Let's do the Time Warp again!

David was right - I need to post a quick blog about how RHPS went last night.

First off, I want to publicly (not that many people read this, but still) thank Carolina Cinemas for being so awesome. They're REALLY enthusiastic about Rocky Horror, and they've gone out of their way to be nice to us. We got the biggest theatre in house, and supposedly that's going to be our regular theatre. They were great about accomodating anything we needed...and most amazingly of all, the janitorial staff even said that THEY would clean up (usually it's the sole responsibility of the cast to do all the cleaning at the end of the night). So a big thanks to all of them, especially Casey, for being awesome.

I didn't SEE how the show went because I was onstage pretty much the whole time, but it FELT like it was awesome. The crowd wasn't huge, but we probably had about 60+ people, and I'm used to playing to a packed house for RHPS, so I guess in reality it was a really good crowd for a first time. Of course, we had two major obstacles - no props, and no cast! The former problem we handled as best we could, with plans to acquire props as we go along. The latter problem...I must say I am incredible proud of the people who stepped up last night. The only people who had any real experience doing Rocky were myself and Beth (who was Frank with Low Down Cheap Little Punks in Raleigh for a long time). Travis and Darren helped out, and they had both seen the show several times, so that was a big help. Gregory stepped up and was co-Frank with Beth, and he'd never done it before. And best of all...everyone else in the cast was a RHPS virgin! Most of them knew the movie pretty well, but had NEVER seen a live show....and the boy playing Rocky had NEVER EVEN SEEN THE MOVIE. All these kids were about 17-18, and they were such troopers. The girl playing Columbia was especially great - she really knew the film, and she had the sort of boundless enthusiasm that the character really needs.

Of course, what people don't realize is there has to be some sort of set blocking on the stage. Even though you're just copying the movie for the most part, there are no cameras to follow you around or make sure you're at the right angle standing next to the right person, so you have to cheat a little and know when to stand where or an entrance will be off. There weren't any major traffic jams, but that's the first thing I want to get cracking on when we get a real cast put together.

All in all, it was a great night. I'd almost forgotten how much I really love this movie. I know most people just see it as a really cheesy flick and a good excuse to throw toast in a theatre, but I really love the film on its own as well as the whole live experience. I've really missed the high that comes from performing as Magenta...and I can't wait for next month to do the Time Warp again!