Come for the guys in short shorts, but stay for everything else. From the acting to the directing to the makeup, “The Rocky Horror Show” is sure to entertain (and likely shock).
“I want it to be kind of like an escape,” said co-director Maggie Seymour ’16. “This is a story about people who don’t fit in, and I think it’s a great way for everyone at Bowdoin to recognize that there are times that you just can’t.”
Seymour and her co-director Marcella Jimenez ’16 worked to represent the traditionally interactive aspects associated with the Rocky Horror franchise in their production.
Throughout the performance, actors break the fourth wall by crashing into audience members, sitting on their laps, and squirting them with water.
In addition, the audience sits in the middle of the production—the three performance spaces are at the front, back and side of the venue.
The musical, written by Richard O’Brien, tells the story of a newly engaged couple—Brad and Janet—who enter the home of a crazed, transvestite scientist named Frank N. Furter and chaos ensues. The musical was later adapted into a film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” in 1975. Both the film and musical have a worldwide cult following.
In their directorial debut, Seymour and Jimenez didn’t shy away from taking chances with their production.
They decided to stage the show in Ladd House, since it is “just opposite to anything that would be in Pickard,” according to Jimenez.
The directors felt that the environment of a College House was better suited to stage a production with more mature subject matter.
“You can be as sexy as you want to be in this place and it’s safe,” said Jimenez.
Audience members at the Thursday night premiere lauded the directors’ decision to stage the production in a College House.
“I’ve only seen the movie before, so it’s a lot different watching it in a social house, but I thought it was a good space and it was really interactive and interesting,” said Julia Binswanger ’16.
Roya Moussapour ’17 agreed, “If they had done it in a regular theater, it wouldn’t have worked as well.”
However, the space posed some problems because of its lack of a traditional theater setup.
“You need lighting and set and entrances and exits and places for people to do makeup,” said Jimenez.
“It’s been a lot of teamwork which has been awesome,” Seymour added.
The show stars Sarah Levy ’16 as Janet, Adam Glynn ’17 as Brad, and Max Middleton ’16 as Dr. Frank N. Furter.
“Working with our actors is easily the highlight for us,” said Jimenez. “We have such a talented cast and they all take direction so well.”
“A lot of people in the cast you don’t look at and think ‘that’s Rocky’... You think, that’s your average Bowdoin student,” said Seymour.
Seymour and Jimenez also emphasized the importance of costumes in the show as a means of creating a completely different world.
“Our costume designers [Julia Mehlman ’16 and Francesca Dausch-Rivera ’16] are phenomenal. They are both huge fans of the show and super innovative,” said Seymour. “Without the costumes, you can’t do Rocky.”
The show has been funded by the Class Council of 2016 and various College Houses.
The performance will take place at Ladd House tonight and Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
Editor's note, Friday April 4, 2014 at 12:12pm: The original article stated that performances would be at 8:30 p.m., the article has been corrected to reflect the correct time, 8:00 p.m.