New UK tour dates!

The current UK tour has had some new dates added to it which is VERY exciting because it is simply BRILLIANT! ScofieldBurrows tells me she's already managed to secure front row tickets to the Saturday night matinee in Glasgow in November - but tickets are selling like hotcakes she says ("there's practically none of the good ones left!") so if you're planning a visit, you better book soon. Here is the list of places the tour is going for the rest of the year:

Woking New Victoria Theatre: 30 Aug - 4 Sep

Southend Cliffs Pavilion: 6 - 11 Sep

Brighton Theatre Royal: 13 - 18 Sep

Llandudno Venue Cymru: 20-25 Sep

Ipswich Regent Theatre: 29 Sep - 2 Oct

Liverpool Empire: 4 - 9 Oct

Grand Canal Theatre Dublin: 11 - 16 Oct

Blackpool Grand Theatre: 18 - 23 Oct

Birmingham Alexamdra Theatre: 25 - 30 Oct

Leeds Grand Theatre: 1 - 6 Nov
Glasgow Theatre Royal: 8 - 13 Nov
Manchester Palace: 15 - 20 Nov

Richmond Theatre: 22 - 27 Nov

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre: 29 Nov - 4 Dec

So dust off your heels if you can, pull on your fishnets and let's do the time warp again! All the details of how to book tickets are on the tour website (rockyhorror.co.uk) - but, for Glasgow at least, they're going mighty fast! Hope to see you there :)

Photos!

These excellent photos were taken at the Edinburgh Playhouse in June 2010.

The playhouse doesn't let you take photos but these are some cheeky snaps taken by one of our members.

Trixi the Usherette singing "Science Fiction, Double Feature" as the show begins...

The current UK tour has happily kept the tradition of Trixi being played by the woman who plays Magenta, and also Dr Scott being played by the man playing Eddie.

"Dammit, Janet - I love you!

The entire cast taking a bow at the end of the show. In this particular show, the cast were promoting breast cancer awareness by all wearing pink variations of their costumes!

This beautiful closeup is of Frank in his pink corset. Check out the fur! (This isn't actually David Bedella, the current Frank - he couldn't make this show so this is his understudy. And he was phenomenal!)

If you have any cool Rocky Horror photos you want to share (and please do!) you can email them to us at rockyhorrorblog@hotmail.co.uk

The Virgin's Guide to Rocky Horror - Part 4

And now we come to the crux of the Rocky Horror experience...

Part 4 - Costumes

In my opinion, it is dressing up to see a show which turns a great night into a night you will never forget. Embarrassed about dressing up? Don't fret. Here's everything you need to know about DRESSING UP:

1. You don't have to dress up. If it's your first time at the show and you think you'll be the only one wearing a costume, just wear something you're comfortable in. At some shows I've been too, more than half the audience will be dressed up, and at others it will only be a spattering of folks. For your first time, if you're uncomfortable, you don't have to dress up - but after seeing the other people in costume, you may feel like you want to next time!

ScofieldBurrows says: at the last show I attended (a matinee), most people weren't in costume but the ones who were got so much attention. My party was talked to by everyone, congratulated on our daring and design, and had more photos taken of us than we could count. And that was before the show started! When I sat down in the theatre, the couple next to me were wearing jeans and t-shirts. They looked me up and done and said "we feel overdressed!" I think a lot of people want to dress up but are too afraid. You might find after your first Rocky experience that you fall in love with a particular costume like I did, or that you felt out of place in normal clothes, and so you might be more daring next time!

2. Not every costume has to be revealing. Don't want to strut your stuff in fishnets and heels? You don't have to! There are plenty costumes which aren't too daring but will still make you stand out from the crowd. Love Frank but don't want to wear a basque? No problem! How about wearing a green labcoat, rubber gloves and peals like he does in the creation scene? Cool costume! Are you a guy who's embarrassed to wear heels? Why not be the narrator, complete with cravat and book? I've seen some great narrators in my time, particularly older gents whose best Rocky-ing days are behind them. My advice: if you want to dress up but don't want anything too revealing and don't know what to wear, watch the movie and you'll probably even see something you could put together from pieces in your wardrobe! Sorted!

3. A costume doesn't have to be perfect. Rocky Horror can be a very abstract concept. Some people choose to get a costume as accurate as possible whilst others add a twist of their own personality to it. ScofieldBurrows's preferred costume is movie-accurate whilst mine is more abstract and I often change or alter pieces as I see other costumes I like. At the last show I saw, some of the people in costume looked like they'd stepped right off the stage whilst other people had just added, for example, a gold sequined jacket to their normal outfit or perhaps a feather boa. And both ways are fine! The important thing about Rocky Horror is just to have fun and let your hair down, and I salute anyone who wears even the smallest hint of costume! One thing you should never do is mock other people's costumes. We're all there to have fun and everyone does it in their own unique way - that's one of the things which makes Rocky Horror so special!

That's the basics of dressing up. Now here are some of my own personnal opinions on what makes a good costume:

- Personally, I don't like the pre-made costumes that you can buy. They're cheaply made, expensive, and often don't look anything like they do on the packet. A friend of mine bought a packaged Columbia costume for her first time at a show. Columbia famously wears a gold sequin hat and tailcoat. The tailcoat was the only part of that costume she eventually ended up wearing. On the packet, the hat looked like a plastic glitter hat, not too bad, but the hat you got was a flimsy fabric thing which looked like a ridiculous floppy gold sunhat! My friend then bought black shorts and sewed coloured ribbons on them, bought a beautiful cheap corset on eBay, made a bow and decorated a top hat herself, and she looked great. That said, I've heard the Riff-Raff wig you can buy is actually pretty good because it's not an easy hairstyle to do unless you have hair like that naturally!
- eBay is a great place to buy Rocky Horror costume pieces. I've seen beautiful homemade Columbia hats, Eddie leather vests, etc going for reasonable prices on eBay. I've even seen a gorgeous custom made costume up for bid once or twice. You can sometimes see whole costumes that people have made, or just parts. It's a great place to get unique pieces for good prices!
- ScofieldBurrows is a diehard Rocky fan who had her costume custom-made. She says: a custom-made costume is expensive but well worth it, in my opinion. I fell in love with possibly the most difficult costume in the show and the costume designers I contacted made a fabulous job of it. The quality is superb and I have no doubt that it will last me for many, many years. I believe that making your own costume is a lot of fun because I've helped to prepare costumes for other people. If you want to get a really good costume, I'd advice speaking to other costume-clad people at the show. We all love talking about our costumes and it can be a great source of advice, whether that's where to get a custom made costume or how to sew on sequins which won't fall off as easily!
- I like to be different. In my experience, the most commonly worn costume is Magenta's maid costume because it's easy to do. I personally like to stand out, so I stay away from this costume. If you want to stand out, why not try a more unusual costume, like Magenta's dinner dress? I once saw a girl who made an excellent replica of the outfit Patricia Quinn wears at the start of the film, where Magenta, Columbia, Riff and Frank can all be sneakily seen at the wedding of Betty and Ralph.
- More on the maid's outfit. It's a great outfit but one thing I don't like to see is people who wear a slutty maid's outfit which looks nothing like the one on the stage or in the film. The thing about Magenta's costume is that it is sexy in its own strange way without being slutty. So instead of heading down to Anne Summers to buy a naughty role playing dress, why not try a traditional frilly white apron and pancake hat over a black dress? It's a simple costume and I personally think it looks a lot better than a cheeky French maid costume!


In the end, if you're attending your first show, just wear something you're happy in and have fun! There will always be someone who looks more out of place than you, and you may get so swept up in the great atmosphere that you want to dress up next time! It happens to us all. Remember to have fun!

The Virgin's Guide to Rocky Horror - Part 3

Part 3 - Audience Participation Lines

Audience Participation apparently dates back to a show during the 1970's in New York, and has been custom ever since.  In addition to dressing up and singing along, members of the audience talk back to things the actors say. At first glance, audience members shouting at the cast may seem confusing and rude. Here is everything you need to know about shout back lines!

No shout-back lines are carved in stone. New ones are invented from show to show and old ones which were maybe funny thirty years ago but not now are discarded. Here are some things I noticed people yelling at the last stage show I attended:

- Classically, when the Narrator says Brad Majors's name, people in the audience yell "Arsehole!" This is always funny, but not if you yell it when the name is mentioned by other characters or during songs. Then it's just annoying.

- Similarly, when the Narrator said Janet Weiss's name, people used to yell "Slut". But at the last show I attended, and this was the first time I've heard it used, people yelled "WEISS!" after Janet's name, because Brad later pronounces it wrong like "vice". This is certainly funny to yell after Brad gets it wrong, but I'm not sure I like it when the Narrator says it right, a classic example of how new lines are invented but are not always funnny.

- Rocky used to be called a "Pokemon" but that isn't very fresh anymore and didn't get many laughs at the last show at all. Let it die!

- After the narrator says "I would like, if i may" during his first entrance, most people yell "You may!", to which he usually replies "Thank you." It's not particularly funny unless you're there, in which instance the atmosphere of getting involved is just great!

- The response which got the most laughs at the last show I saw was after the narrator said "Brad and Janet had just tasted..." Before he could say "Forbidden fruit", a crude member of the audience yelled "Frank's cock!" which got many laughs. Bless him, Gerard Kelly who was playing the narrator handled it very well and yelled back "Well I was going to say 'forbidden fruit' but if you want Frank's cock!", to which a girl yelled "Yes please!" getting further laughs.


The crucial thing about audience particpation is that it should compliment the show, not disrupt it. Some people choose to be very, very rude and this isn't always funny. Don't yell stuff out just for the sake of hearing your own voice. Don't try to be the loudest or the most frequent yeller - you'll just interupt the show and piss everyone off. Great shout-back lines are hillarious and can sometimes even cause the actors to giggle. Bad shout-back lines are just annoying and disruptive. Don't shout things during the songs - people are singing along, so it isn't funny! And don't shout anything during the takeover scene where Riff Raff kills first Columbia and then Frank and Rocky. It's a touching and dramatic scene, and I've seen it ruined by idiots who shout rubbish.

Shout back lines are only funny if they're well-timed, appropriate, and (crucially) funny in the first place.

Look out for The Virgin's Guide Part 4 - Costumes!

The Virgin's Guide to Rocky Horror - Part 2

Part 2 - Dancing

Another huge part of the Rocky Horror experience is dancing. Embarrassed about dancing in front of strangers? Don't know when or how to dance? Never fear! We're here to help!

There are certain parts of the show where most people dance (ie. The Time Warp) and other parts where some like to dance and others don't. During the "Time Warp", most of the audience at a stage show will be on their feet and dancing, so you shouldn't feel embarrassed about it at all. The dance is very simple because the instructions of how to do it are all in the lyrics. If you really do feel uncomfortable dancing in front of everyone, no one is forcing you to, but you might well being the only person left seated and so this might make you even more uncomfortable. In the end, just have fun, whether that's from watching everyone else dance or from having a boogie yourself.

How to do the Time Warp

Like I said, the basic dance steps are in the lyrics so it's a very simple dance. A good way to master the dance is to do it in time with the actors when watching the movie. As well as the basic steps, the dance is also embellished with arm gestures, etc, but if it's your first time at the show there will always be more experienced people to copy! But if you're still nervous, here is my simple guide!

"It's just a jump to the left!" - Take a jump to the left.
"Then a step to the right!" - Take a step to the right.
"Put your hands on your hips" - Place your hands on your hips.
"Bring your knees in tight" - Bring your knees together tightly.
"But it's the pelvic thrust" - Thrust your pelvis forwards and backwards.
"That really drives you insane" - With your hands on your hips, move your pelvis in a circular motion.
"Let's do the Time Warp again!" - The action to go with this varies from show to show. In the film, the Transylvanians do a range of things, from waving their arms to jumping from side to side. In the current UK tour, the action is to put your left arm above your head, then your right arm, place your left hand on your right hip, your right hand on your left hip, then wiggle your upper body up and down. But because the move here changes with most productions, you can either copy what the actors on the stage are doing, or simply do your own thing!

Dancing at other time during the show is not as compulsary as during the Time Warp. My advice is just to dance when comfortable. During a stage show, apart from a little boogie in my seat, I only stand up to dance during the Time Warp because I wouldn't want to obstruct anyone elses view and therefore dampen their own experience of the show. Be considerate and don't do anything you're not comfortable with. Also, things can get pretty cramped at a stage show, so don't get too carried away when Time-Warping! ScofieldBurrows says: If, like me, you happen to be sitting at the end of the row, it's a good idea to move out into the aisle to dance. This will give both you and the people around you more space - plus it can be a good way to get noticed!

Look out for The Virgin's Guide Part 3 - Audience Participation Lines!

The Virgin's Guide to Rocky Horror - Part 1

Are you new to the phenomenon that is Rocky Horror? Worried you'll stand out and immediately be classed as a "Rocky Virgin"? Do not fear! Here we shall tell you everything you need to know for your first experience with Rocky Horror!

Part 1 - Props

One of the best ways to achieve "absolute pleasure" when watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show is to use props. This is a famous tradition of the show but, before you jump right in there, there are a few things you should know.

The use of props is great fun but only in certain instances. For example, it's best to keep props out of theatres, particularly the props which are thrown into the air. At one point, confetti is traditionally thrown, however this will get you into a lot of trouble with the people at the theatre who have to clean it up, and if you get any on the stage it could potentially be hazardous to the actors. Also, every threatre production will make the show their own and thus tinker with the format a little, so some props might necessarily fit in. But if you're watching the film at home with friends, or at a themed party, etc, props can be a great enhancement to the atmosphere. If you're unsure, it's best to check with the people involved as to whether props are desirable. Some performances even sell prop kits, so you know that props are appreciated, plus you don't have to find space for a loo roll in your garter belt!

Now that you know how to use props as enhancements rather than annoyances, here is a list of the props which are traditionally used by members of the audience at certain parts of the show.


1. Rice. After the first song, Science Fiction Double Feature, the film opens on Brad and Janet attending the wedding of their friends Ralph Hapschatt and Betty Monroe. As the newlyweds leave the church, the wedding guests throw rice. You should do the same.

2. Newspaper. During the song "Over at the Frankenstein Place", Brad and Janet are caught in the rain and Janet puts a newspaper over her head. You should also put a newspaper over your head.

3. Water Pistols. At the same point in the film, you should use a water pistol to simulate the rain storm which Brad and Janet are caught in. This is why you need the newspaper!

4. Torch. Again during the song "Over at the Frankenstein Place", Brad and Janet sing 'There's a light!' At this point, you should use a torch, lighter, etc to light up the room!

5. Rubber Gloves. When Frank makes his creation speech at the birth of Rocky Horror, he snaps his rubber gloves at three points, and later has them pulled off by Magenta after he butchers Eddie. If you snap your rubber gloves in sync with him, it will create a brilliant sound effect!

6. Noisemakers. After Frank makes his creation speech, the watching Transylvanians show their appreciation by applauding and making noise with noisemakers. You should do the same.

7. Toilet Paper. When Dr. Scott enters the lab, Brad cries "Great Scott!" Here, you should throw rolls of toilet paper into the air!

8. Confetti. At the end of the Charles Atlas Song ("I can make you a man") reprise, the wedding march plays whilst Frank and Rocky head towards the bedroom. The Transylvanians throw confetti over them. You should throw confetti into the air.

9. Toast. During dinner, Frank proposes a toast. The word "toast" is your cue to throw a slice of toast into the air! Remember: the toast may land on you, so don't butter it! Toast can also make a tasty snack if you get peckish on your way to the show!

10. Party Hat. Also during dinner, Frank puts on a party hat to sing "Happy Birthday" to Rocky. You should also put on a party hat!

11. Bell. During the song "Planet, Schmanet" after dinner, Frank sings the line 'Did you hear a bell ring?' You should ring a bell!

12. Playing cards. After Riff Raff and Magenta interrupt the floorshow, Frank sings the song "I'm Going Home". When he sings the line 'Cards for sorrow, cards for pain" you should shower the room with cards!


That's all you need to know about props! Just remember the golden rule: props are only fun if they're fun for everyone. Be aware of the people who have to clean up your confetti! If you're watching it at home, it may take a few watches to master your cues for props. But when used responsibly, props are a great addition to an already great experience!

Stay tuned for The Virgin's Guide Part 2 - Dancing!

Welcome!

Hey there! This is my first post in my new blog, and I just wanted to thank you for dropping by and introduce myself. My name is Harriet and I am a huge fan of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

If you're a fan too, this is most definitely the blog for you! So click that little follow button and get ready to shiver with antici.... PATION!

I'm also on Stardoll as RockyHorrorShow, and my dear friend Sam (ScofieldBurrows) who has Rocky Horror on the brain is going to contribute her unique insights (and photos!!!) to this blog!

One of the greatest things about Rocky Horror is the audience participation - and that's what we want from you! If you have any Rocky pictures you'd like put on the blog (don't send anything you're uncomfortable with) then please do send them to our email address:

rockyhorrorblog@hotmail.co.uk

So yeah, please get in touch with any cool photos, news, comments, etc. And please comment on posts too!

- Harriet