“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
Saturdays, Midnight
The Nuart Theater
Every Saturday at midnight, both men and women put on their short skirts and high heels and stand in line at the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica, calling each other names. No, they are not prostitutes. They are the fanatical fans of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which has become a cult classic film since its release in 1975.
All over the nation, weekly midnight screenings of the transvestite musical attract a regular enthusiastic crowd and about half as many newcomers. Audience members, who range from high schoolers to 30-somethings, are expected to wear black eyeliner and dress up as transvestites, hookers or Gothic weirdos.
Waiting in line to get into the theater, the woman standing in front of me was wearing a French maid costume with no skirt ““ just an apron that didn’t wrap all the way around her waist. The guards all knew her and came up to greet and compliment her often. This was her 26th time seeing “Rocky Horror.” Other regulars included a man in white lacy underwear and a woman without a shirt or bra ““ only tape.
But if it is your first time at a “Rocky Horror” show, as was mine, you are in for a little initiation. The “virgins” all get Vs written in lipstick on each cheek for identification, as well as unprintable words and phrases on the remainder of showing skin. My friend got “SULT” written on her forehead by a slightly dyslexic but jovial woman. Also, selected virgins have to play games, such as who can swap clothes with a person of the opposite sex fastest on stage in front of the audience before the show starts.
But people don’t dress up and put on pre-shows just to see an old movie. There is so much hoopla going on inside the theater during the film that the screening really isn’t about watching the movie at all.
Live actors perform the show in front of the screen and through the aisles. The audience also yells out lines or questions that put the subsequent words or movements of the characters into a more sexual context. The regulars knew all the cues for these shout-backs and there was never a moment when the theater was quiet during the show. Unfortunately, since it was my first time seeing the film, I could not join in the shouting because I did not know what to shout and when.
The gleeful hollers of the regulars also sometimes drowned out the original dialogue so the movie itself was a little incomprehensible. Having never even watched the movie on its own, all the shouting got a little annoying. As the movie progressed, it became necessary to pick up certain plot points or else the next hour didn’t make any sense. When Susan Sarandon’s innocent character seduced the muscular blonde man wearing the gold speedo, I realized I had no idea what was going on. And from that point on, the shouts became just noise.
Sarandon and Tim Curry star in “Rocky Horror,” and though this is likely not either of their best performances, it would have been nice to get more than just an occasional glimpse of their early careers. Curry brought so much energy to the film in his role as the singing transvestite from Transylvania and Sarandon’s voice was so high-pitched, they probably would have been very funny if they had been audible.
But if going to the Nuart at midnight were actually about seeing the movie, there would have been a lot more shushing in the theater and a lot fewer lap dances.
And for a 30-year-old movie to continually attract a crowd every week, “Rocky Horror” must speak to its audience. I just couldn’t hear the film.
E-mail Crocker at acrocker@media.ucla.edu.