Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul

One more fleeting glimpse into my skate down Memory Lane this week..

Glee did their tribute to the Crown Prince of all Midnight Movies this week: Rocky Horror Picture Show. The first time I experienced this wacky, interactive film, I was fresh out of high school. I attended with my high school buds Rick, Bill, Eric and Mark during a Halloween midnight showing. We were told what props to bring but didn't really know what to expect.

Walking into the theater lobby, I was gobsmacked by the crowd itself. Many were dressed up as the characters and seeing various and sundry Riff Raffs in person skeeved me out a bit and I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. Once settled into our theater seats, the film began and so did the fun. Audience members shouted out lines in union with the dialogue. A rain scene brought out water pistols firing into the air and raised umbrellas. A call for a toast resulted in actual toast being thrown into the air. A wedding scene brought a rain of rice. By the time The Time Warp queued up, we were all happily running to the front of the theater to line dance and sing the lyrics at the top of our lungs. I wanted to do the Time Warp again and again. Rocky Horror was a revelatory experience in the end.

I've seen the flick a couple of times since but on DVD and something is lost without all of the audience participation. During the original midnight movie experience, I didn't quite absorb the delicious subversiveness of Rocky Horror. It's a fun, twisted musical for sure. I finally got to watch it as a stage production a few years back at the much-missed Late Night Theatre. Ron McGee, Late Night's brilliant impresario, directed it and Spencer Brown was fantastic as Riff Raff. Damn it, Janet, I really loved Late Night Theatre.

Now that I'm a whole lot older and arguably wiser, I still have great appreciation for the hella good time Rocky Horror provided. The "arguably wiser" portion of me regrets the food waste, but the entertainment value was and is undeniable. Long live Rocky Horror! If I insist on continuing to do the Time Warp these days, I may as well do it while singing and dancing.

Let this post serve as a segue from last weekend's comforting family weekend to our Halloween journey to spooky Eureka Springs, Arkansas for some haunted Halloween party scenes this weekend. Stay tuned....