Blue Mouse marks 20 years of ‘Rocky’
The good people at the Blue Mouse theater are feeling extra celebratory this Halloween and for good reason. It was 20 years ago this Oct. 31 that "The Rocky Horror Picture Show” premiered at the historic movie house and it has been showing ever since, making the Blue Mouse host of the longest running screenings of the film in the Puget Sound area.
To mark the occasion, the Blue Mousekateers are planning some special treats for the anniversary fete on Saturday, Oct. 30. In addition to this group of talents bringing their live performance of the movie as it plays on the screen, local band Fishy Mushroom will play live, and tarot reader Madame DeLyte will be there to see what the future has in store for you. Travis Bundy, the artist who created the outstanding Blue Mouse movie poster commemorating the anniversary, will attend as well.
Prop bags will be sold for $2 so that you have everything you need to participate in the action including rolls of toilet paper, glow sticks, rice, toast and more. Other traditional props like lighters and water guns are not allowed. The Blue Mouse is approaching its 100th birthday so safety, and not ruining the cloth seats, is most important.
Just be sure to get in line early, as it is bound to sell out especially since tickets are only $10 each. Doors open at 10:30 p.m.
Not only is "The Rocky Horror Picture Show” still a riot of a time at the Blue Mouse on the second and fourth Saturdays each month; the film basically saved the theater back in the day.
"Before ‘Rocky’ came here, the theater was just kind of limping along,” said Blue Mouse manager Sue Evans. "It was operating in the red and the first year we showed ‘Rocky,’ it pulled the theater out of the red. We opened that Halloween in 2001 to a sold-out show.”
Evans said she had heard of the film but hadn’t yet seen it. Once it played at the Blue Mouse, her eyes were opened to what "The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is all about, especially when she saw the condition of the theater afterward.
"It was completely trashed! What did I get into?” she said, laughing out loud. "We didn’t have a janitor, so I had to clean it all up. I’m sure 10 years from now there will still be rice in here.”
A cast of actors dressed as all the characters in the movie was also there that opening night to "shadow” the movie as it played, taking their place at the front of the audience to "Do the Time Warp” again and again. Over the years the cast changed, with the current line-up of Blue Mousekateers approaching their third year as outer space aliens from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania.
Andrea Allen plays sweet transvestite Frank-N-Furter and is also producer of the Blue Mousekateers live cast.
"It takes a lot of work because your Frank carries your show,” she said. "The rest of the show, there can be little stuff that people don’t notice but Frank is front and center for almost every scene of the movie, so you have to be on point.”
Allen said she didn’t even know she has what it takes to be Frank-N-Furter until artistic director Jazmine Herrington, who also portrays Janet Weiss, saw her audition for a different role.
"There’s a lot of cast members who are afraid to come out as their true selves,” Herrington said. "Coming to ‘Rocky’ and being part of the environment that harbors self-love and inclusivity, a lot have come out and not be afraid to be themselves because of their experience here and that makes me really happy.”
This is because "Rocky Horror” is more than just a film. For countless audience members over the years, this 1975 midnight movie turned social phenomenon has worked its magic of bringing people from all walks of life together in an atmosphere where you can do more than dream it – you can be it – whether you’re gay, straight, or outside of gender norms. This is how the Blue Mousekateers operate, embracing a rainbow of people for who they in heart and soul.
Allen knows the impact of "Rocky” herself. She was 16 years old in 1987 when she first saw the movie and it had a profound effect on her as it has on so many others. At the Blue Mouse, she brings a new take and authenticity to her role. When Frank-N-Furter sings, "Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Allen knows exactly what this means.
"I could be myself,” she said of her first "Rocky” experience. "I could dress how I wanted, put on some makeup, and let it loose. As far as we’ve come in the 35 years since then, there are still places not far from here where you can’t. When they come to ‘Rocky’ the first time and see it, they find that place where they can,” she said.
"I have to lead this cast and make sure this keeps going because like me, that 16-year-old is out there somewhere. They’re going to walk through those doors, and this is going to be the place where they can be themselves. We still need ‘Rocky’ in the world.”
BLUE MOUSKATEER’S "ROCKY” CAST LIST
Andrea Hamilton (Andrea DeLyte): Producer, Frank-N-Furter
Shauna Mitchell (Mama Brony): Treasurer, Costumer, Magenta
William Bennett: Secretary, Rocky, Eddie, MC, Lights
Jazmine Herrington (Dahlia Gho): Artistic Director, Janet Weiss, Burlesque Dancer (Trixie) & Understudy Magenta
Brian Schend (Dande Groovily): MC & Brad Majors
Mackenzie Steele (Lady Lottee): Columbia
Jon Knudson (Jonny Bravo): Riff Raff
Alyssa Ryann: Transylvanian
Miranda Roland: Transylvanian, Lights
Jonny Myrick: Lights, Eddie
Shiree Barrett (Aero Sempai): Transylvanian, Understudy Janet Weiss, Burlesque dancer (Trixie)
Jason Carlisle (kitten): Public Relations, Cast Security, Understudy
Valentine Yapez (Soup): Senior Transylvanian, Doctor Scott
Keos Davis (Gender Chaos): Brad Majors, Rocky
Elizabeth Darke (Hurricane Liz): Guest performer from The Denton Delinquents Cast, Vancouver, WA
Hunter Dunn: Transylvanian
Mary Jane: Transylvanian
Bruce Wafford: Head Transylvanian (stage manager) & The Criminologist