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Jul 31, 2013
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I haven't been to a Rocky Horror midnight movie in...maybe 8 years, and maybe twice in the 12 before that. But I was one of those weird high school kids whose teens were enhanced, if not socially blessed, by Rocky Horror midnight screenings. I wound up working for the theater that showed it in my town, and I lost track after 300 showings.
While Rocky Horror clearly was part of my life and my friends' lives, I never fully understood the shadow cast, those folks who recreate the movie as it plays behind them. Audience participation allowed both a sense of tradition and belonging (of a sort), while improvised interactions allowed for personal expression (of a sort). As both a regular and employee of a theater, the shadow cast always seemed more for the sake of the shadow cast, though I'll note that I can't speak for local regulars.
And as far as The DD wanting to leave the theatre and strike out on their own goes, the theater has recently come into the hands of new owners who had a different idea of how things should be than we did so we made the decision to move on because of irreconcilable differences and in our opinion all the problems that we faced were totally worth it to be where we are now, The Kiggins Theatre is absolutely beautiful and completely supportive of us.
Also, I can understand how shadow casts are not for everyone, but also all shadow casts are very different and run things in different ways, it's all about finding a place and cast that you like, or even just finding a theater without a shadow cast if that's what you prefer.
It's great to hear different opinions from time to time!