At midnight this past Friday, a mere two days after Halloween, The Rocky Horror Picture Show floor show descended upon Schwartz auditorium, thanks to the Deviant Culture Club.
This bi-annual event featured many of the regular characters Brandeis has come (or, should I say, cum) to know and love, both on stage/screen and off.
The evening began with a stage show of its own, with cast member Dinah Lofgren '08 and director Tracy Latimer '08 building up anticipation by performing strip teases and getting the crowd in the mood for some roaring Rocky havoc. The boys then came out (not that kind of coming out!) and performed a few short, comic songs that, while amusing, broke up an otherwise great lead in for the evening.
After that, with much fanfare, the movie and the mayhem commenced. Though this evening was not much different from other evenings of its sort, some topical humor was added to grand effect. Some of the new shout-outs, compliments of Brandeis audience regulars Stephen Seplowitz '08 and David Hinterman '08, made the experience new, exciting, and ragingly hilarious. The more memorable of these included references to the death of Luciano Pavarotti (the coffin in the opening scene) and the flooding of New Orleans in Franks pool near the end of the film.
The entire evening was, as always, a blast, though it was hard to hear most of the time due to the audience's participation. The audience seemed out of synch with each other by noticeable margins, making it hard to follow the interactions between their lines and those of the film, especially for those newer to the floor shows.
The real stars of the evening, though, were the stage cast performing live in front of the screen. Notable performances came from Arielle Kaplan '10 (as Columbia), Adrienne Johnson '08 (as Janet), and Jonathan Kindness '09 (as Rocky himself).
Kaplans obvious charm and vivacity came through with every smile, smirk or wink, and her massive talent as a dancer was put to great use as Columbia, probably the most dance-heavy role in the show. Johnson successfully found her inner slut over the course of the evening, tempered with a mocking innocence, great comic timing, and a sharp sense of irony.
Kindness, though, really stole the show. He fully entered his character and embodied the life and spirit of the show, with all the innocence, flirtation and uninhibited sexuality that, among other things, make the character of Rocky so appealing.
The Rocky Horror floor shows, wherever put up, always promise to be loads of fun, and this one did not disappoint. Everyone in the room that night, both cast and audience, was fully devoted to give themselves over to absolute pleasure, and it showed.
The packed room was filled with more than just people in costume. There was something more an indescribable energy that made the room throb and pulse. I guess the only thing left to do now that the party is over is just a jump to the left.
