The Rocky Horror Show is the predecessor of the more widely known The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the former being a musical that debuted in 1973 and the latter being a film that debuted in 1975. Audience participation has become synonymous with the title, and when one attends either, he must expect to hear the audience shouting at the actors, as well as be prepared to dodge squirt guns and toilet paper. Unique and eccentric, Rocky Horror has been drawing small but steady audiences for over thirty years because of the freedom it gives to people who "give themselves over to absolute pleasure" and embrace Frank N. Furter's motto of "don't dream it – be it." This thesis focuses on the production of the musical and how to manage potential audience concerns over the content in the play. I argue that the audience participation activities as well as certain staging techniques work as distracters from the events taking place in the actual play, alleviating potential anxiety caused by the issues of gender and sexuality in the text. The first chapter examines the challenges that a production of The Rocky Horror Show might face, focusing mainly on the issues of gender and sexuality found in the text. The second chapter looks at how transgressive the show can be. Specifically, it examines how the evolution of the cult audience created the audience participation factors that are now synonymous with the film. I also suggest how these extra-textual elements add to contemporary stage productions of the show and analyze how various audiences reacted to the stage show. The third chapter is a case study of Florida State University's 2008 production of The Rocky Horror Show with the specific goal of assessing how the challenges outlined in the first chapter affected FSU audiences. The chapter begins by addressing the production team's strategies and compromises for success. I then examine interviews that I conducted with attendees of various performances of the production, both first-timers and veterans of Rocky Horror, as well as my own audience observations. Overall, it is my hope that this thesis will serve as a resource to aid future production teams desiring to create a successful production of The Rocky Horror Show. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2011. / March 16, 2011. / Audience Reception, Audience Participation, Cult Audience, Sexuality, Gender, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Rocky Horror Show, Theatre, Theatre Production / Includes bibliographical references. / Mary Karen Dahl, Professor Directing Thesis; Carrier Sandahl, Professor Directing Thesis; Elizabeth Osborne, Committee Member; Tom Ossowski, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_184996 |
| Contributors | Bredemeyer, Amy K. (authoraut), Dahl, Mary Karen (professor directing thesis), Sandahl, Carrier (professor directing thesis), Osborne, Elizabeth (committee member), Ossowski, Tom (committee member), School of Theatre (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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