Martha Steele, dressed as the Virgin Mary, waits in line with Jesus (John Larson) to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was shown at the EMU Ballroom on Wednesday. Those who have yet to see the show performed li
Five minutes before “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” started at 9 p.m. Wednesday, the line of people waiting to enter extended from the EMU Ballroom to The Marketplace in the food court.
The “Trannies,” short for Transylvanians, roamed along the line of people marking “V” with lipstick on the foreheads of self-confessed Rocky Horror first-timers, known as “virgins.” The Trannies are members of Forbidden Fruit, a troupe of performers who act out the movie live in front of the screen.
Sophomore Eli Levine, one of the Trannies, dressed in drag to set the mood for the occasion.
“I’d never done it before, and I wanted to experiment,” he said.
Experimentation is a reason many people, such as University student Lorie Miller, want to give themselves to the show.
“I’ve always wanted to go to this,” she said. “I live in San Antonio, Texas, and we don’t really do anything cool there.”
Trannie Sara Jackson continued to excite the waiting masses by ensuring they knew when and how to participate in the show. As she stood on a chair, she yelled “Whenever you hear ‘Janet,’ what do you say?”
The people responded with a resounding, “Slut!”
Other customary responses to the film are calling Brad an “asshole” and questioning the existence of Dr. Scott’s neck. Members of the audience and chorus also add comments at their leisure that can be created or learned from other performers. A few of the comments added local flavor by taking direct jabs at Springfield.
The Rocky Horror tradition isn’t new to the University, but this year’s production really attracted the fans. At least 550 people – the Ballroom’s capacity – came out. A new element to the University show this year was having bands play during the preshow. “Prisoner’s Dilemma” played just one song, but had the whole audience chanting “Yeah, yeah! Fuck Wal-Mart!” during the chorus. “The Boston Docks OIster Boys” played a quick set of fast punk before the virgins were sullied.
Ivan VanNorman, who played the lead of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, assisted Steve Ewing, who played Brad, in the devirginization process during the preshow. The process generally consists of performing some humiliating act, but many of the virgins appeared to relish it.
The virgins under 18 were put in a conga line formation and told by Ewing to have no space between people. Then they were instructed to do pelvic thrusts while singing the Oscar Mayer wiener song. Some elder virgins were put in a line and told to give their neighbor an “eargasm” by licking the inside of their ear.
Virgin Andrew Gallwas beat two other contestants by winning four consecutive Mountain Dew chug contests. VanNorman confessed after the show that the “objective was to get them to pee their pants.”
Breaking people’s bladder control wasn’t the only thing that didn’t work out. The cast members had assembled prop packets containing rice, toilet paper, toast and playing cards which are thrown in the air in response to certain events in the show. The packets were being sold for a dollar until the EMU Cultural Forum staff informed the cast that these sales were against the rules.
To solve the problem, packets were given out as prizes for various contests during the preshow. Enough of the packets must have reached people in the audience because the air was filled with projectiles when they were needed.
There was a preshow costume contest, and winners were allowed to star in the live show as the couple who gets married. Men and women competed separately for the applause of the audience, but a good costume wasn’t enough. Women had to answer why they were “the biggest slut,” and the men were asked why they were “the biggest asshole.” In the female category, someone dressed as the Virgin Mary just beat out a person costumed as the Statue of Liberty.
VanNorman said the audience was great this year and gave energy to the show. This is his second year doing the show at the University, but the 16-year-old has been working with the show since his mother introduced him to it at age 10.
The three main elements in casting the show are experience, dedication and appearance, VanNorman said. His curly black hair and tall, lanky stature made him a prime candidate for Frank-N-Furter, he said.
The experience of seeing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” performed with a live cast can’t be done justice with words, but virgin Justin Neville-Kaushall came close when describing his expectations for the evening: “Madness, absurdity, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.”
Mason West is the senior Pulse reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].