The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is about a typical American couple whose car gets a flat tire during a trip to the couple's friend's residence. So, they walk back to a remote castle in the woods hoping to find a telephone. But, as in all such stories, there is some problem. The castle is occupied by a "gender-bending scientist" from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. The movie, which started as a play, is still shown in theaters all over the world on Friday and Saturday nights at midnight (or, if you prefer to get technical, Saturday and Sunday mornings).

"The Time Warp" is a song on many sites' Canons. It is, of course, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and is beloved by many. At some sites, select people each year choose to act out "The Time Warp" and "Sweet Transvestite", in full costume, at a particular dance, which oftentimes occurs on some version of "Cross-dress Day," "Drag Day," or "Gender Bender Day."

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is also often played at overnight reunions and is sometimes acted out by former cast members during "The Time Warp" and "Sweet Transvestite."

Lancaster

At Lancaster, Cross-dress Day (known more commonly as Second Saturday) coincides with the dance. "The Time Warp" first came to Lancaster in Session One of 1991. Student Dov Grossman taught other no-mores the dance, and it was a roaring success. None of the original performers knew that it had become a tradition until Molly Schaefer Lazar(Janet)'s daughter came to LAN as a student in 2016. By 1997, twice each year (once per session), a few Alcovians act out The Rocky Horror Picture Show during the dance when the DJ plays "The Time Warp". This song was always followed immediately by "Sweet Transvestite," accompanied by its own stunning performance until 2011, when there was an administrative crackdown. After that, a different Rocky song followed "The Time Warp." In 2012, first and second session used "Over at the Frankenstein Place" and "Science Fiction, Double Feature" respectively. Since then, the second song has always been "Hot Patootie (Bless My Soul)".

All the parts are typically in attendance, and there have even been additions as of late due to the increasing population at Lancaster. In 2005.1, the Criminologist was added, followed in 2009 by the creation of a group of "Transylvanians" to the chorus during both sessions. In 2011, a Rocky character was added; he entered during "Sweet Transvestite". The role came back again in 2012.2 during "Science Fiction, Double Feature."

Rocky is run at Session One by the Stripper, and at Session Two it is run by the Duck and co-choreographers chosen by the Duck.

Casts

1991

• Riff Raff: ?
• Magenta: Elaine Orozco Hammond
• Columbia: Tara Holm
• Brad: ? "Spicoli"
• Janet: Molly Schaefer Lazar
• The Criminologist: Jon Adams

1997

1998

1999

99.2:

• Frank: Daniel Vitolo
• Riff Raff: Conor Walsh
• Magenta: ?
• Columbia: ?
• Brad: ?
• Janet:' ?

2001

01.1:

• Frank: Randall Leeds
• Riff Raff: Leah McKelvey (?)
• Magenta: Kayla Armstrong
• Columbia: Belle Saxton
• Brad: ?
• Janet: ?

01.2:

• Frank: Mikey Feldman
• Riff Raff: ?
• Magenta:Marléna McMahon-Purk
• Columbia: Chelsea Seachord
• Brad: ?
• Janet: ?L'izz Stern

2002

02.1:

• Frank: Andy Bartholomew
• Riff Raff: Leah McKelvey (?)
• Magenta: Eve Privman
• Columbia: Hannah Ginsberg
• Brad: Lee Feinman
• Janet: Alexia Simmonard-Note

02.2:

• Frank: ?
• Riff Raff: Gabe Slamovits
• Magenta: Marléna McMahon-Purk
• Columbia: Belle Saxton
• Brad: ?
• Janet: L'izz Stern

2003

03.1:

• Frank: Jon Napolitano
• Riff Raff: Gabe Slamovits
• Magenta: Natalie Bau
• Columbia: Hannah Ginsberg
• Brad: Noah Tucker
• Janet: Lily Marie Beauvilliers

03.2:

• Frank: Nathaniel Stevens
• Riff Raff: Ché Salazar
• Magenta: Emma Turetsky
• Columbia: Laurel Kanawyer
• Brad: George Geanuracos
• Janet: Heather Melling (?)

2004

04.1:

• Frank: Juniper Belmont
• Riff Raff: Jeremy Berkowitz
• Magenta: Alyssa Gottschlich
• Columbia: Belinda Chiang
• Brad: Dan Robinson
• Janet: Nora Levy

04.2:

• Frank: Nathaniel Stevens
• Riff Raff: Nathan Schiffer
• Magenta: Susannah Roush
• Columbia: Dawna!
• Brad: Michael Nixon
• Janet: Sarah Pickering

2005

05.1:

• Frank: Drew Grossman
• Riff Raff: Josh Yanovski
• Magenta: Grace Alloy-Relihan
• Columbia: Taia
• Brad: Eric
• Janet: Rachel Thorman
• The Criminologist: Sarah "Fred" Wellons

05.2:

• Frank: Hal LePelley
• Riff Raff: Will Colmer
• Magenta: Sarah Cooper
• Columbia: Tassie Andersen
• Brad: Michael Nixon
• Janet: Marley Teter

2006

06.1:

• Frank: Greg Lawrence
• Riff Raff: Ian Taylor
• Columbia: Elizabeth Treptow
• Brad: David Federman
• Janet: Lauren Procz

06.2:

• Frank: Shea Levy
• Riff Raff: Jonathan Sussman
• Magenta: Rachel Todd
• Columbia: Kai Christian
• Brad: Christian "Christ" Burnette
• Janet: Rosie Brown
• The Criminologist: Jeff Sachs

2007

07.1:

• Frank: Zev Hurwich
• Riff Raff: Stephen Rosen
• Magenta: Cassie Deskus
• Columbia: Meghan Vu
• Brad: Jeremy Cockerham
• Janet: Nixxi Chen
• The Criminologist: Rina Polyakov

07.2:

• Frank: Gavin Cook
• Riff Raff: Lowell Lunn
• Magenta: Cedilla Sachar
• Columbia: Magdalena "Laney" Newhouse
• Brad: Ginina "Beans" Velocci
• Janet: Adena Wayne
• The Criminologist: Jeff Sachs

2008

08.1:

• Frank: Everett Maus
• Riff Raff: Sarah Hackney
• Magenta: Julie Leghorn
• Columbia: Dana Reback
• Brad: Veer Dedhia
• Janet: Juliana Biro
• The Criminologist: Kate Wymbs
• Directed by: Gabe Murchison & Verity

08.2:

• Frank: Eli P
• Riff Raff: Will Steinberg
• Magenta: Ellie Kladky
• Columbia: Ben Boult as a last second understudy to Noelle Aly
• Brad: John Harrison
• Janet: Dominique Benzio
• The Criminologist: Max Wang

2009

09.1:

• Frank: Ian MacKinnon
• Riff Raff: Arthur Schechter
• Magenta: Maddie "Mev" Stevens
• Columbia: Rachel Larrowe
• Brad: Skip
• Janet: Alex "Sasha" Ayvazov
• The Criminologist: Verity Walsh
• Transylvanians: Mary Kamitaki, Sarah Parr, Zoe M., Kate Davis, Katelin Schutz, Michelle Ehrenberger, Sarah Cuneo
  • Added in to allow more nomores and nevermores to be involved in the performance
• Directed by: Elena Karras

09.2:

• Frank: Race Archibold
• Riff Raff: David Rips
• Magenta: Eliz Leimkuhler
• Columbia: Allegra Kuney
• Brad: Logan Phillips
• Janet: Mackenzie Brennan
• The Criminologist: Daniel Tracht
• Transylvanians: Charlie McGeorge, Wendy Li, Lena Beckenstein, Bee Lockwood, Ariane Turley, Emily Hoffman, Bree Baccaglini (sp?), Megan Keane, Maggie Farrell, Jake Hobbie, Mike Millian, Vinny Brattelli

2010

10.1:

• Frank: James 'Turtle' Buckland
• Riff Raff: Semon 'Russian Sam' Rezchikov
• Magenta: Faye Elgart
• Columbia: Samantha 'Squirrel' Reback
• Brad: Andrew Pellegrino
• Janet: Rowan Matney
• The Criminologist: Sam Bauman
• Transylvanians: Hope Brinn, Allie Burns, Midori Cassou, Lilly Clew, Seth Gray, Kathleen Guy, Molly Klimak, Alex Natale, Victoria Norman, Aneesa Sonawalla, Loie Warren

10.2:

• Frank: Ramsey Opp
• Riff Raff: Declan Kennedy
• Magenta: Sam Fomon
• Columbia: Emily Grablutz
• Brad: Jacob Kelly
• Janet: Rowan Matney
• The Criminologist: Eloise Gjakmap
• Transylvanians: Emma Gossard, Rachel Szucs, Alison Shay, Kleo Greenwood, Kathleen Guy, Lily Clew, Alana Friedman, Charlene Vance, Otter Lee, Miriam Woodward, Ariel Rock, Taemin Ahn

2011

11.1

• Frank: Will Dahl
• Riff Raff: Alex Kohanski
• Magenta: Sydney Speizman
• Columbia: Deborah Bakshiyev
• Brad: Ajay Nadig
• Janet: Rudy Garcia
• The Criminologist: Joseph Fridman
• Transylvanians: Maddie Ossmus, Sam Fishman, Veronica Boyce, Alex Ding, Beatrice Liang, Becca Samuelson, Molly Weinberg, Deena Alexander

11.2

• Frank: Alex Kohanski
• Riff Raff: Graeme McGuire
• Magenta: Caroline Kelleher
• Columbia: Jesse Weber
• Brad: Matthew Kolosick
• Janet: Gabrielle Ewall
• The Criminologist: Aly Robins
• Rocky: Erik Baier
  • Added in specifically because Erik Baier greatly resembled Rocky
• Transylvanians: Anne Marie Bompart, Zoe Ferguson, Ella Park-Chan, Andrew Hitt, Kimberly Zhang, Jessica Lin, Emma Zdgiebloski, Zach Batson, May Shum, Joohee Park, Sophia Lloyd-Thomas, Lauren Sinski, Phoebe Wang, Madison Carpenter, Jenny Yoon, Rosie Wilkin
• Directed by: Dennis Cowan

2012

12.1

• Riff & Raff: Sam Sagan & Brenton Whiting
• Magenta: Gabby L.
• Columbia: Juliet B.
• Brad: Eli Tettelbach
• Janet: Johnny Tamburro
• The Criminologist: Regan D.
• Transylvanians: Mia Merrill, Evelyn Qiu, Sam Cawkwell, Gracie Zhang, Addie Bacon, Jonah Spear, Kat White, Jen Saouaf, Miranda Stewart, Venya Gushchin, Jess Hui, Alex Della Santina, Julian Gao,(Jaeho Lee-unable to partake in it due to clothing mishap)

12.2

• Riff Raff: Noah Goldstein
• Magenta: Becca Teich
• Columbia: Jess Hui
• Eddie: John "J-Boysee" Boysen
• Brad: Theo Hong
• Janet: Fuzieq Berman
• The Criminologist: Hannah Turley
• Lips: Lilly Clark, Jackie Liu, Katie Patton, Gina Foley
• Transylvanians: Hank Sheehan, Gia Rigoli, Fran Harris, Daria Berstell, Danny McClanahan, John Boysen, Justina Goldbeck, Katie Patton, Katie Wilbur, Kate Musen, Hayley Austin, Liz Martin, Ellen Guo, Marie-Elle Merchant, Isabelle Leo, Jesse Chang
• Directed by: Elliot Konstant (Also acting as Frank)

2013

13.1

• Riff Raff: Ben Zweig
• Magenta: Shea Minter
• Columbia: Anne Mancini
• Eddie: Addie Bacon
• Brad: Mike Suh
• Janet: Alex Lesnik
• The Criminologist: Katie Wolff

13.2

• Riff Raff: Louie "Chopsticks" Brown
• Magenta: Jocelyn Baird
• Columbia: Temitayo Wolff
• Eddie: Daniel Lu
• Brad: Caleb Shapiro
• Janet: Sam Ngan
• The Criminologist: Matt Pressman
• Frank: Nick Richardson
• Rocky: Haddon Antonucci
• Transylvanians: Joe Chavez, Jimmy Russotto, Kelsey Brigati, Andrew Bucellato, Tim Kravchenko, Lydia Bobbitt, Olivia Leiwant, Dessie DiMino, Matt Kumar, Jonathan Cotler, Bryn Hammarberg, Allison Tielking, Jessie Liu, Chris Hough Deane
• Directed by: Louie "Chopsticks" Brown and Matt Pressman

2014

14.1

• Magenta: Radhika Patel
• Riff Raff: Nico Vallone
• Columbia: Hannah Mitlak
• Eddie: Eric Wan
• Janet: Madelynn Wellons
• Brad: Ryan Stanton
• The Criminologist: Masha Zhdanova

14.2

• Magenta: Hannah Collins (was supposed to be Ashley Wang, but she was quarantined <3)
• Riff Raff: Skylar Karzhevsky
• Columbia: Gina Taddeo
• Eddie: Grace Nie
• Janet: Andrea Tsao
• Brad: Matias "Mavs" Gonzalez
• Rocky: Phil Barto
• Frank: Louis Herman
• The Criminologist: Jeremy Price
• Transylvanians: Caroline Allen, Emily Chu, Hope Simpson, Alyssa Ng, Elishe Wittes, Sophie Call, Lois Ruffle, Anna Prisco, Ryan Kim, Max Franklin, Will Altschul, Allison Tielking, Angie Fenton, Brian Jeffers, Erica Therkorn, Annabelle Marsh, Susan Czach, Talia Pelts, Natalie Rotstein, Stephanie Xie, Christian Lillie, Catherine Yu, Avni Memani, Alice Tao, Diana Halikias, Sam Berek, Crystal Desvouges, Grace Kennedy, Jessica Wolf, Ellie Damstra, Rebecca Vitenson, Anna Rothenberg, Jack Heidal, Hershee Gupta, Sophia Higgins, Erica DiScala, Christian Wolpert Gaztambide, Milan Roberson
• Directed by: Skylar Karzhevsky, Gina Taddeo, Ashley Wang, Grace Nie

2015

15.1

• Magenta: Michelle Dashevsky
• Riff Raff: David "Frank" Natanov
• Columbia: Megan Howard
• Eddie: Gene "Gnome" Naumovsky
• Janet: Annika Hildebrandt
• Brad: Katrina Howard
• Criminologist: Sara Nill

15.2

• Magenta: Mona Lee
• Riff Raff: Drew Hill
• Columbia: Brianna Ford
• Eddie: Lucy Danger
• Janet: Grace Drake
• Brad: Dan (Drab) Rabinovich
• Criminologist: Andrew Javens
• Frank: Marty Rachap
• Rocky: Ele Grant
• Directed by: Lucy Danger, Mona Lee, Drew Hill, Ellie Taylor

2016

16.1

• Magenta: Kristin Donegan
• Riff Raff: Dan Fu
• Columbia: Victoria Provost
• Eddie: Ciara Donegan
• Janet: Katharine Trojak
• Brad: Sophia Hager
• Criminologist: Lily Dondoshansky

16.2

• Magenta: Emma Johnston
• Riff Raff: Ethan Pan
• Columbia: Audrey Yao
• Eddie: Lauren Ingram
• Janet: Ashley Wells
• Brad: Alan Lin
• Criminologist: Sam Botterbusch
• Frank: Samantha Pancoe
• Rocky: Jack Horan
• Directed by: Rosemary Wonnell, Ethan Pan, Samantha Pancoe, Emma Johnston

2017

17.1

• Magenta: Jordan Ginsburg
• Riff Raff: Casey Waite
• Columbia: Eleanor Franklin
• Eddie: Will McClelland
• Janet: Blythe Dineen
• Brad: Emily Haase
• Criminologist: Destiny Brown
• Rocky: Jacob Berko

17.2 (hey I tried to fill this out but I didn't remember everyone's names I'm so sorry if I made a mistake)

• Magenta: Kate Eames
• Riff Raff: Blythe Dineen
• Columbia: Emily Rabinovich
• Eddie: Lily Wilson
• Janet: Hannah Stark
• Brad: Jimmy
• Criminologist: Tyler Medina-Minerva
• Frank: Siona Gupta
• Rocky: Gloria Herman

2018

18.1

• Magenta: Francesca Logozzo
• Riff Raff: Tseela Sokolin-Maimon
• Columbia: Elise Chapman
• Eddie: Michael Seth
• Janet: Suzanna Graham
• Brad: Nathan Burke
• Criminologist: Hillary Mak
• Frank: Aradhana Bannerji
• Rocky: Hudson Jakubowicz

18.2

• Magenta: Claire Davis
• Riff Raff: Rebecca Golovanov
• Columbia: Hazel Allison-way
• Eddie: Isak Sharfstein
• Janet: Lauren Raziano
• Brad: Sadie Matz
• Criminologist: Quinn Reinhardt
• Frank: Isa Miranda
• Rocky: Angela Qian

2019

19.1

• Magenta: Ceci Skinner-Grant
• Riff Raff: Lindsey Russ
• Columbia: Naomi Abramowicz
• Eddie: Niko Economos
• Janet: Bella Acerra
• Brad: Sophia Ribeiro
• Criminologist: Sylvie Wolff
• Frank: Jessica Fox
• Rocky: Paige Zhang and Sophie Strauss

2020

20.1

• Magenta: Julia Rubright
• Riff Raff: Lauren Schwartz
• Columbia: Daniella Tsang
• Criminologist: Myrah Charles
• Transylvanians: Riya Kishen, Marietta DeCastro, Ben Kuleshov, and Chris Butulis

Lancaster Callbacks

While only a few people actually act out the songs, the entire audience is encouraged to, and often does, shout out callbacks, which are phrases added in between lyrics or over lyrics, generally for amusement. Most of the callbacks are from actual performances of Rocky Horror (there are many many callbacks throughout the movie, as demonstrated by Ken Levin and Drew Grossman). These are a few which are traditionally used during the Lancaster performance.

As of 2012, due to concerns raised by parents, the callbacks for Time Warp were cancelled, along with Sweet Transvestite entirely, replaced by the song "Over at the Frankenstein Place" for first session and "Science Fiction Double Feature" for second session. There are currently no callbacks as it is relatively new. (As of 13.1, callbacks for Time Warp have returned but there are no callbacks for Hot Patootie)

Time Warp

1. During the chorus, right after the line "Put your hands on your hips," shout out, "Ooohhhhh shit!"
2. After the line "Bring your knees in tight," shout "2, 4, 6, 8, show us how to fornicate" (or "masturbate", both are acceptable).
3. During the entire line "But it's the pelvic thrust" shout, "group sex" repeatedly. Subsequently, during the line "That really drives you insaaane," shout, "all around the world."

Sweet Transvestite

1. In the first verse, when Frank says "faithful handyman," shout over it, "faithful handjob man." [Session 1 only, watch for RAs or you'll get yelled at]
2. In Frank's line "from Transsexual Transylvania," shout over it, "Lancaster, Pennsylvania." [defunct callback, since at least 04.1]
3. In the chorus, after "I'm just a sweet transvestite," there is a saxophone riff. Over the saxophone riff, shout, "Work that ass," or, if you don't wish to be chewed out by an RA, "Work those hips." [rarely done]
4. In the third verse, when Frank says, "I could show you my favorite (pause) obsession," add "sexual" in the pause. [Session 1 only]
5. After Frank says, "I've been making a man" (and usually points to Riff Raff), shout out "You call that a man?"
6. After Frank says, "With blonde hair and a tan," shout, "You call that a tan?"
7. In Frank's line, "He's good for relieving my (pause) tension," add "sexual" in the pause. [Session 1 only]
8. In the pause after the line "I see you shiver with antici..." shout, "Say it! Say it master!"
   • Then, after Frank finishes, "...pation," shout, "What's masterpation?"
9. After the line "And maybe the rain isn't really to blame," shout, "Unless we're in Mayser!" [nobody says this because Mayser isn't the rain location anymore and also...nobody says this]
   • Or shout, "Yes it is!" if you're actually inside...)
10. After the line "So I'll remove the cause," shout, "What about the symptom?"

Outside CTY

Live showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show can be found in most major cities in the United States, including Cleveland, New York City, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Boston. These showings have set casts that perform the entirety of the movie along with the showing, and each location has its own set of call backs, which can be found here. Florida State University offers a Halloween showing, acted out by the Cheap Thrills Cast. Check here around September or October for details.

At NYCRHPS in Chelsea, New York, orgasm contests = amazing (Warning from Nixon: the hosts can be total dicks). Fun fact: at least one Columbia from a past Rocky cast of CTY Session One is now a full-time cast member in the New York shadowcast; brownie points if you can figure out who it is. ;)

General Callbacks

Sweet Transvestite

1. After Frank says, "How do you do? I," shout, "Won't do you!"
2. When Frank says "faithful handyman," shout over it, "faithful handjob man."
3. After Frank says, "He's just a little brought down," rapidly shout, "Don't bring him up!"
4. After Frank says, "...Because, when you knocked," shout *dryly,* "They rang."
5. After Frank says, "He thought you were the - Candyman!" shout, "Didn't you, Freaky?"
6. After Frank says, "...By the way I look!" shout, "You look like shit!"
7. After Frank says, "Don't judge a book by its cover," shout, "You mean like Lolita?"
8. After Frank says, "I'm not much of a man," shout, "At all!"
9. After Frank says, "Maybe play you a sound," shout rapidly, "Your bedsprings don't count!"
10. After Frank says, "We can take in an old Steve Reeves movie," shout, "Who the fuck is Steve Reeves?"
11. When Frank says, "I could show you my favorite (pause) obsession," add "sexual" in the pause.
12. After Frank says, "I've been making a man" (and usually points to Riff Raff), shout out "You call that a man?"
13. After Frank says, "With blonde hair and a tan," shout, "You call that a tan?"
14. In Frank's line, "He's good for relieving my (pause) tension," add "sexual" in the pause.
15. After Frank says, "See what's on the slab," shout, "You mean, 'who's' on the slab?"
16. In the pause after the line "I see you shiver with antici..." shout, "Say it! Say it master!"
    • Then, after Frank finishes, "...pation," shout, "What's masterpation?"
17. After Frank says, "But maybe the rain--" shout, "HalleLUjia!

Florida State Callbacks

Science Fiction / Double Feature

1. As the lips fade in and the music starts, the entire audience shouts in unison, "God said, 'Let there be lips!' ...And there were! And they were good!"
2. When the lips say, "Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear," shout either "sexy" or "crotchless" in place of "silver."
3. When the lips say, "...For Fay Ray & King Kong," shout, "Fucking" in place of "& King."
4. When the lips say, "They got caught in a celluloid jam," shout "sexual" in place of "celluloid."
5. When the lips say, "It came from outer space," shout, "on Janet's face" over "From outer space."
6. After the lips say, "Dana Andrews said prunes give him the runs," shout, "They give me the shits!"
7. When the lips say, "When I saw Janet Scott," shout, "Janet's twat" in place of "Janet Scott."
8. In the chorus, when the lips say, "Dr. X (pause) will build a creature," rapidly shout, "Sex! Sex! Sex!" during the pause.
9. In the chorus, when the lips say, "See androids fighting Brad and Janet," shout "fucking" in place of "fighting."
10. After the lips say, "In the back row," shout, "Fuck the back row! Fuck the FRONT row!"
11. Any time the lips say, "At the late night (pause) double feature (pause) picture show," shout "Early morning" during the first pause and "Rocky Horror" during the second pause.
12. When the lips say, "'I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills," shout "sexual" over "terrible."

Sweet Transvestite

1. In the chorus, when Frank says, "From Transexual, Transylvania," shout "Tallahassee, Leon Florida" over "Transexual, Transylvania."
2. In short pause after Frank says, "So I'll remove the cause," shout rapidly, "But what about the itching & burning sensation I get when I pee?"

External Links

Official RHPS Website