Despite losing its usual Risley Dining Hall venue, Risley Hall’s 34th annual performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show took place in Appel Commons, with 10:30 p.m. shows on both Friday and Saturday.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a yearly performance that Risley Hall members put on around Halloween. It is a recreation and tribute to the 1975 musical horror-comedy movie starring Tim Curry.
“Rocky Horror is, at its core, a cult classic,” wrote Rita Kelly ’26, co-director of Risley’s show, to The Sun. “Rocky Horror provides two nights a year where self-expression and self-exploration is the norm.”
The story follows Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple whose car breaks down in the middle of the woods. In their search for help, they stumble upon a castle owned by Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a cross-dressing mad scientist alien from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. The film plays with many LGBTQ+ and sexual themes.
The performance is staged by students who act out the show on stage and lip-sync alongside the film in a practice called shadowcasting. The event traditionally encourages audience participation, with attendees given a document of the script and callouts — or phrases for audience members to shout out for humorous effect. This style of performance is traditional for productions of Rocky Horror all over.
Risley’s performance typically occurs in the Risley Dining Hall, where it has been shown for decades. However, this year, they were barred from using the space due to concerns about contamination at the allergen-free dining facility.
Risley’s performance was also traditionally around midnight, as Rocky Horror is traditionally a “midnight movie” and shown at late hours. However, in the switch to using Appel Commons, Risley’s team had to shift the showtime up to 10:30 p.m. this year.
Per Risley tradition, audience members who had never seen Rocky Horror before had a letter V drawn on their hand in lip gloss at the door to signify that they were “Rocky Virgins.” The show began with a selection of two “Rocky Virgin” audience members to participate as guest actors in the show for the opening scene.
Pole Posse opened the show with a pole dancing number, followed by a roughly two-hour-long showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film played on a projector next to the stage where students acted out the scene.
For the callouts, audience members were also given a script via QR code at the door and were instructed to shout certain lines at the film and actors during the performance. For example, whenever Brad mentioned wanting to try to borrow the telephone at the castle to call for help, the audience was instructed to shout, “Castles don’t have phones, a—hole!”
There was no admission fee, but donations were collected at the door to reimburse production costs. All proceeds after covering costs were donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which raises money to increase access to AIDS healthcare and fund projects tackling LGBTQ+ stigma.
The Rocky Horror production this year faced many challenges due to the loss of the Risley Dining venue for rehearsals and the production this year, according to Kelly.
“Without a consistent rehearsal space, we have been forced to practice in many different locations across campus,” Kelly wrote in a statement to The Sun. This led to inconsistent rehearsal times and “lots of scheduling conflicts” for performers.
Despite a challenging production process, the Risley team pulled through for the sake of the value of the annual performance to the LGBTQ+ community at Cornell.
“With its camp style and themes of self-discovery, sexual liberation, and opposition to societal norms, Rocky Horror screenings have naturally become a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies,” Kelly wrote. “We aim to maintain that safe space in the face of so many circumstances that have threatened our production this year.”
“Rocky Virgin” audience members enjoyed the unpredictability of the show.
“It was really fun. I didn’t know what to expect at all going in,” said Ray Finn ’29, a first-time Rocky Horror viewer. “I had a really good time.”
Audience members also recommended the show to anyone who missed it.
“Cornell’s Rocky Horror Show production was a great show,” wrote Daniela Rodriguez ’27, an audience member, to The Sun. “I recommend all to give it a chance and experience the fun Rocky has to offer.”
Angelina Tang is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is an assistant news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board and can be reached at atang@cornellsun.com.
