Cast does the time warp with performances of ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’

Richard Houle, 19, prances across the Onyx Theatre stage in a corset, stockings and heels.

It's his first time.

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is one of the most unique stage productions in a town famous for them. It has a full cast and complement of props, costumes and lighting. But the actors don't speak or sing. They mime to a movie flickering behind -- and often on -- them.

"It's something you have to see to appreciate," says Meghan Tabor, casting producer of an acting troupe called Divine Decadence. (This production marks Houle's first full performance with the troupe as a lead character.)

Tabor, 45, began attending Las Vegas "Rocky Horror" screenings at the Huntridge Theater in 1980 and estimates her count at somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000. (The film celebrated its 35th anniversary in September.)

"I never want to stop going," she says.

Divine Decadence is one of two casts in Las Vegas staging regular "Rocky Horror" screenings. (The other calls itself Frankie's Favorite Obsession.)

"If only we hadn't --," Susan Sarandon's character utters. An audience member cuts her off with "-- made this movie!"

There is no shushing such catcalls. They're so encouraged, the Internet is littered with suggestions for what to yell and when.

"There are so many reasons people seem to go," Tabor says. "But no one ever says, 'because this is such a fine film.' "

"Rocky Horror" began in 1973 as a celebrated London stage show. Tim Curry starred as Frank N. Furter, a crossdressing mad scientist who holds two stranded motorists captive in his castle. That show -- a version of which is scheduled to play the Onyx Oct. 15-31 -- spawned celebrated Broadway and Los Angeles productions. Two years later, it became a movie fraught with awkward pauses and strange acting choices by Curry and his captives (Sarandon and Barry Bostwick).

It died a quick death that was celebrated by movie critics.

Houle, a GED student at Garside Adult Education, has seen "Rocky Horror" only twice in a theater since discovering it through a friend in June -- although he has already watched it 11 times on video to practice for his debut.

"I wouldn't say it's my favorite film in the world," he said earlier. "I'd say it's my third favorite -- after 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' and 'The Evil Dead.' "

"I just love bad movies."

The reanimation of "Rocky Horror" owed not to a mad scientist but to 20th Century Fox, which released a single print several months after it flopped to a single New York City cinema known for midnight screenings.

"It needed a public sort of like John Waters has his own," Tabor explains. "And it first went to midnight when people started coming out as gay in New York City. So they were like, 'Oh my God, a movie about a transvestite? We're there!' "

Suddenly, the awkward pauses were filled by gags and insults shouted by drunken moviegoers. Members of this small but strangely dedicated following returned every week to try and out-gross one another. By 1978, the craze went national, with fans dressing as their favorite characters and flinging toast and dried rice at the screen during key scenes. (Divine Decadence used to allow that but, according to Tabor, it takes too much time to clean up.)

It is now an hour into the production, and Houle is receiving graphic simulated sex from Alex Bayless (imitating Curry on the screen) as the audience whoops.

We wondered what Houle's parents would think of their son's new hobby. So we asked. They're seated in the rear of the theater.

"It looks like he's having a lot of fun," says Rick Houle, 61, who seems shocked less by his son's choices than by the elaborate production values. (The set even includes a realistic-looking coffin.)

"They didn't do any of this acting stuff back when I saw it years ago," the elder Houle says.

Movie-synced live productions weren't the norm until about 1984. Tabor describes them as an alternative road to mainstream theater.

"A lot of people would like to act, but they're afraid to go to real auditions," she says. "So they perform here and then they're not so nervous being on stage afterwards."

Tabor claims "tons" of working actors started out doing "The Time Warp."

"There's a guy who was on 'Law and Order,' " she says, trailing off from there.

Houle is not sure whether he'll pursue acting.

"Maybe," he said. "I don't know. This seems like it's pretty fun."

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@review journal.com or 702-383-0456.