Transvestite Dance Moves and Full Body Shaves; Oh the Horror!

Samantha Lambert

Staff Reporter

Not long ago I sat at the pub with a few cast members of the long-awaited Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I have no doubt that the Sept. 30th production is going to blow the tube-socks off any participating fans in the audience. McDaniel’s theatre department has certainly made this cult classic its own.

To prepare for the auditions for this science fiction-horror production, it was recommended that the cast members take a class called Acting and Musical Theatre their ’09 Spring Semester with the director of RHPS, Elizabeth Vandenberg (Troy Women). After auditions the cast member then further perfect their “sweet transvestite” dance moves and lines by attending rehearsals every night for four hours.

If anything, this cast is extremely dedicated and enthusiastic about this production: “I only hope every show is as good as this one,” said Chelsea Cook, a phantom.

The costumes for this production will have the trademark fishnets and corsets, so don’t fret about that, but there is also going to be a punk flair added to the mix. Cast members are going to have dyed neon hair and bright make-up along with animal-print and metallic clothing.

Production plans also call for a live band performing on a rotating platform. To make stage sets easier, the tech crew is incorporating a multi- media feel by adding a projection screen in the background that will flash such images as crazy scientists and creepy trees according to each scene’s needs.

McDaniel’s own Andrew Tucker, who plays the leading role of Rocky, admits that he is getting his whole body shaved and spray tanned to fit the image of Dr. Frankenfurter’s sexual experiment. It has yet to be confirmed if he will bleach his hair or wear a wig — though he is not opposed to either option.

The show is “going to be pretty epic,” Tucker said. “It’s going to re-invigorate the theatre…reinvent the whole vision to get a new audience involved.”

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Sept. 30th-Oct. 3rd at 7:30 p.m.

*Late Night Showing Oct. 2 at 11:30 p.m.

Box Office: 410-857-2448

$8 Students

$10 Adults