By Zack Downing, Staff Writer
20 Cent Fiction’s annual The Rocky Horror Picture Show performances are a long held and beloved UMass Dartmouth Halloween tradition that draw a big crowd every year.
At the end of every October, the 20 Cent Fiction actors reenact The Rocky Horror Picture Show and add their own unique twists and shouts that make every show a riot to experience.
One of the things that has always made the musical stand out is the part the audience can play in the performance.
The first thing you have to know is that if you’re entering the auditorium having never seen a UMass Dartmouth performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, you are labeled a “virgin.”
If you are one of these Rocky virgins, you can come up on stage right before the show and participate in a minigame led by the “trannies” (Transylvanians), the extra supporting characters in Rocky. Think of the Despicable Me minions, but infinitely less annoying.
This year, the trannies will be dressing up exactly as they appear in the film, which is a new touch for the 20 Cent performance.
That was always the highlight when it comes to audience interaction, but this year, the production is stepping it up a notch.
Before the show begins, outside the auditorium in the campus center, there will be a speed makeup booth, where a couple of the trannies will be putting as much makeup as they can on you in 30 seconds.
The kissing booth that the intermission of the show was famous for will still be present after the first act, waiting for daring lips to enter.
The performance itself will be a little different this year, incorporating the audience and the “virgins” more than ever before. Vice President of 20 Cent Fiction, Johnny Perreira, gave The Torch a sneak peek:
“So what we’re doing is cutting the call lines in half,” he said. “What we’re gonna have [the trannies] instead do, is go down to the audience, interact with them, dance with them, teach them call lines, and we’re even considering getting the audience on stage during the show.”
He also told The Torch that the trannies will be down in the aisles of the audience, shadowing the actions that are happening on stage.
If you’re sitting down in the seats at the show, there will be Rocky Horror happening on all sides of you.
If you’ve never been to a showing, you can think of the production like a pyramid.
At the top of the pyramid is the screen projecting the actual The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie, then under the screen are the actors reenacting it, at the foot of the stage are the trannies who interact with the audience and shout call lines, and finally come the audience, who will be surprised with what the trannies have in store.
“We wanted to make the show more interactive for both the trannies and the audience,” Kimberly Lusignan, head tranny, told The Torch, “and we’re excited to see how it works on the first run-through.”
“It’s a really fun show where you get to see people break out of their comfort zones and feel comfortable laughing and joking about different things, and having a good time yelling at a movie.”
So, if that all interests you and you want to see 20 Cent Fiction’s unique rendition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, come to the main auditorium in the campus center on October 30, 31, and November 1 to see the show!
Also—the Halloween performance starts at midnight, for extra spooks.