WRITTEN BY: Richard O'Brien (with Jim Sharman for screenplay)
TO BE PERFORMED AT: Schultz Hall and Campus Center, SUNY Fredonia, NY / Amherst Theater, Buffalo, NY
TO BE PERFORMED ON: October 30 / November 6 / November 13
DIRECTOR: Lauren Sledzinski (Rocky Club President)
SPONSORED BY: Rocky Horror Fan Club, SUNY College at Fredonia
LIVE CAST: (listed for Schultz Hall show, Campus Center show, and Amherst show, respectively)
* DR. FRANK N. FURTER- David Alan Scott Jr. / Lauren Sledzinski / Heather Burch
* JANET WEISS- Amelia Giacumo / Carrie Paul / Lauren Sledzinski
* BRAD MAJORS- Kristy Hucul / David Alan Scott Jr. / David Alan Scott Jr. (and Andy Brumbaugh)
* RIFF RAFF- Starr Hakes / Jackie Bell / Starr Hakes
* MAGENTA- Laura Wysocki / Kristy Hucul / Jackie Bell
* COLUMBIA- Katie Booker / Laurie Fronczak / Katie Booker
* DR. EVERETT SCOTT- Dan Berman / Dan Berman / Carrie Paul
* ROCKY HORROR- Heather Burch / Amelia Giacumo / Kristy Hucul
* EDDIE- Jackie Bell / Cindy Clark / Mike Short
* CRIMINOLOGIST (NARRATOR)- Ken Woods / Holly Olix / Holly Olix
* RALPH HAPSCHATT- Mike Short / Heather Burch / Ken Woods (was to be Andy Brumbaugh)
* BETTY MUNROE- Cindy Clark / Jackie Bell / Cindy Clark
* TRANSYLVANIANS (Schultz show): Dan Drago, Lisa, Marcy, Jillian, and Andy
MOVIE CAST:
* DOCTOR FRANK N. FURTER- Tim Curry
* JANET WEISS- Susan Sarandon
* BRAD MAJORS- Barry Bostwick
* RIFF RAFF- Richard O'Brien
* MAGENTA- Patricia Quinn
* COLUMBIA- Nell Campbell (as Little Nell)
* DR. EVERETT SCOTT- Jonathan Adams
* ROCKY HORROR- Peter Hinwood
* EDDIE- Meat Loaf
* CRIMINOLOGIST (NARRATOR)- Charles D. Grey
* RALPH HAPSCHATT- Jeremy Newson
* BETTY MUNROE- Hilary Labow
PLOT: An engaged couple are trapped in a mansion by a mad transvestite scientist and his cohorts. A comic musical, mimed along to the 1975 movie version (which was based on Richard O' Brien's stage musical) as it plays on a big screen over the stage.
HISTORY: It was in early September where I was introduced into the Rocky Horror Fan Club of SUNY Fredonia. I met one of the club's members one night, who later told me when the first meeting would be. Later in the month, I attended the meeting (with Amelia Giacumo, my girlfriend of two weeks), and signed up for the cast of the semester's first performance. I was the only male to sign up for the role of Doctor Frank. So, I got the part. To my surprise, I found that I would be the first-ever male to perform this role in a Fredonia production (the part was played by females all times before).
I bravely donned the Frank costume for the first show, which took place in the piano lounge of the Schulz Hall.
For the second and third performances, I was cast as mild-mannered Brad Majors. It was another major character, albeit a less outrageous one. However, it took a little more bravery to play Brad, considering the scene where Frank's servants remove his rain-dampened clothing, leaving him in his underwear. Imagine standing onstage in little more than a pair of speedos (which got me quite the entertained reaction from the female audience members at the campus center show)!
At any rate, those last two Fall shows were performed at midnight, so the Nov. 6 show was really happening on Nov. 7, and the Nov. 13 one took place on Nov. 14.
The most trying of the three shows was the Amherst show (Nov. 14), which took place an hour away from Fredonia. Driving there with Amelia, I made numerous wrong turns. As a result, I missed the first four numbers of the movie, meaning Andy had to fill in for me until I got there (we did a "tag-in" thing like they do for tag-team wrestling matches). After that show, since the 14th was my 22nd birthday, Lauren led the cast and audience in a rousing chorus of "Herpes Simplex to You" (a Rocky Club rendition of "Happy Birthday to You").
Later that night, most of the club was going to spend the night at one of the cast member's houses, but they all left without me, so I got lost again, and ended up having to drive all the way back to Fredonia at 4:30am, getting there an hour later. Definitely a trying night.
But it all paid off in early December when I was voted as that that semester's M.V.T. (Most Valuable Transvestite). For this, I was awarded a bag full of goodies that had been bought especially for me: a Fun Pad coloring book, a pearl necklace, a pack of playing cards, a box of hair clips, a pair of false eyelashes, a pair of slippers, a pair of earmuffs, a pair of (rubber toy) balls, and a pair of multi-colored women's bikini underwear(!). This had indeed turned out to be an interesting semester, thanks to the RHPS cast/club, with whom I would look forward to putting on more shows during the following semester.
One more note: Though "Crimes of the Heart" was the first show I was cast in at the college, these "Rocky" performances began before it, making "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" my first production performed outside of the Corning-Elmira theater community.
SCHULTZ HALL SHOW PHOTOS:
* Cindy, Amelia, Laura, and me (rehearsal photo)
* Amelia, Kristy, Dan, Laura, Starr, and me (rehearsal photo)
* Katie, Laura, me, and Starr (backstage photo)
CAMPUS CENTER SHOW PHOTOS:
* Me & Carrie as Brad & Janet (backstage photo)
* The fan club at the Campus Center (post-show group photo)
AMHERST THEATER SHOW PHOTOS:
* The fan club at the Amherst theater (post-show group photo)
* Me with Cindy Clark at Amherst (post-show photo)
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