The Rocky Horror Show

When do Technicolor dreamcoaters and sweet transvestites pass in the night? Well, that would be at about 10:50 p.m. when the “family friendly” audience for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat exits Garbeau’s Dinner Theatre, just as the Frank N Furter freaks begin lining up for the theater’s midnight production of The Rocky Horror Show.

Garbeau’s co-owner Mark Ferreira remembers selling the first ticket to The Rocky Horror Show, months before the production began, “to a 55-year-old proper, well-dressed attorney who approached the box office after coming out of a Garbeau’s religious-based musical,” he said. “I was a little worried.”

Turns out the guy returned on opening night of the campy musical in full tranny attire—the first time he’d worn his costume in 25 years.

In his mid 20s, co-owner Ferreira is too young to have experienced the original stage version of the sci-fi horror farce. He also missed subsequent midnight showings of the 1975 movie version that resulted in its cult status and audience participation. So when he was dragged to American River College’s 2004 production, the theater lover was appalled for the first ten minutes of the show when the audience shouted out lines and acted out key scenes. When Ferreira slowly figured out the audience interaction was the show, he became a “Time Warp” aficionado.

“Anyone who doesn’t do the ‘Time Warp’ at our shows saddens us,” said Ferreira, who plays piano for the show’s live band.

The audience, the majority in costume, runs the gamut of ages, from older ones reliving their Rocky days to a huge, young, goth crowd just discovering the wonders of Riff Raff, Eddie and, of course, “Damn it, Janet.”