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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
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===Origins=== [[File:Dori and Sal.jpg|thumb|right|Dori Hartley and [[Sal Piro]] at the Waverly Theatre in New York in 1977]] ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' helped shape conditions of cult film's transition from [[art-house]] to [[exploitation film|exploitation]] style.<ref name="ErnestXavier2007"/> The film developed a cult following in 1976 at the Waverly Theatre in New York, which developed into a standardised ritual. According to [[J. Hoberman]], author of ''Midnight Movies'', it was after five months into the film's midnight run when lines began to be shouted by the audience. Louis Farese Jr., a normally quiet teacher, upon seeing the character Janet place a newspaper over her head to protect herself from rain, yelled, "Buy an umbrella, you cheap bitch." Originally, Louis and other ''Rocky Horror'' pioneers, including Amy Lazarus, Theresa Krakauskas, and Bill O'Brian, did this to entertain each other, each week trying to come up with something new to make each other laugh. This quickly caught on with other theatre-goers and thus began this self-proclaimed "counter point dialogue", which became standard practice and was repeated nearly verbatim at each screening.<ref name="Dika2003" /> Performance groups became a staple at ''Rocky Horror'' screenings due in part to the prominent New York City fan cast.<ref name="Henkin1979" /> The New York City cast was originally run by former schoolteacher and stand-up comic [[Sal Piro]] and his friend Dori Hartley, the latter of whom portrayed Dr. Frank N. Furter and was one of several performers, including Will Kohler as Brad Majors, Nora Poses as Janet, and Lilias Piro as Magenta, in a flexible rotating cast.{{sfn|Henkin|1979|page=[https://archive.org/details/rockyhorrorpictu0000henk/page/n105/mode/2up?q=sal+piro 106]}} The performances of the audience were scripted and actively discouraged improvising, being conformist in a similar way to the repressed characters.<ref name="MathijsSexton2012">{{cite book |first1=Ernest |last1=Mathijs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3EmSqIo4I-QC&pg=PA101 |title=Cult Cinema |first2=Jamie |last2=Sexton |date=30 March 2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-9642-3 |page=101}}</ref> [[File:Garrett3.jpg|thumb|upright|D. Garrett Gafford and Terri Hardin, Tiffany Theater Hollywood, 1978]] On Halloween in 1976, people attended in costume and talked back to the screen, and by mid-1978, ''Rocky Horror'' was playing in over 50 locations on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight. Newsletters were published by local performance groups, and fans gathered for ''Rocky Horror'' conventions.<ref name="Samuels_MidMov"/> By the end of 1979, there were twice-weekly showings at over 230 theatres.<ref name=Samuels_MidMov/> The National Fan Club was established in 1977 and later merged with the International Fan Club. The fan publication ''The Transylvanian'' printed a number of issues, and a semi-regular poster magazine was published as well as an official magazine.<ref name="ErnestXavier2007">{{cite book |last1=Mathijs |first1=Ernest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWX4AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA395 |title=The Cult Film Reader |last2=Mendik |first2=Xavier |date=1 December 2007 |publisher=McGraw-Hill International |isbn=978-0-335-21923-0 |page=395}}</ref> Performance groups in the Los Angeles area originated at the [[Fox Theater, Westwood Village|Fox Theatre]] in 1977, where Michael Wolfson won a look-alike contest as Frank N. Furter, and won another at the [[Tiffany Theater]] on [[Sunset Boulevard]]. Wolfson's group eventually performed in all of the L.A. area theatres screening ''Rocky Horror'', including the Balboa Theater in [[Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach|Balboa]], The Cove at [[Hermosa Beach]], and The Sands in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]]. He was invited to perform at the [[Sombrero Playhouse]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}} At the Tiffany Theatre, the audience performance cast had the theatre's full cooperation; the local performers entered early and without charge. The fan playing Frank for this theatre was a [[transgender]] performer, D. Garret Gafford, who was out of work in 1978 and trying to raise the funds for a [[gender reassignment]] while spending the weekends performing at the Tiffany.<ref name="Henkin1979" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Overand |first=William |date=19 July 1978 |title=Saturday Night Fervor at the Tiffany Theater |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-saturday-night-fervor-at-tiffany-20150925-story.html |access-date=17 November 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Presently, the live action rendition of ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is available for attendance in various locations in Los Angeles, typically Saturday nights at midnight.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}} [[File:Strand Theater Rocky Horror.jpg|right|thumb|San Francisco's Strand Theatre, 1979. Linda Woods, Marni Scofidio, Denise Erickson, and Jim Curry]] By 1978, ''Rocky Horror'' had moved from an earlier [[San Francisco]] location to the [[Strand Theatre (San Francisco)|Strand Theatre]] located near the [[Tenderloin, San Francisco|Tenderloin]] on [[Market Street (San Francisco)|Market Street]].<ref name="Stewart2011">{{cite book |first=Jim |last=Stewart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anV4X3D8K04C&pg=PA109 |title=Folsom Street Blues: A Memoir of 1970s SoMa and Leatherfolk in Gay San Francisco |date=2011 |publisher=Palm Drive Publishing |isbn=978-1-8908-3403-6 |page=109}}</ref> The performance group there, Double Feature/Celluloid Jam, was the first to act out and perform almost the entire film, unlike the New York cast at that time. The Strand cast was put together from former members of an early [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] group, disbanded due to less than enthusiastic management. Frank N. Furter was portrayed by Marni Scofidio, who, in 1979, attracted many of the older performers from Berkeley. Other members included Mishell Erickson as Columbia, her twin sister Denise Erickson as Magenta, Kathy Dolan as Janet, and Linda "Lou" Woods as Riff Raff. The Strand group performed at two large science fiction conventions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, were offered a spot at [[Mabuhay Gardens|The Mabuhay]], a local punk club, and performed for children's television of Argentina.<ref name="Henkin1979" />
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