Friday Jan. 27

Last call!

It was film as audience participation and interactive theater. It was a joyous community of misfits - on screen and out in the crowd. It was, in parts, a parody of '50s B-movie horror movies and the beginning of a new wave of outre entertainment. It was first a stage show in 1973 and then it was adapted by the original director Jim Sherman and actor-writer Richard O'Brien for the screen. It came out the the glam rock era and the emerging gay rights period and became the biggest midnight movie of all time. It is, of course, the omnisexual "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," with sweet transvestite Dr. Frank-N-Furter (originally Tim Curry), a scientist who has a few kinky things in store for his desperate surprise visitors Janet (originally Susan Sarandon) and Brad (originally Barry Bostwick). And of course there's Eddie (Meat Loaf). In my journalistic travels over the years, I've met and talked with Bostwick, Curry and Meat. Everyone was pretty proud of what they'd helped create.
  "Rocky Horror" is being revived in Cambridge at Club Oberon by Ryan Landry and his team of Gold Dust Orphans every Friday night through Dec. 2. We had a chat with Landry - famous for his movie parodies and mashups - "Willy Wanker and the Hershey Highway," "Silent Night of the Lambs" and "All About Christmas Eve" to name three. Landry   

JSink had an email chat with Landry.

JSInk: Why revive it now?
Landry: Why not?! That's like asking 'Why revive Shakespeare or "Porgy and Bess"? The musical score is a masterwork. I revived it because I wanted to share it again with others who feel the same way about the music that I do. I love everything about the music. When it comes to rock 'n' roll, I know my shit and I'm a pretty picky queen. So when I decide to revive something, baby, consider it revived! In short, if I love something I cannot turn my back on it. Let's just say I don't stay up nights wondering "Would 'Rent' have been a better choice?
Does it fit today's zeitgiest in some way?
It fits everybody's "zeitgeist." One zeitgeist fits all. It's an acid trip that every age can relate to. It's about the ups and downs of sexual freedom, the destruction of one's innocence, true or false. It asks the musical question, "Why do we exist if not for pleasure?" That pretty much sums up the human folly from Adam and Eve to Adam and Steve. Not to mention it is most definitely a morality play. You watch it knowing all the while that though you may be bathing in the beauty of decadence now ... one day you will be forced to pay off the wages of yours sins. Like I said ... One day.
Hopefully, our audience will get so into the "bath" that they simply refuse to get out of "The tub."
It does seem like the musical you were born to do ... Any thoughts about that?
Whadya man "thoughts"? You just said what I was thinking!
What was  your reaction the first time you saw the movie?
Why the hell is everyone talking?!
Were you one of those folks that went in participated in the midnight showings?
No, I sat at home and went into a dream listening to the soundtrack on my Radio Shack headphones. I loved it then and I love it now. From that first hit on "Science Fiction Double Feature" 'til the end of "Super Heroes," love it. Beisdes I was never one to shout things out at the theater. I'm one of the cool cats, remember?
Any/all thoughts you feel like sharing or venting?
Get your tickets now or regret it later and don't come whining to me if you don't get in. In fact, don't bug me at all. Can't you see I'm busy ... listening to the music. ... The first show was so packed we felt like Pink Floyd!"

I saw the show and was going to do some spewing, about how Ryan's worked in some sharp contemporary pop culture references, how Gene Dante is perfect as the befuddled Brad, and how the plot is, well, not the main point. It's confusing, even if you know the outline. And, it really doesn't matter. "Rocky Horror" is best digested in small bites - one after another after another .... Anyway, as I said, I was going to go on more 'til I realized my friend and Herald freelance colleague Jenna Scherer pretty much nailed it. And so, Jenna sez:
If there were ever a match made in underground glam heaven, it’s the Gold Dust Orphans and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Both have a rabid cult following, a yen for delightfully over-the-top entertainment and a certain disregard for traditional gender roles. Unless you’re allergic to glitter and fun, there’s no reason to miss “The Rocky Horror Show,” the local drag troupe’s take on Richard O’Brien’s camp/musical/ horror classic. Forget a ragtag band of amateur performers pantomiming in front of the movie screen — this is “Rocky Horror” live and glitzy.
    The Orphans have left their usual stomping grounds at Fenway’s Machine nightclub for the comparatively wide-open spaces of Oberon. As with most shows staged at this theater/club hybrid, James P. Byrne’s production uses the whole room as a performance space. “Rocky Horror” unfolds over, around and among the crowd amassed on Oberon’s dance floor.
Unlike most Orphans shows (such as “Phantom of the Oprah” and “Peter Pansy”), this one is not a genderbending, absurdist adaptation of the original material. That’s probably because “Rocky Horror” is already gender-bending and absurdist enough. Still, the Orphans have put their distinctive mark on the show in the form of innovative staging and some surpassingly awesome costumes. Company impresario Ryan Landry straps on the black corset as Dr. Frank’n’Furter, a cross-dressing mad scientist from the planet Transsexual. Naive couple Brad (Gene Dante) and Janet (Kayla Foster) stumble into his castle one dark and stormy night, and well, a lot of really weird stuff happens. If you want a simple explanation of the plot of “Rocky Horror,” you’re kind of missing the point.

    Suffice to say, there’s an ab-tastic monster (James Cerne), some creepy servants who are really megalomaniacal aliens (Laine Binder and Tad McKittrick) and lots of illicit goings-on  Costume designer Scott Martino has created some truly fabulous togs, from the “Time Warp” dancers’ hubcap headpieces to Rocky’s disco-ball underwear. And even as they’re gyrating across the dance floor and hanging off the balcony, Byrne’s ensemble can all sing their faces off. But what “Rocky Horror” really demands is brazen gusto, and the Orphans have it in spades.
This kind of 360-degree staging seems fitting for a show that, in its long-running midnight movie incarnation, has become known for audience interactivity. Only we’d advise not hurling toast and rice at the performers — they’re just too fabulous for projectiles.

Shows are at 10:30. Tickets: $55-$25. Under 18, no go.

2 Arrow St., Cambridge, 866-811-4111 www.cluboberon.com