Reading Time: 2 minutesOne of the most wonderfully weird and most dramatic life changing events in the life of tbaoo, has turned 35, it’s the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Please read all there is to read about this tremendous thread of human entertainment here. It was just so different, so sexy, so vibrant, so diverse, with all sorts of sexual tastes portrayed, it had aliens, dead people being eaten, motorbikes, cheesy Americana, did I say sex, yes, loads of it. Well, babies don’t you panic indeed.
I was an impressionable young man in 1974, gladly invited to the live theatre version in Sydney’s Newtown. A schoolmate scored a special invite for him and I from one of his family’s closest friend Reg Livermore, who played “Frank n Furter” in this the original Australian season. I’ve never been the same since. No I’m not a transvestite, nor an alien, even though I feel that way sometimes, alien that is.
The music, well it was and so very much, remains absolutely shit hot, (hire the movie now if you’ve not seen it, I can’t believe that there is anyone on the planet that hasn’t, I’m continually amazed at these things), the atmosphere on entry was very edgy and extra keen on my part, as even the ushers were dressed as “S&M sex slaves” as they showed you to your seat. A young man still in high school was having a great time.
The impact of this groundbreaking exposure is probably best assessed by a psychologist, if I ever went to see one, now that would be a session. Near naked women and men, flirtation from complete strangers, which turned out to be strengthened, even hardened by the cast members and their somewhat naughty behaviour. No, I can’t stand up just now.
The entrance made by Reg’s Frank n Furter was simply jaw dropping. When you sat down, you noticed a darkened construction site type ramp walkway that came from the rear of the theatre, all the way down to the stage.
Like in the video from the film below, a stamping beat started and got louder and louder, then a flashing spot came on which momentarily blinded the audience. Almost instantly as we all turned our heads, the entry hit us like a brick. The music blasted out from a real band of desperate session players who were perched up above the stage in a construction cage like platform, then boom here he/she comes.
So please check out the Rocky Horror Picture Show, allow yourself to be relocated to a far away place and time and swim in a pool of really cutting edge entertainment. It was 1974 after all. If you can catch a screening of the film at a cinema do so, there’s normally a load of dedicated fans, who dress up and sing all the songs, while screaming out the dialogue throughout the film. Fanbloodytastic. Don’t dream it, be it.
An increasingly grumpy old fart posting rants, observations and trying to write somewhat twisted short stories for adults. All rights reserved unless otherwise credited © Alan Crawford - 2024
