Halloween is the time of year to put on eccentric, campy costumes and scare off those who don’t revel in the realm of the weird and queer. As we usher in November and officially end spooky season, what could be a more appropriate send off than a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show?”
This isn’t to label Rocky Horror as an experience restricted to Halloween festivities; I have now been to four screenings within the past year and a half, all during different months involving the same theater and local shadow cast known as Transvestite Soup.
As the Criminologist narrates at the beginning of the film, I would like, ah if I may…to take you on a strange journey involving Transvestite Soup and their incredible work as one of the longest running shadow casts in the country.
Transvestite Soup (TS) is the Twin Cities’ shadow cast production for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (RHPS), whose cast members act out the film onstage monthly in honor of Richard O’Brien’s freaky creation. Essentially, a shadow cast is a group of actors who copy the actions of actors in a film (usually one with a prominent cult following), complete with costumes, choreography and audience participation. As a shadow cast, TS has existed since the mid-1990s, and throughout their existence have bounced from theater to theater, even being left theater-less during the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020.
Since 2021, however, the group has performed at the historic Parkway Theater in Minneapolis. The troupe also performs on a purely volunteer basis; while some shadow casts are compensated for their work, TS does not get paid to perform, so the group relies on tips for maintaining costumes and props.
For those unfamiliar with the culture around Rocky Horror, RHPS is traditionally a midnight screening, and showings involve an endless amount of audience participation shouted in tandem with the movie’s dialogue, as well as the use of various props, including noisemakers, party hats and toilet paper.
The campy musical numbers, odd cast of characters and delightfully distasteful callbacks have generated a massive cult following for RHPS, particularly amongst the queer community. Free expression of gender and sexuality is a key aspect of RHPS, and the normalization of gender and sexual liberation within the film creates a communal space for people across the queer spectrum to express themselves authentically (in fishnets of course.)
A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with TS’s cast director Brian Watson-Jones (BWJ), as well as multiple cast members who were present for rehearsal on Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis.
I was able to watch the group rehearse the film’s ending, which included practicing their kickline for the floor show during “Rose Tint My World.” Afterwards, I talked with BWJ and cast members Mattie, Tawny, Ziz, Bryce, Estlin, Collette and Lavender. We discussed the inner workings of the show, the importance of creating a safe space for the queer community and what each cast member enjoys most about performing with TS.
BWJ has been a member of TS for 12-13 years, serving as cast director for the majority of that time. Prior to starting the film, he leads the audience through the pre-show rules, — like shouting ‘asshole!’ whenever the character Brad appears — Rocky Horror ‘virgin’ induction and costume contest. One aspect of the show BWJ appreciates is the way in which the audience supports RHPS’s depictions of sexuality: “People love open expressions of sexuality, even if it’s not a sexuality that they would key into, even if it’s not a type that they would desire. Because as much progress as we’ve made since the movie was released 50 goddamn years ago, there’s always been a pushback against that… So to be in a space where that’s true and we will fight that, I think people just love it.”
According to Mattie, who played the Criminologist and has been a member since Aug. 2023, actors and the roles they play rotate monthly depending on people’s availability. They explained that, “Sometimes only one person will be available for a certain role. Or you cast someone in some role because they wanted to do one particular role. Some months people choose their roles, some months people just fall into roles.”
Many cast members echoed agreement that whichever role an actor takes on is very much what they want to make it. Estlin, who played Riff Raff, said, “ Just rotating roles in general is so much fun, especially acting opposite different people on different nights in different roles. Whether it’s just rehearsing and picking up different roles because you’re filling in to make sure there’s enough people to make it happen, it’s so fun.”
Bryce, who played Brad, is married to Estlin, and the two originally met through their shared love of RHPS in college. They moved to the Twin Cities from Louisiana in April of this year, knowing immediately that they wanted to join a local shadow cast. Bryce shared how Rocky Horror helped him to accept his identity, saying “I realized that I was queer very young, and so this was the first space that I really found that let me fully embrace that.”
Tawny, who has been with TS for 13 years, has always resonated with the role of Frankenfurter, and one of her favorite of Frank’s lines is, “Don’t dream it, be it,” from “I’m Going Home.” “The song “[I’m] Going Home” is, to me, a thing of returning to a space where I want to be, which is where I’m at now,” she reflected. “This group has definitely been a safe space to be me, and always been accepting, no matter how I show up to rehearsals and stuff like that. It’s been an awesome, awesome group to be with.” Tawny included that her enjoyment in roles like Frank and Trixie stems from her burlesque background and, most importantly, that she “loves getting naked onstage.”
Collette, another cast member who frequently plays Frank, shared how they are usually introverted, but that performing with TS has been a positive experience that pushes them out of their comfort zone. “It’s just getting the ability to be somebody, embody somebody else. And whether you’re being the serious person or that super silly person, it’s like Tawny said: ‘Don’t dream it, be it.’”
Ziz, who’s been a part of TS for two years, talked about how much they enjoy taking on the role of Columbia and the dancing that the character requires, especially during “Rose Tint My World.”
“I just love performing the floor show. I was a competitive dancer for years and years and years, so I like that Columbia does some dancing. I love doing it.”
Lavender, a newer TS member, spoke of their excitement about branching out and playing different characters in the future. “I’m like, itching because I see everyone else [and] how they do the other roles. I’m like, oh, it looks so fun. I see the way they do those movements, and I want to do those too.” Lavender currently takes on the role of Brad (asshole!), and proclaimed Bryce and Estlin their “Bradfathers.”
The love this cast holds for both Rocky Horror and each other is evident in their family-like support and closeness with one another. Ziz remarked, “I love how much all of us care about it, how much we love it. Anyone can be anyone and it’s never out of place.” This shadow cast fosters an environment of inclusiveness, safety and freedom that encourages audiences to be whoever the hell they want to be, both throughout the show as well as when they step back out into the real world.
This year, TS held two RHPS showings at the Parkway, and my friends Eliza Anderson-Lefort ’25, Evan Trier ’25 and I attended their Saturday, Oct. 19 show. TS’s Halloween shows are widely attended and often sell out days before the performance.
The cast allowed us to arrive an hour before doors opened to see set up and their preparation for the screening. We helped bring up various stage props and put together the pearl necklaces adorned with a Transvestite Soup pin that are awarded to those who participate in the pre-show costume contest. Because of my status as a member of the press, I sat in the front row, which is usually reserved for cast and crew members (it made me feel very important).
That night, cast members Bryce, Estlin, BWJ, Mattie and Ziz performed to a packed, enthusiastic audience with their bag of props (known as shag bags) at the ready. BWJ’s pre-show was excellent as always, especially one line he shouts, which Bryce cited as one of his favorites, “We are sprinting down the road our forbearers paved and we’re doing it in f**king high heels!”
We also witnessed firsthand how flexible and quick the group is when they run into conflicts, like when the actor meant to play Janet couldn’t make it last minute. A crewmember, Joe, who had no previous experience performing with the cast, emergency-stepped in for Janet and absolutely crushed it! All of the performers that night had their dialogue down, perfectly matching their character’s movements on screen whilst the audience yelled out classic callback lines like “Where the f**k is your neck?!” and “Elbow sex! Elbow sex!”
It’s an incredibly fun show that you can return to month after month and come out of learning new callbacks, witness different cast members alternate roles and just always have a total blast surrounded by a crowd of like-minded Rocky weirdos.
For those of you ready to do the time warp again, or for you virgins ready to swear allegiance to the Lips, TS’s last show dates of 2024 are Nov. 23rd and Dec. 28th. The group is also holding auditions on Nov. 9th at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis, so don’t dream it, be it! Go see the late night, double feature picture show (by R.K.O) at the Parkway with the marvelous cast & crew of Transvestite Soup, or better yet try out to be a part of this lovely, talented shadow cast, who may or may not secretly reside in Transexual, Transylvania.
