Being Rocky Horror

A bald, middle-aged man dressed in a white tuxedo with a priest's collar, Dirl stands out like a sore thumb among the mainly black clad twenty-somethings in the Rialto Theater's audience.

But once "Rocky Horror" begins, he breaks from his reserved demeanor and becomes another voice in the chorus of remarks being yelled at the on-screen actors.

"A lot of folks are afraid to express themselves in the real world," he said. "In here, there is no stigma attached."

UNC-Chapel Hill students need not feel left out of all the costumed fun. The Low Down Cheap Little Punks, the production company that performs at the Rialto, is performing "Rocky Horror" at 9 p.m. Sunday in the Great Hall. The Carolina Union Activities Board co-sponsors the event.

"Rocky Horror" was initially a successful stage show which was made into a film. The film musical follows the expanding sexual horizons of naive newlyweds Janet and Brad (Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick) as they are caught in the strange web of the transsexual Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) and his minions. The film is named after Dr. Frank-N-Furter's sex toy creation, Rocky Horror (Peter Hinwood).

The movie flopped miserably during its initial theatrical release in 1975 but quickly became a cult classic as a small audience returned to the theaters repeatedly. This cult following developed the movie into an audience participation event featuring live actors dressed in costume who mime the film's dialogue.

Despite the film's waning popularity after the early '80s, theaters across the country have continued the film's midnight showings, including the ones at the Rialto.

UNC junior Virginia Dozier acts in the Rialto production and voices the importance of the actor in a "Rocky Horror" viewing. "Here the actor is the show," she said. "You come to have fun and make fun of the movie."

Dozier is the understudy for Janet in the Rialto but will be playing the role in the UNC-CH production.

Dressed in a sequined top complete with wings, UNC-CH junior Beth Mayo plays Frank-N-Furter. She echoed Dozier's statements. "It's like acting, but more freestyle -- (there's) no pressure," she said. "People don't judge you. We're all freaks."

At the Rialto, the audience gets into the act as well. This participation means throwing rice and toilet paper, yelling at the screen and going on the infamous self-explanatory "underwear run." The only real rule at the Rialto is no throwing toilet paper at the actors. The UNC-CH performance has the added rule of no rice throwing because of liability reasons, but otherwise the show will be just as risque, if not more so.

UNC-CH senior Derek Hartman, the company's producer, believes that the UNC performance will be a special one. "We always try to act up (for) the Halloween show," he said. "There were restrictions at the Rialto; (we) can't deviate from what's on the screen."

The possibility for a more daring take on the usual film was a motivating factor for Hartman to bring the play to the University. "(I) had gone to see the play at (UNC-Greensboro). It was so much fun to see the group do whatever they wanted."

Hartman contacted CUAB Film Innovations Chairwoman Jai Jennings and invited her and other board members to a Rialto performance. While Jennings was reluctant to schedule the film at the Union, she said her reservations were because she wasn't familiar with the film.

"I didn't know at first because I hadn't seen it at first," Jennings said. "After I saw it I wanted it to be here. We thought it was so different and (it) actually had audience involvement."

Despite Jennings' enthusiasm, the demographics of UNC-CH were a concern. "Carolina is pretty conservative, (but) the committee thought that most of the people that will come will have already seen it," she said. "Most of the people that come know what to expect."

The general rule of "Rocky Horror" seems to be expect the unexpected. Before the show at the Rialto began, Dirl said ultimately there's no comparing one "Rocky Horror" production to another -- each is its own uninhibited experience.

"They are all unique," he said. "Every one has their own personality. We had Transylvanians out the ass in Florida."

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.