Being a local to the Niagara Region, going to see Rocky Horror performed live in Niagara-On-The-Lake is something that was long overdue for me. After having finally seen the movie last year (and last year I even dressed as Columbia for Halloween), I felt I was finally somewhat-worthy to go and attend a live performance with a friend who has been an eager fan of the production for many years now. I shouted at the narrator, I laughed hysterically, I enjoyed the scenery of NOTL and I even ran into some unexpected company before the show!
Instead of dressing up as Columbia for Rocky Horror, I decided to wear something that was Rocky-inspired instead (plus it gave me an opportunity to break in my brand new dress from ModCloth. You can't see in any of the pictures I took, but I also paired this look with a pair of fishnets. After all, it is Rocky Horror; how could I not? :P
My friend Blair drove over from Hamilton to take us out to NOTL for the afternoon, and we started by catching up on the drive there, and basically just walking around. NOTL is a gorgeous area. It's where the Shaw Festival takes place every year, which is a drama festival that puts on amazing plays and musicals. I went to the Shaw last year for the first time and saw Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan and it was an incredible production. I've been trying to convince Blair to take me to see Cabaret this year, and my brother and sister-in-law are supposed to take me to see something this year as a birthday gift, which I hope happens soon because the festival is quickly coming to an end.
I love just walking around this area. Blair and I mainly just walked along the sidewalk. We did stop into the hat shop to look around, and I tried on a couple hats. They don't like people taking photos in there, so I wasn't able to, which is a shame because I found a hat that matched perfectly with the outfit I had on. If it wasn't $114 I'm sure it would've been mine XD Here's a look at how the tourist area of NOTL looks:
We grabbed a quick dinner at the Coach and Horses Pub, located directly underneath the Stone & Mills Inn. The food was great and I had a great serving of fries for only $5, which was pretty awesome. After that, we were off to the show.
My friend Blair was able to reserve us seats in advance because he knows a few people that are a part of the show. I knew some people in the show as well: My cousin Leanne is the musical director for the production, and she plays the keyboards. And her husband Gerry plays lead guitar for the show.
As we were standing outside Corks restaurant, which hosts the upstairs theater for Rocky Horror, I had momentarily forgotten about my family connection to the show as my friend and I waited for the doors to open. While we were standing there and I was people watching out of the corner of my eye, I happened to spy a familiar face that looked like my aunt Pauline . . . then another familiar face that looked like my aunt Terry . . . then another familiar face that looked like my uncle Chris, and I became very confused XD I called out Terry's name, which got the attention of all 4 of my family members there (including my uncle Claudio who had I hadn't seen originally), and we all hugged and marveled at the coincidence of Leanne reserving seats for all of them on the same night that I happened to be going with my friend to see Rocky Horror Live for the first time.
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| From left to right, my Uncle Claudio, Aunt Pauline, myself, Uncle Chris and Aunt Terry. |
Probably one of the best coincidences ever!
So then the doors finally opened to the theater upstairs, and we headed up to grab good seats. me and Blair were in the third row, with my family in the second row just ahead of us. I took a quick shot of what the stage looked like before things kicked off:
Me and Blair also bought ourselves each a Participation package, which came with a hodge-podge of items to use in order to participate in the show. There was a small bag of confetti to throw at the weddings, and a party blower, and some toilet paper to throw at Dr. Scott (SNOT!) and a glow stick along with many other items.
Before the show started there were in-character ushers wandering around, two of them being friends of Blair's, so we got to chatting for a while. When the show started the ushers taught some of the basic call-outs (Brad: ASSHOLE! Janet: SLUT! Eddie: SHH! Dr. Scott: SNOT! And we were allowed to yell any profanity we wanted when the Narrator walked on stage, lots of general heckling to be had). After those were established, the ushers asked who in the audience were Rocky Horror virgins, and of course both Blair and his usherette friends pointed me out XD Then they excitedly shouted that I was about to have my cherry popped, and I laughed hysterically.
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| So, funny story . . . |
Blair and I happened to miss the cue to throw glitter at the first wedding, so we both had a bunch more glitter to throw at the second wedding that happens in the first act. While this was happening, Blair spared some his glitter to throw at me (most of which ended up on the floor) and I did the same to him. Then he decided it'd be fun to dump the rest of his bag on top of my head! I'm pretty sure I still have pieces of confetti in my hair as I'm writing this XD But don't you worry, I retaliated brilliantly. When he was off his guard, I grabbed my bag of confetti and dumped the rest of its contents down the back of his shirt :P It went all the way down his back and down both pant legs. It was pretty great :)
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| Photo taken from a Google search, but it displays most of the cast members I happened to see on the night I saw the show. |
All in all, it was a great night and an amazing experience. I didn't take any photos during the show because I was too busy singing along and laughing and even dancing the Time Warp, which is way more fun to do in a group of people as opposed to alone in my bathroom :P I absolutely loved it, and I loved getting to see my family members, both those who were working and those that were watching the show, and I hope I'll get to attend another live showing next year when it starts up again :)
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