On Halloween night at 10:00 p.m. on the cold, dark Center for Theatre and Dance (CTD) patio, Millikin students will be taking virginities; Rocky Horror Picture Show virginities, I mean.
For those of you who don’t know, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 film that was initially a dud. But in 1976, New York City’s Waverly Theatre introduced the world to the film’s interactive midnight screenings.
In these screenings, fans got to wear costumes, dance, and shout at the screen. This is how Rocky Horror got its massive cult following.
“I think [Rocky Horror Picture Show is] kind of like Burlesque [Underground] but for the ‘freaks,’” Rocky Horror veteran Hannah Uebinger said.
Today, people all around the world perform Rocky Horror and keep the wacky spirit alive. Many of these performances include screaming profanities, insults, and questions at the actors and scribbling the letter “V” on Rocky Horror virgins’ foreheads.
Millikin’s production of Rocky Horror will be a shadow cast, meaning the actors and actresses will be mouthing the words and performing in front of a screening of the film.
Returning and veteran performers are excited for the show.
“I grew up in a town where Rocky was a huge deal, and I never got to be a part of it in my hometown, so to have the opportunity to be a part of it here, it was super exciting to me,” sophomore Grace Arnett said.
Millikin Rocky Horror does not hold auditions; they recruit students. Getting a lead role is harder as well. Lead roles get passed down to students.
After being in the Rocky Horror performance her sophomore year, Uebinger was cast as Riff Raff.
“I became really close with some of my elders in the group,” Uebinger said. “When the time comes, usually within a few weeks after the show or sometimes the same day, a lead cast member will pull you aside and be like, ‘Hey, would you like to be this next year?’ So Danny Clear passed [the role of] Riffraff down to me my sophomore year, but then I had to take a step back, so I passed it forward to Ethan Cerros.”
Cerros passed the role of Riff Raff back to Uebinger for her senior year.
A majority of the students in Rocky Horror are performance majors, but that is not a requirement to be a part of the production. Uebinger is a film major and finds that being in Rocky Horror is a unique experience for a non-performance major.
“It’s really cool to actually get to work with these people on a similar playing field, because you see them on stage and [think], ‘Wow, they’re so good at this thing that they’re doing that I’m watching,’” Uebinger said. “It’s really fun to just get to play around with them, you know? It makes me feel very special, because I was given a chance as a sophomore, as a non-performance major… It brought me out of my bubble a lot. It made me a lot braver.”
Many students view being recruited to be in Rocky Horror at Millikin as an honor. Being a part of such an iconic production is a goal for many students.
“I didn’t even know what Rocky Horror was until last year, when I had heard about it the day of and just happened to show up, and I loved it, and I thought it was so interesting and fascinating and hilarious,” sophomore Daniel Soares said. “Being a history major, I did some research to find out the significance of what the film means and what it means to so many people; so being asked to be a part of this… [I] was like, ‘Yes, obviously I want to be part of this.’”
Rocky Horror was a progressive film for its time. One of the most obvious examples of this is the transgender woman, Frank-N-Furter, as one of the main characters. This, along with other components of the film, has made it a cult classic beloved by the LGBTQ+ community.
“As somebody who is in the LGBTQ community, to be a part of a story that is so celebratory of the LGBTQ community, I was just very excited to get the email, meaning that I would be a part of it,” Arnett said.
The film also promotes body and sex positivity. Although Millikin’s performance takes place outside in the middle of fall, they embrace the body positivity element of the film and wear, oftentimes, revealing clothing.
There is a considerable overlap with Burlesque Underground dancers and Rocky Horror, so many of them are used to revealing clothing and celebrating their bodies.
“I would like to believe that [Rocky Horror] is something that does encourage body positivity and sex positivity,” junior Rock Edwards said. “It could just be a fun thing to do, I get it, but it might be something that has helped them a lot.”
There isn’t a dress code, so performers can dress however they want as long as it fits the Rocky Horror theme.
“It’s really funny, it’s super body positive,” Uebinger said. “I mean, you just wear whatever the heck you want. And like, you just have to follow a dress code, as in color scheme, or your character costume. But you can really wear whatever you want.”
Rocky Horror is such a unique production on Millikin’s campus, yet at the core of it, it is no different from any Pipe Dreams or Main Stage production.
“Being able to create something like this with such an amazing group of people who want to be there and are willing to express themselves in this way is just—I mean—it’s nothing else like I’ve ever experienced anywhere else,” Arnett said.
Community is at the heart of every performance at Millikin, and Rocky Horror celebrates this.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show is about people who are different,” Uebinger said. “It’s about all these strange people all together in this house, which is kind of just how the group feels a little bit.”
There is no doubt that Millikin’s production of Rocky Horror Picture Show will be a unique experience for everyone who attends.
If you are interested, you can see the annual performance on the CTD patio on October 31st at 10:00 p.m.
