Every year, around Halloween, University Union at UGA puts on a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Tate theatre. Students and community members look forward to coming to this fun-filled, welcoming, and a little bit risqué space for a night of refreshment from their busy lives. It’s a widely-known and widely-loved event, but every year, the cast is faced with the responsibility of not only putting on an amazing show but also ensuring students can continue performing for many years to come.
“Queer culture and representation, that’s a really taboo subject when it comes to a school like this.”
Jaylen Parker, Magenta
First, let’s talk about what makes Rocky Horror at UGA so significant.
“We’re a football school in the South, Rocky isn’t exactly what you think of when you think of UGA…Having Rocky at a big southern school, a lot of people are coming here from all across Georgia and a lot of places where they don’t have opportunities like this. They didn’t grow up with a theatre department or they grew up with one, but it wasn’t accepting, or they didn’t have any kind of queer acceptance in their community, so to be able to come here and even the environment that we’re in, see… there is a lot of love and acceptance even in this school that I wouldn’t really expect it from.” Jordan Troup, Stage Manager/Emcee
“[Rocky] could only exist for people who feel othered by society whether it’s ‘cause they’re queer or alternative in any way. So the type of audience that comes to Rocky doesn’t feel like they’re the mainstream and that this is a safe space for them.” Jim Salisbury, Frank N Furter
Members of the UGA and Athens/Clarke County community come to see Rocky Horror to escape. To forget about their jobs, their studies, and all the hate in the world. They come to have fun with a full crowd of people and a stage full of cast members who think like them. The Tate theatre becomes a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community and anyone else who wants to come and have a good time.
“‘Cause… no one lame is gonna like Rocky.” Savannah Ray, Dr. Scott
Each member of this cast has a specific, unique reason why Rocky is so important to them.
Here are some of their stories.
“At 13, I went to go see a show [of Rocky] with one of my friends, and I was like, “Woah. That person’s so gender. There’s no such thing as gender.” And it was just so comforting to me as someone who is so confused about everything and especially when you get into the culture and the comfort that comes to all the people who are involved, like, everyone is so accepting in this unity no matter who you are. So it’s always just been a safe space for me as a queer person that has always struggled [with] growing up in the south, growing up in places where I haven’t been able to express myself.” Jaylen Parker, Magenta
“I’m a freshman… Doing Rocky, I feel like immediately I have friends…It was just nice to just suddenly have this community. And literally last night during the Time Warp, I was gonna start crying because… like, we were sold out! And there’re so many people who care about this show… And I just love it so much.” Savannah Ray, Dr. Scott
“For me, my role is gender-bent, and I think it’s really cool that… this is such a flexible show, and you can do whatever you want with it. Like, I can play a man, I can have a fake penis, like, that’s so fun. And no one even bats an eye.”
“Last year, I was a freshman, and I had never seen Rocky before. And I have the Snapchat story today, a year ago today, I came and saw Rocky for the first time as a little Virgin. As soon as the show ended, I told my friends, I said, “I’m gonna be in that next year, I don’t care how…I will do tech, I don’t care. And I told them that at the audition.” Alyssa Fejes, Rocky
“It’s a cool way to bring in friends who haven’t had this experience to kind of see part of gay culture. It’s fun to bring them to an event where they’re gonna have fun no matter what… It’s a cool gateway because I know a lot of my friends have never been exposed to this kind of stuff… [My roommate] was like, “I had so much fun last night. I was not expecting that.” It’s cool to be able to expose people who don’t even need the representation but haven’t had the experience.” Kendall Larson, Tech
In addition to these beautiful, moving testimonies, this cast is also making history! This year was the first year in Rocky at UGA’s long history that a non-binary person played Eddie, the foolhardy motorcyclist (EJ Clay), and a woman played Rocky, the famously handsome experiment of Frank N Furter (Alyssa Fejes). These casting choices must have been no-brainers because they both performed FLAWLESSLY.
Bottom line,
“Queer people are not a majority at UGA, and because we’re not a majority, it’s very easy to ignore us and try to push us to the side. So, by having Rocky every year, it’s the one big advertisement that you can’t take away from queer people, and it forces them to recognize us as existing, acknowledge our presence, and celebrate our presence!” Jordan Troup, SM/Emcee
So, Why wouldn’t it stay?
“Every year, we have to fight for it to stay on, and to continue the show, and to continue the tradition…To keep our presence here and to keep the LGBT+ community going at UGA.”
Kristen Martin, Director
“Being a part of Union and being on board of Union, it’s really opened my eyes to see that it’s the ONE event that LGBT people have at this school that’s sponsored by the board of Union. And every year, we have to fight for it to stay on, and to continue the show, and to continue the tradition. It’s just a reminder that we do have to fight to keep our presence here and to keep the LGBT+ community going at UGA.” Kristen Martin, Director
Put simply,
The University doesn’t like to give UGA Union and the Rocky cast and crew the resources and funding they need to put on the best show possible. All because UGA doesn’t want to be perceived as buying “underwear” for a school-sponsored production.
“It’s really hard for us to get our props and [costumes] because although Union is supporting us, the University’s rules really don’t agree with Rocky, which is really unfortunate.” Ava Watson, Brad Majors
“Anyone that knows Rocky knows that corsets are a huge part of the show, a very big staple piece. And they wouldn’t get us corsets…They were like, “Oh we don’t want to have them [only] used one time,” but we use them every year, we just need a few more. That was one example of choosing to not understand, choosing to not learn.” Jaylen Parker, Magenta
Because of this, “choiceful ignorance,” as Jaylen put it, the students putting on this show had to buy many of their props and costume pieces out of their own pockets.
“I had to buy fabric and make Rocky’s top. Hand sewn.” Jordan Troup, SM/Emcee
“We found the exact thing on Amazon, but we had to make it ourselves.” Ava Watson, Brad Majors
“There were so many random [props and costume pieces] they’d been promising us would be gotten, and they never came. And eventually [Kristen and I] had to go to Walmart and buy all the remaining things ourselves, and that came out of mine and her pockets. Jordan Troup, SM/Emcee
Savannah Ray, who plays Dr. Scott (a character who uses a wheelchair throughout the entire show), got her wheelchair the day before opening night. Her first time using it was during the show on Thursday.
Not only is UGA relying on these students to pick up their slack financially, but it’s also putting their safety at risk, to an extent. Anyone familiar with the performing arts knows that last-minute changes like this and having a costume you aren’t comfortable in is not safe. That’s why most production teams will get the actors their shoes (if nothing else, costume-wise) as soon as possible—so the actor can get used to walking, running, dancing, whatever they need to do in the show, in the shoes, well before opening night.
Not to mention their rehearsal schedule.
“We’ve done rehearsals every day for months Tuesday through Thursday 7 to 10 [pm], so we REALLY love this show. That’s why we do it because we love it.” Ava Watson, Brad Majors
These cast and crew members are also still students at the University of Georgia, the birthplace of higher education. They are still, on top of all of this, having to keep up with their studies.
“[The University] also just doesn’t take Rocky seriously as a show. The same respect and the same effort that is put towards any other Drama Department show is not shown and put towards Rocky.” Jordan Troup, SM/Emcee
“And it’s all because we’re not speaking lines.” Jaylen Parker, Magenta
“No one sees all the struggles we have to go through to get this show here, and it’s really unfortunate that such a beloved show is not loved by the University of Georgia.”
Ava Watson, Brad Majors
“I’m sure this is surprising because it sounds like everyone loves Rocky. We obviously sold out our first show, everyone was cheering, standing ovation, right? But no one sees all the struggles we have to go through to get this show here, and it’s really unfortunate that such a beloved show is not loved by the University of Georgia.” Ava Watson, Brad Majors
It’s true
Students and members of the community have always loved and supported Rocky to no end, it seems. Lines to get into the show were backed up all the way to the pool tables in Tate when I went to see it. But that doesn’t solve the issues with UGA being unsupportive of this absolute gem of a production. Every year, the cast and crew stress selling out every show to, “[force UGA to] acknowledge our presence,” to keep the show alive for the next generations of Bulldogs who rely on this safe, inclusive, carefree space. The queer community at the University of Georgia needs Rocky Horror. So, “#BeAnAlly” (Savannah “Savvy” Ray, Dr. Scott), and be sure to always support Rocky Horror during your years at UGA and in Athens!