virgin survival guide

What the fuck do I wear?

Rocky horror is one place where you’re going to fit in wearing literally anything. Well, with a few exceptions. GENERALLY our only dress code is that you have to have all your genitals covered. Anything that’s legal to wear outside, you can wear to Rocky. That said, some venues have tighter restrictions, so check the show description. We often have attendees wearing costumes of characters from the movies, formal gowns and suits, completely unrelated cosplays, day to day street clothes, harnesses, or just straight up lingerie.

Another reason to check the description: THEME NIGHTS! Some of our shows have a specific theme to give you an idea how to dress. You don’t have to be on theme, but it’s fun!

Just don’t wear a striped sweater, spongebob was right about everywhere except for RHPS. Due to some old rocky folklore, it’s considered very bad form.

Dancing

Although you’re never required to participate in anything you don’t want to, part of the fun of the show is standing up (or participating from your seat if you’d perfer) and dancing the time warp (it’s easy, the steps to the dance are literally the lyrics!). We also replace some of the boring moments with a dance break, so this is another chance to get up and stretch your legs. Really you can boogie any time, but the best moments to do so are when you see the transylvanians on the screen dancing, like in Hot Patootie!

Props

WHAT NOT TO BRING

  • No rice

  • No popping devices (confetti poppers, balloons to pop, etc)

  • No food (toast, hot dogs, prunes, etc)

  • No open flames

  • No water devices (unless they’re attached to your body

  • No rice

  • No weapons (unless they’re attached to your body)

  • NO RICE

  • No confetti

We always have prop bags available for $5 (cash or card) but you can DIY it, or step up your game with some of your own props from home! Don’t stress about memorizing all this, we’ll go over all this at the show and tell you when to get your props ready and when to throw them.

What’s in your Rocky Horror Denver prop bag:

  • Newspaper Get it ready when Brad and Janet get in the car, and when Janet protects herself from the rain with a newspaper, put yours over your head as well.

  • Glow stick when our hero and heroine sing “there’s a light” take out your glowstick and wave it back and forth. You can also use a flashlight or your phone. Just put whatever light you have away when you hear “in the darkness”! Don’t use a lighter here. It’s traditional but also against fire code.

  • Rubber glove Get it ready when you get to the lab, and put it on when frank puts his gloves on, try to snap it and scare yourself in time with frank on screen!

  • Noise Maker anytime the on screen transylvanians are cheering, you can use your noisemaker to cheer along and celebrate the creation of our creature, Rocky Horror!

  • Toilet Paper (Ideally scott brand). Get it ready when we see Dr. Scott under his umbrella outside, and when you hear brad yell “Great Scott” throw it away from the screen, and to the back left side of the theater. Just don’t fucking hit the screen, those things cost a lot more than you’d expect.

  • Party Hat get it ready when our characters are all sitting down for dinner, and put it on when we’re singing happy birthday to Rocky!

  • Playing Cards get them ready when Riff and Magenta first do their whole, gold space suites angry yelling thing, then throw them when frank says “cards for sorrow, cards for pain”

  • Condom too many babies were conceived after (and during…) Rocky shows. Use this at home to make sure there arent any more. And please, NO SEX IN THE SEATS.


Want to step up your game?

  • Bell During the song "Planet Schmanet Janet," ring the bell when Frank sings "Did you hear a bell ring?"

  • Bubbles bring some bubbles to blow during the wedding in the beginning, and after Frank and Rocky get married, the transylvanians will be singing “rocky rocky ra ra ra”

  • J A N E T cards This one can be tricky to coordinate. You have to bring yourself and 4 friends early enough to all get seats net to each other. Each of you holds a piece of cardboard or paper that says one of the letters in Janet’s name. In brad’s first song, when he spells out Janet’s name after proposing, raise your cards to spell it along with him.

Audience Partici…pation

It’s an audience participation movie, so we love to get you on your feet (or get your boogie on from your seat), yelling, dancing, and occasionally on stage, but we also want you to have fun. If you don’t want us interacting with you, put your arms over your chest in an X (or just say no!) when our performers approach, and we’ll leave you the fuck alone.

If you do want to participate, there’s a few standard callbacks you can always use. It’s tradition to yell “slut” whenever you hear Janet Weiss’ full name, and “asshole” for Brad Majors. You can check out our whole callback script here. Remember, this is just a starting point. Callbacks are an ever changing thing, and you are welcome to yell jokes whenever you think of them! Just don’t be a dick. If you’re going to make jokes about racists and nazis, make them at the EXPENSE of racists and nazis, not supporting them. Don’t body shame our performers or other audience members, and if you do have critiques, keep them constructive or keep them to yourself.

And that ties into…

General Etiquette

Etiquette? In a space with the attitude of “don’t dream it, be it”? Yes, rocky has come a long way, and we promise, it’s better this way. There’s a few general attitude things to keep in mind.

  • Be kind, or be quiet. Rocky is a place where people get to experiment with themselves, presentation, gender, performance, and character. Don’t be the one to shit on someone still figuring themselves out, and don’t be the one to shit on someone who might just not look how you like.

  • Follow the rules we go over them a lot here, and at the show. Every rule exists for a reason, and breaking them makes you a dick and makes everyone’s life harder. Don’t do it

  • Consent is key and not just for sexual things. Don’t touch anyone, audience or performers, without permission. That includes a hand on the shoulder. Not everyone likes even casual touch, and you can live without. Lots of our performers would be so excited to hug you or take a picture with their arm around you, but you have to ask, and you have to get enthusiastic consent

  • Be careful with pictures. Generally, don’t post pictures of performers in pasties only, and try to limit pictures of audience members in anything you’d be surprised to see someone wearing at a library. That doesn’t mean you can’t take pictures, and please post them and tag us on social media! Just use common sense.

  • No hate speech no transphobia, homophobia, racism, antisemitism, or anything of the like. Be warned, you might some gay people yelling f*g, some trans people yelling tr*nny, etc. Our cast doesn’t use those words anymore, but the audience might. If they’re ever said in a hateful way, we’ve got our ears open and that person will be asked to leave.