The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Back in New Orleans, there's a little independent movie theater called the Prytania, and every year, they do showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live cast, or something like that anyways. Whether it's the full theatrical version or just the movie playing in the background while they act some things out, I don't really know. I don't know because I never went, even though I always wanted to because all the fun quirky kids at my high school went there around Halloween time. But as of the 25th of February, 2023, I have finally fulfilled my dream of joining the cool kids club by going to see The Rocky Horror Show. We (not the royal We, but my boyfriend Owen and I) were very kindly gifted the tickets by Owen's mother. So basically, this Manchester excursion is ~Sponsored by Ms. Carolyne~. Thank you, Ms. Carolyne.

The show was at the Manchester Opera House, which is conveniently right across the street from an excellent restaurant/bar/music venue called the Blues Kitchen. Ceramic tiles cover the walls, a bit like the Ministry of Magic in the Harry Potter movies, and the room is dimly lit from these big stained glass windows on the ceiling, which I assume are not actually windows because there is another floor directly above. Along the walls and on the tables, there were these monkey statues holding books which also acted as light fixtures, and in the corner was one of those shiny old silver trailers - Airstream trailers, as a quick search has just revealed to me - which had booths in it, acting as a private room for the restaurant. Though it was packed, we found a little table in a corner, and we enjoyed cocktails and the best fried squid I've probably ever had. Goddamn, that was really nice squid.

Then we headed across the street to the Opera House and joined the line with a bunch of people dressed as characters from the show - lots of Columbias, Riff Raffs, and of course, Frank N. Furters. Owen and I were boring by comparison, with only our leather jackets to support our rock credentials. The venue itself is beautiful, but the drinks are a total scam. Would not recommend buying anything there, really, unless you want to give your right arm for a pint of average beer. The main hall is a lovely sight to behold, the walls and ceiling adorned in green and gold...adornments, I guess. We took our seats towards the center of a row, causing a woman to spill half her drink in the process.

The show began, and it was as fun and wacky as you might imagine - you just have to get used to the fact that there isn't much to get in the first place. It's just a fun, wild ride with funky rock music and lots of sex jokes, which is fine by me. Having seen the movie about a year before, I kind of knew what to expect, though Owen was very confused in the first half. Once he accepted the nature of the story though, we both enjoyed it very much. One of the most notable things about the theater version is that there's a lot of audience participation. I'm told they do that at movie screenings as well, but it was really something to be in this fancy opera house with Northern British men screaming "She's a SLUT" all around you. Glorious. The actors all played their parts well, especially Frank N. Furter - his voice, as the part called for, was suitably sultry and resonant. Above the stage, you could could just get a glimpse of the band - guitars, bass, saxophone. The band was one of my favorite parts, actually. I don't know what's more common in musicals, live bands or backing tracks, but I'm glad it was the former. Towards the end, there was a particularly striking and emotive guitar solo - unfortunately I'm not sure exactly which track it was, but I think it may have been "I'm Going Home".

Having only seen the movie before, it was also interesting to see how they translated the setting onto the stage; for example, the scenes where Frank seduces Janet and Brad are done with this big upright bed, and them standing inside it, like so. I'm pretty sure the Brad and Riff Raff in this scene are the same ones we saw in Manchester, although I think this picture is from 2020.

All in all, the musical was wholly enjoyable. A few weeks later, we watched the movie version from the 70s, and my oh my, did I enjoy it way more than I thought I would. I had seen it before, about a year ago, but wasn't particularly impressed with it at the time for some reason. I was a bit disappointed because, as I said at the start of this post, it's a movie that I'd wanted to see for a very long time. Looking back, I don't really have any idea why I didn't like it the first time - I guess I was just expecting something a bit different, or most likely, I just didn't quite get the humor they were going for. But wow, I'm so glad I watched it again, cause I see it in a completely different light now.

In some ways, watching it was even better than the theatrical version, because you can actually hear what they're singing about, the lines are clearer, and no matter how good the guy is who's playing Frank, I don't think anyone can beat Tim Curry's portrayal of him. Those lips have a life of their own. The concept of the story is kind of reminiscent of Parliament albums, with the whole sexual-aliens-from-space-coming-down-to-party vibe. But I think part of my enjoyment of it was accepting that it's really not about the story, but rather about making light of classic tropes and indulging in a ridiculous phantasmagoria of glam rock and sexual liberation. At the end of the day, it's just funny that this movie is something that exists. I'm glad it does, along with fishnets and corsets.