LEO Magazine, November 6, 2002

Let’s do the time warp — in your living room

by Cindy Lamb

LEO Magazine
November 6, 2002

Where were you when the lines of freaks, flirts and frankenfurters circled the block at the late, great Vogue Theater?

Midnight screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” were some of the wildest nights that bucolic St. Mathews hood would ever witness, and many Louisvillians will lapse into a segment of the script if you mention those days. OK, so there were a few patrons in jeans and sweaters, but if you can think of the 10 best reasons to pull on a pair of fishnet hose, almost all of them involve an evening of “Rocky Horror” fun.

And that’s only speaking for the men.

So, we’re all a little older and perhaps wiser, but none of the intrepid fans of the erstwhile travelers, Brad and Janet, will be caught Friday night, Nov. 8, without their toast, water and rice at the ready, along with perhaps some extra mascara. And it’ll all take place from the comfort of their sofas. Or beds.

Wherever the mood strikes you, it will be an intimate performance — just you and your radio, tuned strategically to WFPK-FM (91.9).

Getting un-dressed
Two weeks to show time. An “un-dress” rehearsal is in progress. The band is tuning while music supervisor Dan Phillips adjusts mike stands with WFPK engineer Andy High. Dan also portrays Rocky, while Andy will remain relatively safe behind the glass production-booth window.

The band providing the live support is known as Rebus Electric Quartet. Drummer Gabe Stone also plays with the Troubadours of Divine Bliss; bassist Sam Shaheen is with Gladstone; Tim Ragan, formerly of Sabrosa Red, is on one guitar while Brian Thomas holds down the other one.

Then there’s Brian’s spouse, Julie Spencer-Thomas, formerly of Dr. Hemiola & the Blues Activators, who is nearly dwarfed by the grand piano. When not arranging a smashing version of “Time Warp,” the all-original band performs a fusion of rock, jazz, Latin and classical. With this production, they let their hair — and their guard — down.

With tap shoes clicking and eyelashes batting, Wanda E. Peck — or Columbia, to you and me — chases Frank N. Furter with a tube of lipstick.

“Noooo, you really want Red Red!” she wails.

Frank, aka Alexander V. Thompson, a Pittsburgh native, actor and Steelers fan, compromises and allows some eyeliner. Later on, the cast is going to the Baxter Avenue Theatres for the movie house’s monthly midnight screening of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” (held the last Saturday of each month, complete with a simultaneous live play) and they all want to look their ghoulish best.

Isn’t that the vice president of operations for InterSpace Computers walking in the hall in a robe, boxers and socks? Why, yes, it’s Lance Hillman, aka Brad Majors, taking on the role played by Barry Bostwick in the film.

Hillman met director Adam Watson in an acting class and found himself along for the ride. Hillman shows off his underwear for the camera. In the spirit of Spinal Tap, there seems to be a can of pork and beans in there, but we’re not sure. No one in this otherwise daring cast will investigate any further. What the hey, it’s radio, right? Hmm.

Pursing his lips, Neil Bradley as a gold sparkling Riff Raff blows pieces of his purple boa away from his face. It’s hard to sing with feathers in your lip gloss; Bradley’s leather pants salvage the machismo. Monday morning there would still be a trail of glitter between the impromptu dressing room in Public Radio Partnership’s women’s lavatory.

Rebecca Grossman, who plays our heroine Janet, pads over to her backpack for a touch-up of rouge. Why would she need it? She’s already blushing in her slip. She finds her place at the microphone and gives an aloof flip of hair. Grossman is getting into character but would probably like to get into a robe.

The production studio where “Live Lunch” is usually bustling with fans and musicians is now bustling with bustiers.

Playing the dual roles of Eddie and Dr. Scott, Rick O’Daniel-Munger should be right at home with the stretch. By day, the former astronautical engineer for McDonnell Douglas is now the marketing manager for Humana Military Healthcare Systems. But by night, he has graced stages in both Chicago and Louisville as an actor. This is his second time around in a “Rocky Horror” production, and he is the only player with a dash of gray, not glitter, in his hair. His 12-year-old son, Liam, an accomplished actor in his own right, watches. Liam is probably relieved to know that his father is not wearing a bra or cosmetics of any kind.

If you think Orson Welles had his work cut out for him pulling off “War of the Worlds” and scaring everyone with unseen space invaders, just imagine director Watson encouraging Magenta’s cleavage to get cozy with the microphone. Yes. Getting his diverse — well let’s come on out and say it — odd bunch to emote to an invisible audience in telling a most visually exotic drama is a tall order.

Dubbed a “rising star” by Louisville poet Ron Whitehead — and one of the founding members of the newly formed Louisville Cinema Society — Adam Watson has a kaleidoscopic resume that includes playwright, poet, producer and student at the University of Louisville, where he is an English major in pursuit of a master’s degree.

“The Rocky Horror Radio Show” is his first experience directing and producing; he also wrote the radio adaptation and will be the Narrator.

So where does a transvestite rock opera fit into all of this?
“Last July, I was flipping through channels and came across ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ on AMC,” Watson recalled. “I hadn’t seen it in a while, so I stopped and watched it. And I thought: the irony! A movie thoroughly rejected by most American moviegoers in 1975 is now an ‘American Movie Classic.’ Of course, AMC has also been playing ‘Sheena’ with Tanya Roberts, but I digress.”

Doused in the blue light of the television set, Watson said three things hit him: “First, I always thought the songs were OK, but I suddenly realized that night how good they were. Secondly, I always thought the Criminologist was so campy and superfluous, describing things that had just clearly happened on screen. Like a 1930s radio serial. Thirdly, the famous scene where Frank comes out to a flourish of trumpets in ‘Don’t Dream It, Be It’ with the ‘RKO Radio Picture Show’ in the background.”

Ding!

“Rocky” as a radio show has been done before in other cities but not in Louisville. Empowered by the idea that he could make Rocky interesting and fun for a radio audience, Watson e-mailed WFPK program director Dan Reed, who gave a thumbs-up, and casting began.

“I get a lot of requests from a lot of different people for air time,” Reed said, “and we’re obviously very careful about what gets on the air. Adam, who I didn’t know from — well, Adam — called out of the blue one day and totally impressed me with his enthusiasm and professionalism. He had a plan, was very well organized and made me a believer.”

All of the cast and crew are unpaid volunteers, working with limited time and no budget. The enthusiasm is contagious when talking to Watson and any of the cast. It is something that will definitely translate over your tuner.

A goal of Watson’s is to bring a sense of newness to “Rocky.”

“People have seen the movie countless times, at home or at a theater,” he said. “Stage productions have been going on for years. And I love experiencing both and yelling right along with the rest of the audience. But ‘Rocky Horror Radio Show’ is a chance to do something different, a kind of test. Without the visuals or audience participation, are the songs, the campy, fun dialogue, the great characters enough to entertain?

“Obviously, I think so. So much has been said about audience participation and Tim Curry in drag that sometimes it seems the movie and musical itself is secondary. So if ‘Rocky Horror Radio Show’ makes just one person say, ‘Wow, I never realized how good the songs are,’ or, ‘Hey, there IS something more to ‘Rocky’ than Tim Curry in fishnets’ — although he does look great in those fishnets, eh? — I’ll consider it a success.”
The show begins at 8 p.m. on Friday.

For more information, check out http://www.rockyhorrorradioshow.com [note: no longer maintained by Adam Watson]

Contact the writer at leo@leoweekly.com

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