NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Here's a story just in time for Halloween. There is a film that has consistently played in middle Tennessee for more than 45 years. On the 50th anniversary of the film's release, its fans say it is more than a film. It is community.
Let's take inventory. You might have cards, newspapers, noise makers, party hats, and toilet paper. They're a few of the props you bring when you go see The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Rocky Horror's an interesting one because a lot of cities have long stories of showing the film and so do we.
I'll start here. When the film came out in 1975, Rocky Horror was a box office bomb. It was in the 1976 midnight screenings in New York where a following emerged.
"Rocky Horror is the supreme midnight movie experience," said Dr. Jeff Thompson.
Thompson remembers when the midnight Rocky Horror screenings arrived in Nashville in the late 70s at a theater called Cinema South. It used to be on Nolensville Pike across from the Nashville Zoo.
"I saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a midnight showing in October of 1979," Thompson remembered.
Already, the crowd traditions were in play.
"Somehow all of them are in sync," Thompson said, remembering the crowd from 1979.
"We're here to celebrate this crazy movie, and we're going to yell back at the screen and dress up and carry props."
There was also this. During this time of the late 70s and early 80s, a lot of gay people weren't open about their sexuality, fearing for their jobs and safety. There were some local clubs that became safe havens. For some, the screenings of this film, with its LGBTQ themes, became a place for community too.
In 1987, the Rocky Horror screenings moved to The Franklin Theatre. It was during a 14-year run there, that a familiar face became Micheal Compton.
"It became a thing where I just wanted to go every week," Compton said. "I went through a couple cars!"
Part of what he loved was the callbacks the audience would have with the characters on screen.
"What's a callback I can actually air on TV?" I asked Compton.
He paused and laughed.
When Nashville's Belcourt Theatre became a non-profit in 2000, Rocky Horror screenings became a special part of the place. The Belcourt's loved by Rachael Mahan.
"The Belcourt is kinda our home base," Mahan said. "It's a safe space where you can show up and be whoever you want to be. There's nothing else like Rocky Horror."
Decades after those original Nashville screenings at Cinema South, Rocky Horror now plays all over middle Tennessee. I couldn't begin to name all the theaters.
A full 50 years after the movie's original release, a long line stood outside the Belcourt Theatre for another sold-out showing Wednesday night.
Inside, Mahan was part of the troupe in a shadowcast, actors who perform alongside the film. Mahan explained this particular troupe began at the Franklin Theatre in 1987. In 1999, they adopted the name Little Morals.
So, who does Mahan play?
"Who else would you want to be other than Frank-N-Furter?" she laughed.
When audience members see Rocky Horror for the first time, members of Little Morals give them a red lipstick V on their heads and a red balloon. What happens next? My lips are sealed.
"I don't know what I'm in for!" laughed one man headed into the theater.
"Rocky Horror seems to be the biggest cult movie in terms of midnight showings," Thompson said.
For the reason why, I especially liked how Compton put it.
"It just kinda has that inclusion for everyone," he said. "For people just trying to discover who they were, it's the film that can kinda allow you to find yourself and find your people.
Everyone connects with that moment, with that film, and it's just spontaneous fun. No matter what kind of an outsider you are, you're welcomed with open arms, and you're gonna have a good time."
The Little Morals shadowcast performs at events and at The Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings throughout the year. You can find them on Facebook and Instagram at @littlemoralsnashville.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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