The coolest Beloiters got together at good ol’ Mayer Hall Saturday night for this year’s shadow casting of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. It was a special night for the performance since 2025 is the fiftieth anniversary of the film being released by director Jim Sharman.
The costume contest kicked off the festivities at around 9:30 p.m., during which audience members took their stab at showing off their unique costume. While many showed valiant efforts in their costume, some were simply outdone by a few individuals and duos. The victory fell into the hands of Madeline Wilheim’27 and Lyndall Breaux’27 dressed as PJ and Josie from “Bottoms” (let’s go lesbians).
After the costumes were all displayed, the virgin activity commenced. The virgin activity participants were all first time viewers of the “Rocky Horror” experience, marked with a lipstick V somewhere on their face or hand. They were tasked with blowing up a condom like a balloon. Although only a few busted their condom, Ava Tedesco’29 came out on top, winning a water gun resembling what appeared to be dick and balls. Once all the condoms had been blown and the virgins settled in their seats, blissfully unaware they were about to witness.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” according to Lydia Williams’26, this year’s glitzy Frank-N-Furter, described the experience as “What happens when you throw gorgeous, violently gay characters in a movie and throw darts at the wall to determine plot points.”
The performance itself is one of the best expressions of entertainment and fun one can find on campus. The film is iconic and acclaimed for being an over the top spectacle, and the tradition of celebrating that every year gives these performances a unique kind of energy. It’s a tradition that has survived and thrived for many years at Beloit.
Ella Silva’26, who played the hottest and most beautiful Brad you will ever see, says “Rocky Horror” is “such a space for freaks to thrive, both on stage and in the audience, and what is more historically Beloit than people being on board for a cult classic experience that lets everyone be their authentic silly freaky selves for Halloween?” The performance is also the result of months of work from student directors, crew, and cast that Beloit’s lively community of freaks is always excited to enjoy.
The comedic callback script combined with the drink or two in the average audience member’s blood makes the show a chorus of loud laughs and a highlight of the year for many. This year was no different.
The audience participation was enthusiastic and even included singing and dancing along to big group numbers. This energy was matched by all the incredible performers, from the spooky scary Riffraff (Casey Barasch’26) to the hilarious himbo Rocky (Ben O’Connor’26), though the real stars were arguably a Freddie Fazbear plush and a cardboard cutout of Misha Collins.
Technical difficulties, through no fault of the cast, made the movie hard to hear at times, especially over the sound of raucous callbacks. However, this is not an excuse for those members of the audience who decided to yell during the performance about subtitles and not hearing well. There are performers onstage. Be nice.
Featured Image: Ray Broad
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