Spring Break
'Rocky Horror' brings tranny fun to Drexel
Dave Goncalves
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Having made its original debut in the United Kingdom back in 1973, The Rocky Horror Show quickly rose in popularity as one of the biggest cult phenomena. Having become a blockbuster film since, the production still makes its run on stage in several venues. It now comes to Drexel University, where it started its run Feb. 22.
The show, which revolves around a couple that gets stranded with a group of very eccentric transvestites, takes a wild trip through dementia. An amalgamation of horror, musical, sci-fi and comedy, The Rocky Horror Show explores sexual identity and moral boundaries. The characters engage in violent and suggestive acts while undergoing acts of cannibalism, murder and experimental surgery reminiscent of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Presenting these concepts in a wild comical and musical form, The Rocky Horror Show allows for absurd amounts of interaction between the performers and the audience.
The production brings the audience into the play through physical interaction; for example, the cast will squirt water onto the audience. They also bring the audience into the raunchy sexfest by having the dancers scout out into the crowd for audience members tagged with a red "V" on their hand. The "V" is the marker that separates the Rocky Horror virgins from the veterans. For some, this interaction allows for the audience to enjoy the show more.
"I hadn't ever seen The Rocky Horror Show before, and I'm glad I lost my virginity to it," said Leanne Kissinger, one of the many audience members of Feb. 23 showing.
The show is being put on in the Mandell Theater, 33rd & Chestnut sts., by The Drexel Players, a part of the Department of Performing Arts and the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. The Rocky Horror Show opened Feb. 22 and will be playing March 2 at midnight and March 3 at 8 p.m.
The show, which revolves around a couple that gets stranded with a group of very eccentric transvestites, takes a wild trip through dementia. An amalgamation of horror, musical, sci-fi and comedy, The Rocky Horror Show explores sexual identity and moral boundaries. The characters engage in violent and suggestive acts while undergoing acts of cannibalism, murder and experimental surgery reminiscent of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Presenting these concepts in a wild comical and musical form, The Rocky Horror Show allows for absurd amounts of interaction between the performers and the audience.
The production brings the audience into the play through physical interaction; for example, the cast will squirt water onto the audience. They also bring the audience into the raunchy sexfest by having the dancers scout out into the crowd for audience members tagged with a red "V" on their hand. The "V" is the marker that separates the Rocky Horror virgins from the veterans. For some, this interaction allows for the audience to enjoy the show more.
"I hadn't ever seen The Rocky Horror Show before, and I'm glad I lost my virginity to it," said Leanne Kissinger, one of the many audience members of Feb. 23 showing.
The show is being put on in the Mandell Theater, 33rd & Chestnut sts., by The Drexel Players, a part of the Department of Performing Arts and the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. The Rocky Horror Show opened Feb. 22 and will be playing March 2 at midnight and March 3 at 8 p.m.
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