Chicago resident Grace Neudek had seen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” but never performed by a live cast. Before Columbia’s fourth annual shadow performance, she described the gathering as “a celebration of expression.”
Later, seated in the backrow, Neudek began joining in the dancing. Around her, audience members laughed together at remarks from nearby seats. More people began calling out as the performance continued, adding their voices to a room where speaking up was part of the experience.
For students and Chicago residents gathered at the Dance Center on Friday, Oct. 30, the show offered a place to dress up, join in and express themselves alongside others. That sense of community was central to how attendees and the director described its continued appeal.
“I think it’s because it creates this beautiful, safe space for queer people to express themselves, to be weird, to be freaks in every sense of the word,” said director Felix Spencer Lee, a senior film and television major.
The one night performance, presented by the School of Theatre and Dance as part of “Wicked Week,” brought Columbia’s annual production to the Dance Center for the first time. Tickets had sold out before the show began, according to the event listing.
Before the performance, attendees in costume filled a red-lit waiting room. A television carried a livestream of the show, allowing people in the waiting area to watch what was happening inside the theater.
Onstage, the shadow cast lip synced and danced alongside the film, which played on a large screen behind them.
Lee said that energy from the audience changed what the cast alone could bring to the show.
“It’s so cool to see how a show can be really good on dress rehearsal, but then the energy of the audience can really bring it to that next level during the actual show,” Lee said.
This year’s performance also came with more institutional support, as the Chronicle previously reported. Productions in past years were organized through a student club, with performances in campus buildings and, at one point, someone’s basement.
The partnership with the School of Theatre and Dance provided access to rehearsal space, lighting, costumes, props and a production team. Cast preparations also included an intimacy coordination workshop to help performers communicate their boundaries.
For Heather Young, a senior audio arts major, the relationship between the audience and the show was what brought her to participate.
Young described the experience as “much more participatory and community based” than the average, passive movie screening.
“And I think that brings people together really valuably,” Young said.
That community extended beyond Columbia students. Chicago resident Caleb Sovolewsai said a Google search for “Rocky Horror” shows in Chicago led him to the college’s production.
For Sovolewsai, the film also offered a way to imagine possibilities beyond the lives of its central couple, Brad Majors and Janet Weiss. He described it as an introduction to alternative lifestyles and a place to explore ways of expressing himself.
“You don’t have to be a Brad and Janet,” Sovolewsai said.
Lee connected that freedom to the importance of having somewhere people could gather and express themselves openly.
“And I think that’s especially what we need right now, to just have a space that you can all come together and dress as crazy and slutty as you want, and just live your best life,” Lee said.
For Neudek, attending a live cast screening for the first time brought her into that shared experience. Before the show, she connected its appeal to Halloween and the opportunity to be yourself and have fun. Over the course of the performance, she danced freely as laughter and shouted responses continued around her.
“We gotta keep being weird in public space,” Neudek said.
Copy edited by Katie Peters
