“Give yourself over to absolute pleasure” is the tagline for Cal Poly Drag Club’s upcoming production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The curtains for the show are set to open on Friday at 6 p.m. in Spanos Theatre.
Graduate student Vinny Torres, also known by the drag moniker Skinny Mocha, said that during the performance members of the club will be “shadow-casting,” or lip-syncing in character to the 1975 movie. Torres will be playing one of the leads of the show, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. They said that the role is a thrilling one to play, as they have loved this role for years.
“I think just like the way that Frank-N-Furter plays with gender speaks to me so much as a nonbinary person,” Torres said. “How many times do we get this trans person in a lead role in a film that is so celebrated and loved and cared for years after it’s released?”
According to IMDb, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” follows a young couple that are stranded in an isolated area, where they take refuge at a mad scientist’s castle. Torres said there will be lots of audience interaction during the performance, with the club handing out call and response cards to audience members and audience members getting to dance during specific songs.
“I think it’s going to be as much fun for us as it is for the audience,” Torres said. “The show lends itself to being so enjoyable on both sides and that’s what I love about it.”
Torres had come up with the idea of putting on a production of the show a year ago. With it being their last year at Cal Poly and in Drag Club, they wanted to make sure that they left their mark by acting in the show.
“This production is kind of just like a final thank you to kind of the drag club in general and just the queer community at large, especially on campus, for being so supportive like over my whole time here,” Torres said.
The club started planning the show during fall quarter and held auditions late winter quarter. This spring, they’ve been dedicating their time to rehearsals and refining the show. Torres said the rehearsals have been exciting for the club, especially since they practiced in multiple public spaces on campus.
“There was one moment where we were doing ‘Touch-A-Touch-A-Touch-Me’ and obviously, it’s a very sexually thematic song, and so Rocky was literally like on top of our Janet and they were pretending to make out and somebody like walked by the lawn and was like so confused,” Torres said.
To Torres, this production is special for its all queer cast. Given recent campus events giving a spotlight to anti-trans speakers, Torres said the show can be seen as a safe space.
“We’re putting it on because Rocky is just an amazing production, but we’re also putting it on to bring that sense of community to kind of build those foundations for people to feel safe,” Torres said. “We know that one performance of Rocky during spring quarter isn’t going to change the culture here for queer people and trans people, but you know, it can start a conversation.”
Tickets are currently on sale for $13. More information can be found on the club’s Instagram @cpdragclub.