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Andrew and Stephan are an odd combination for the viewing of Rocky, especially considering the virgin/experienced dichotomy was the opposite of what one might expect by virtue of gayness. They were high times; it's an experience that reminds me of all the best things about watching movies and all the best things about theater, with the added bonus of a completely permeable fourth wall. They were the kind of comebacks and heckling that accompany my watching an extremely familiar movie, multiplied by the amount of experienced Rocky-goers in the audience, plus the substantive, traditional content of the snark. It's a script within a script, with new lines improvised every iteration. An open system. There's as much yelling and wisecracking as you can imagine, but it's treated as part of the show. The audience will shut up to listen to one of its own.
And then the cast who played the movie in front of the movie-- well, they were phenomenal. Marcus, the gayest of the gay denizens of PVA, unquestionably owned (maybe even pwned) Tim Curry's part, down to every flick of the wrist and turn of the hip, with some added improvisatory flamboyance that only added to the performance. I didn't know the Brad or the Janet, but they both seemed to have reasonable handles on their parts. Magenta and Columbia were both right-on with their screen selves, both an incredible likeness. The Rocky, however, stole the show.
Even before the previews, when the criers were still obnoxiously pushing their Rocky bags and doorprize chances, this guy (and, oddly enough, his voice and his appearance were both close enough to make Stephan and I do a double-take for Evan Ross) was snarking at the audience and himself with limitless credibility. He'd make announcements, tell jokes you didn't realize were jokes till suddenly you were the butt of one, leer lewdly and make comments ("Hey, I'm not really gay! What two extremely attractive young men do in the privacy of the backstage bathroom... is a beautiful thing!"), and generally work the crowd. And then, while he made a lovely, believably awkward and naive Rocky (admittedly much shorter and more delicately built than his Frank), he'd break character when the spot was off him and add things that you couldn't help cracking up at. He did all the criminologist's lines in between the audience's lines obsessing over said criminologist's lack of neck. He mimed pulling on the screen whenever there was a spin or when something fell down. He made a lovable jackass of himself, and if I go again next month, it'll be to see him and Marcus.
And then the cast who played the movie in front of the movie-- well, they were phenomenal. Marcus, the gayest of the gay denizens of PVA, unquestionably owned (maybe even pwned) Tim Curry's part, down to every flick of the wrist and turn of the hip, with some added improvisatory flamboyance that only added to the performance. I didn't know the Brad or the Janet, but they both seemed to have reasonable handles on their parts. Magenta and Columbia were both right-on with their screen selves, both an incredible likeness. The Rocky, however, stole the show.
Even before the previews, when the criers were still obnoxiously pushing their Rocky bags and doorprize chances, this guy (and, oddly enough, his voice and his appearance were both close enough to make Stephan and I do a double-take for Evan Ross) was snarking at the audience and himself with limitless credibility. He'd make announcements, tell jokes you didn't realize were jokes till suddenly you were the butt of one, leer lewdly and make comments ("Hey, I'm not really gay! What two extremely attractive young men do in the privacy of the backstage bathroom... is a beautiful thing!"), and generally work the crowd. And then, while he made a lovely, believably awkward and naive Rocky (admittedly much shorter and more delicately built than his Frank), he'd break character when the spot was off him and add things that you couldn't help cracking up at. He did all the criminologist's lines in between the audience's lines obsessing over said criminologist's lack of neck. He mimed pulling on the screen whenever there was a spin or when something fell down. He made a lovable jackass of himself, and if I go again next month, it'll be to see him and Marcus.
