I’ve seen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” once, and by that I mean I saw it late one night during my high school days. I’ve never seen it live before and I was in for a ride when I got a hold of two tickets for a midnight show. For those who don’t know, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a movie that’s not at all “horror,” but is extremely sexual and funny in nature. It’s a cult classic and has a bigger fan base than what you might expect for a movie that came out in 1975. It’s always the fans that make something huge and truly hype up the experience.
Walking into the Plaza Theatre for the first time on Friday the 13th, 2019 was like truly being transported back into the 1980s. The smell of popcorn being popped, seeing all the vintage posters on the walls, and seeing the hardcore fans – AND I MEAN HARDCORE FANS! You can usually tell by the way they dress-up, very sexy, black, and/or in the costumes of the main cast. I immediately looked at my bright pink sweater, and I wondered if I should have dressed up too. I shrugged it off, with the thought of maybe next time. My friend and I were a little bit early so we were the first ones in line waiting behind a red velvet rope that blocked our way into the theatre.
After a while, more people showed up and that’s when the experience truly began to set in. My friend and I did not know what we had signed up for. A male worker took out a dark purple lipstick and walked towards us, as he put it on and asked if we wanted a V on our forehead (after he found out this was our “first time” seeing it live) or a kiss on the cheek or both. My friend and I both were in shock and said no thank you, but I regret not getting the kiss, after seeing everyone else in line turn their cheek to the guy. You should definitely get the V drawn on and a kiss, it truly adds to the experience. After that, a woman came up to us selling raffle tickets for charity for the arts and selling limited edition buttons too. My friend was kind enough to purchase me a button of my choosing and three raffle tickets. Time was moving fast and it was getting closer for us to go inside when another worker came up and said they actually had newspapers today and handed us each a sheet (make sure to bring a newspaper sheet in case you’re not as lucky as we were). Not to spoil anything, but you really need it (or a small umbrella, if possible).
We were then allowed inside and we decided to sit in the middle for the best experience possible (it was open seating). As everyone was getting situated, I started to smell alcohol, and the buttery popcorn smell was stronger than ever. In the beginning, they explained the rules, gave us time to buy more raffle tickets and candy, played a couple of “games” involving the audience, and then held a raffle. After all the laughter of the show and the “amazing” prizes of the raffle (which by the way we didn’t win), it was now time for the actual show and when I say it was the most amazing night ever, I mean it! I can’t put into words the audience’s screams, shouting responses in time with the lines in the movie, and just the plain chaos of it. I laughed so much!
I’m not going to spoil anything so I’ll skip to the end. After the show was over, my friend and I walked out of the Plaza Theatre and saw the cast wave goodbye at us, telling us to please come back again, ‘cause every night there’s something different and the show only gets wilder as time goes on. I couldn’t help but smile. I’m definitely going back, which is why if you haven’t already gone to a live show or seen the movie on TV, you have to go. Trust me, you won’t regret it!