The cast of ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ delivered a memorable performance at Montclair State.
Photo courtesy of Martin Keating
Montclair State University’s Players brought the time warp back with their annual lyrical showing of classic musical comedy Rocky Horror Picture Show from Oct. 20th-22nd at 8 p.m. and midnight each day.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was created in the 1970s and tells a story about love, hate, adventure and, for the most part, sex. It starts out with Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple from Ohio, whose car breaks down on a dark stormy night. These straightedge suburban love birds end up inside Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s castle of chaos with several unique characters. Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the Transylvanian head of the household, welcomes Brad and Janet with a goal in mind: to bring out their deepest, kinkiest fantasies to life. The tale concludes with Furter dying from a drowning incident as the innocent couple transforms into sexually charged aliens themselves.
Junior Madison Glassman plays Columbia, the colorful maid in the Transylvanian mansion.
Glassman said, “I really like this show because it has a liberating atmosphere. When you are performing in it, you aren’t being judged. You have fun, be sexy and free!”
Junior Ben Bouffard plays the criminologist and described Rocky Horror as “one of the craziest shows that exist today.”
Bouffard added, “It allows you to discover parts of yourself through the character played whether lead or ensemble. Me, being a straight male, I am discovering more of my feminine side. I play the criminologist who is also the narrator, and he is the most straight lace character in the entire show. We are changing his character up a little bit, making him more feminine. If you come see the show, you will understand what I mean at the end.”
When asked about the rehearsal time for Rocky Horror Picture Show, Glassman explains that it is a four week process Monday through Friday from 6-10 p.m., and sometimes later. Acting and dancing experience is required, but singing is not. Players also has an improv group, called Montclair Improv League and Friends (MILF), that performs throughout the year.
Fashion Director Jenn Zerilli is a junior at Montclair State who experienced theater life and brought her artistic visions to Rocky Horror for the first time. Zerilli said that visuals are very important in theater and she did the clothes shopping in preparation for the show.
I never watched Rocky Horror Picture Show to its entirety before. The first time I watched the movie version was also the first time I saw Players perform every line from it on Friday’s late-night showing. It was a shocking, electrifying, interactive experience from start to finish.
Players opened up with writing “V” for Virgin on some of the audience members heads and playing a game where they would eat food from the cast members bodies. I heard vulgar call-outs traditionally being shouted to poke fun throughout the show.
It was something that left me confused and, at times, disturbed. The show had a lot of intimacy and I watched people with fish net stockings – more than I expected. However, I have noticed that every single person on stage had tremendous charisma and energy. The choreography, fashion, makeup and the surprising conclusion was incredible.
