201d <\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Seeing queer people on both screen and stage can feel like a homecoming for viewers who seldom see themselves reflected in stories that come out of Hollywood or Broadway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRocky Horror\u201d has gotten new life in the Upper Valley, and to a degree in the Twin States, with shadow cast performances cropping up with greater regularity. Fitch is at the center of the revival, which continues with a performance at 9 on Saturday night in Lebanon Opera House.<\/p>\n<p>Fitch moved to the Upper Valley to attend Dartmouth College in 2016 and never got word of any shadow cast performances of \u201cRocky Horror.\u201d But the ingredients were here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things that surprised me the most about living here, there\u2019s a surprisingly large queer community here,\u201d they said. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly vibrant and rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The shadow cast shows started in 2023, first in the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, which is operated by JAM (Junction Arts and Media), where Fitch and other shadow cast members work, then last year at Lebanon Opera House.<\/p>\n<p>The aim is enjoyment, but also to make the experience available for someone who, like Fitch, might not know they need it. And a dollar from every ticket sold supports the Cobra Lily Collective, a mutual aid organization for trans people in the Upper Valley.<\/p>\n<p>The Creature Feature Club, from which the shadow cast is drawn, is a core group of around a dozen people. They make such a production out of \u201cRocky Horror\u201d that they commit to only one show a year, much as they would like to do more. (The first show Fitch saw in Florida took place every weekend at midnight, which was a common thing in the 1980s and \u201990s, though probably not in, say, Hanover.)<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s a reason for \u201cRocky Horror\u2019s\u201d cult status, it\u2019s that it creates, as many performances do, a temporary shelter, a glittering reprieve from a world of grim conformity. It\u2019s no mistake that it flourished during the beige orthodoxy of the Reagan era.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRocky Horror\u201d screenings popped up in Randolph, Middlebury and Montpelier, in Vermont, and in Bethlehem, Concord, Portsmouth and, indeed, Hanover, in New Hampshire, to mark the film\u2019s 50th birthday last year. Perhaps between those events and the creeping repression under the Trump regime, \u201cRocky Horror\u201d will generate some sustained momentum.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, enjoy it for what it is: the best of American camp, and a place to be both yourself and someone else for a couple of hours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to be weird, it\u2019s going to be silly; we\u2019re going to be up there, having fun,\u201d Fitch said.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><em>Lebanon Opera House presents \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show\u201d at 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31. Pre-show festivities begin in the lobby at 8 p.m. For tickets ($25) and more information, go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/lebanonoperahouse.org\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/lebanonoperahouse.org\/\">lebanonoperahouse.org<\/a> or call 603-448-0400.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Writing the Valley<\/h3>\n<p>Nonfiction books that examine life in the Upper Valley are uncommon occurrences. I was trying to think of the last one and came up with \u201cThis Brilliant Darkness,\u201d Jeff Sharlet\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/vnews.com\/2020\/02\/15\/jeff-sharlet-s-new-book-marks-a-turn-in-his-life-and-his-approach-to-journalism-32690324\/\">2020 account<\/a> of his father\u2019s death and his own heart attacks, which is set partly in the Upper Valley.<\/p>\n<p>Now there are two that deserve our attention. On Friday, \u201cMoving to My Dog\u2019s Hometown,\u201d Norwich author Betsy Verecky\u2019s memoir about moving from New York to Hanover in her 30s, hits bookstore shelves. The Norwich Bookstore is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichbookstore.com\/events\/3654220260212\">holding an event<\/a> at 7 p.m. on Feb. 12. Verecky unexpectedly found love and companionship after her move, so the event coincides nicely with Valentine\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<p>And \u201cHomesick,\u201d a study by Dartmouth sociology professor Emily Walton of race in rural New England, has been out since November. Walton, a Lebanon resident, interviewed Upper Valley residents of color about the ways in which they are excluded from the dominant white culture. Walton is slated to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sociology.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2026\/01\/college-town-conversations-homesick-race-and-exclusion-rural-new-england\">facilitate a group discussion<\/a> about the book at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18 in Hanover\u2019s Howe Library.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Looking ahead<\/h3>\n<p>Randolph\u2019s Chandler Center for the Arts opens a fresh season with a performance on Feb. 13 by Nomfusi, a celebrated South African soul singer. The season kickoff also includes an exhibition of handmade quilts in the Chandler Gallery and a community mixer. For tickets ($15-$40 adults, $10 students, free for children 12 and under), to register for the mixer or for more information, go to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chandler-arts.org\/\">chandler-arts.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source vnews.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s hard to overstate the effect of representation in culture, particularly in TV and films. For example, Jordyn Fitch\u2019s first viewing of \u201cRocky Horror Picture Show,\u201d the 1975 cult classic in which a young couple (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) loses their innocence, was transformative. \u201cIt just, like, changed everything,\u201d Fitch said in a phone [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2254831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[400855,379884,22672,379886,432393,379887,379891],"class_list":["post-2254830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-dartmouth-college","tag-hanover-nh","tag-latest-news","tag-lebanon-nh","tag-norwich-vt","tag-randolph-vt","tag-white-river-junction-vt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Highlights-Upper-Valley-Rocky-Horror-revival-features-shadow-cast.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2254830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2254832,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254830\/revisions\/2254832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2254830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2254830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2254830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}