Before the giant crimson lips part on screen for the opening sequence of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” a real-life strip tease begins.
Two cast members in four-inch heels click around each other, intermingling as corset strings are slowly pulled undone in-sync to “Science Fiction/Double Feature.” But when the second lacey top is peeled off, it gets stuck on a bra. Good thing it’s only a dress rehearsal.
Getting topless in front of an audience is scary, but doing it with Susan Sarandon projected 25 feet tall behind you is another story and Forbidden Fruit , a non-funded ASUO organization, has been doing it for about a decade. The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” performance, which seamlessly melds live actors with a showing of the film and audience participation has become somewhat of a Halloween staple on campus.
“It’s a part of our culture and it’s important for people to be shown this strange ‘comedy,’” Jana Meszaros, the president of Forbidden Fruit, said.
Until last year the performance was held at the EMU Ballroom, but the group now performs its lascivious “floor show,” by mirroring the actions of a showing of the ‘R’ rated movie at the Bijou.
This week the members of Forbidden Fruit let the Emerald peek behind the curtain at its first dress rehearsal.
The Game
Commonly referred to as one on the worst movies ever made, Richard O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show” has accumulated cult followers since it’s release in 1975.
Audience participation has become as much a part of the show as the movie itself, including shouting lines at the screen (usually puns or crude jokes) throwing props and dressing up as characters.
“Virgins,” those who have not seen the performance, and “masturbators,” those who have only seen the movie without the accompanying actors, are usually given a special participation opportunity at the beginning of every show.
In addition to common audience callbacks, individual cities and theaters also have their unique lines. Forbidden Fruit, for example, makes references to the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and Springfield drug use.
Dr. Frank-N-Furter
John Bartlett, a Lane Community College student, is a fifth-year cast member. In his second year playing Dr. Frank, he mouths almost every line perfectly and stomps his black heels on queue with Tim Curry’s character during the dance sequences.
“It takes a man who is very comfortable to do what we do,” Bartlett said.
He spends most of the show in an almost exact costume replica: a black corset, garter and matching Speedo-style bottom that doesn’t quite cover his cheeks.
“In today’s society you’d think with all the acceptance people would be more open, but they’re not,” he said. In the U.S. “the show has been performed every weekend since ’75 because people want an outlet for expression.”
Bartlett has seen the movie hundreds of times, although he said it’s terrible by itself.
“It’s one of those rare movies that you have to watch in context to enjoy it,” he said.
Trannies
The trannies, the supporting cast members, tend to be a little more shy, using their hands to cover the prominent bare spots in their revealing clothing. This isn’t to say they go unseen.
Sam Hediger, a LCC student well over six feet tall, wears women’s zebra print bikini bottoms, fishnet stockings and a blue lace corset as his costume and quickly draws the audiences’ attention.
“I’ve always wanted an excuse to dress up in women’s clothing,” he says.
Jaclyn Toh, a junior at the University, said she grew up around cross-dressing in Singapore, although it was not considered acceptable and is frowned upon by her family.
“She’s like 9,000 miles away, she doesn’t know,” Toh said of her mother, looking through her thick fake eyelashes towards another trannie, Mark Mace, with matching turquoise eye shadow.
“It seemed to be something cool you should do once in your life,” he said, fake cleavage beginning to slide out of a pink push up bra.
“Trannies!” a cast member yelled, followed by the chaotic clicking of high heals stampeding in front of the screen, awaiting the cue by Bartlett.
The Cast
After practicing three times a week since the beginning of October, the cast was eager to see each other in costume. As guys and girls alike dressed down into lacey black underwear and laced up into boots they giggled in anticipation.
“It’s a bonding thing and a bondage thing,” said Alegra Herdklotz-Yasutake, who plays Riff-Raff in the production. This is her third year in the cast.
“I was realizing how I only know one person in Eugene and then a man in five-inch heels and a corset walks by,” she said, her petite body sinking under a large dress coat.
“Some people might see it as exploiting women, but I see it as an opportunity to embrace my sexuality in a safe environment,” Herdklotz-Yasutake said.
Several cast members said they find the experience liberating and mind-opening, becoming someone they aren’t in everyday life, meeting new people and, of course, wearing sexy and revealing clothing.
Meszaros recommended audience members dress-up, come with their friends and be open for whatever happens.
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Are you a virgin?
Daily Emerald
October 26, 2006
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