[media-credit id=2194 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]As the audience quieted down and the lights went low, a young woman skated on stage while lipsynching the opening song “Science Fiction Double Feature,” setting the stage for the anxious and excited crowd.

QU Fourth Wall showed their presentation of Rocky Horror Picture Show in Buckman Theater on Oct. 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. The audience was filled with “antici-pation,” as Dr. Frank N. Furter said in the film.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was played by a shadow cast, in which the actors are on stage, lip-synching the words, while the movie plays simultaneously in the background.

The musical was directed by Jake Forsdahl, a sophomore, with Rocky Horror being his directorial debut. Christy Dzubay, a senior, and Lauren Rosenay, a sophomore, served as the stage manager/choreographer and assistant director, respectively.

“It was a lot of stress this last semester,” Forsdahl said. “We started rehearsal, like, October, the very beginning, and the show is up by the end of the month. It’s a lot of work.”

Tickets were $5 and audience members would picked up a goodie bag on their way in. In the bags were a sponge, a newspaper, a playing card and toilet paper. The purpose of the items were to throw them up whenever a certain line or phrase was heard.

Throughout the show, the audience was encouraged to yell out “asshole” and “slut” whenever someone said Brad and Janet’s names, since it’s done similarly with what the movie does. The director and assistant director were also shouting out commentary along with the show.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a play about newly-engaged Brad Majors (Nicholas Fetherston) and Janet Weiss (Laura Smullen), who get stuck with a flat tire and end up in the mansion of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Louis Napolitano), a transvestite scientist.

The couple is greeted at the door by Riff-Raff (Tyrell Latouche), and his sister Magenta (Haneen Hamdan). During this scene, the show’s most popular song, “Time Warp”, starts playing, introducing Napolitano’s character.

During the song performance, the cast ran around the theater and interacted with the audience, which entertained fans of the cult classic film. The whole cast knew how to keep the audience engaged and entertained with their take on the characters they portrayed.

Frank N. Furter then invites Brad and Janet to his lab where he introduces his newest creation, Rocky (Jack McKay).

In the middle of the Rocky’s introduction, the play had a minor technical difficulty with sound, but that did not stop the show. They started speaking their lines, not dropping character, until they could find a perfect spot to pause the show.

“That did not happen before,” Forsdahl said. “I’m glad that the audience was so understanding during our little mishap.”

The cast and crew picked themselves off the ground and managed to deliver their lines with poise and professionalism. They continued the show like nothing happened and were as eager as ever to continue the production.

Cast member Brynn Martin, freshman, who played Columbia, walked into production not knowing what to expect.

“This is my first college show,” Martin said. “It was so amazing just to meet all the cast and connect. Because we’re such a small cast we clicked very fast.”

The makeup for the show was done by freshman Taina Echevarria, her first experience in Quinnipiac’s theater department. Echevarria describes the makeup itself as difficult, but also one of the best parts of being involved in the production. She was not used to doing such raunchy makeup for anyone, let alone the cast she grew close during production.

“It’s so cringey, but that’s what makes it great,” Echevarria said. “I love being around them, I love coming to the rehearsals, even though I’m not a part of the cast.”

At the end of the show, “Time Warp,” started playing again, with the audience and cast members participating in the famous dance that goes along with it.

It was a fun experience for the audience because it would make them feel like they were in the show themselves.

As Magenta said, “I’m lucky, he’s lucky, we’re all lucky!”