'Let's Do The Time Warp Again' Every Saturday at Madcap Theaters
Jeff Mitchell - examiner.com 
“We are going to blow your little suburban minds tonight.”
And this promise was delivered just prior to the midnight invasion of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at Madcap Theaters on Mill Avenue in Tempe on Saturday night.
Matt Yenkala of Glendale – dressed in a black sports jacket and black bandana - delivered the aforementioned opening cry to start the show.
He said (to me beforehand) he has put on screenings of the 1975 cult classic since 1999.
“(Rocky Horror) is a production. It’s an interactive show that’s not like other shows,” Yenkala said.
For anyone that’s attended a “Rocky Show” knows, the movie isn’t simply lit up on the big screen.
A team of a couple dozen performers and technical hands shadow cast the performances (act out each scene as it happens right in front of the movie screen itself) while the film is played.
The interactive portion is not only generated from Yenkala’s team, but also from the audience.
The average movie patron will hear the following screams from behind their heads or in the seats to their immediately left or right:
“Stumble, stumble, fall! Stumble, stumble, fall!”
“Don’t eat the toast!”
“Bullwinkle!”
“Magenta!”
“D*mmit Janet. I love you.”
Sitting in the audience, I should also mention the above screams from the crowd were some of the more tame comments, as the language can often be considered “salty” and not for use on network television.
Also, many of the performers wore just - various types of - underwear on more than one occasion.
So, the show isn’t for everyone, but this reporter laughed and enjoyed the spectacle – the pre-show activities and the 100-minutue performance/film.
The movie – of course – is a musical, complete with several ghoulish Transylvanians belting out, “Let’s do the time warp again!”
And it’s difficult to forget Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) explaining, “I can make you a man,” or Janet (a 29-year-old Susan Sarandon) singing, “Touch-a, touch-a, touch-a touch me. I want to be dirty.”
And judging by the laughter and smiles (and yes, sometimes agape mouths) from the audience, I certainly wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the show.
Dilya Souffle of Tempe, who experienced the Rocky Show on Saturday, said she was “blown away” by the production.
Ray Stanley of Tempe, who never saw a Rocky Show before, added, “It was hilarious and so much to take in.”
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According to Yenkala, people who haven’t seen a live shadow cast of the film are considered Rocky Horror virgins, but that doesn’t apply to Alex Gold of Gilbert.
Gold said he’s seen the film on DVD over 100 times and caught a live performance about 10 times.
It doesn’t apply to Dr. Punk of Tempe either.
Dr. Punk is a 50-something-year-old man with long black hair, glasses and a salt-n-pepper beard who says he’s seen over 500 Rocky Shows.
Although soft-spoken, Dr. Punk’s whips off a number of facts like he could teach a Rocky Horror class at a local university.
“I saw it (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”) as a play in Los Angeles before it was a movie,” he said. “It also was a play in New York City with Joan Jett and Dick Cavett.”
He also added part of the fun for him is watching the shadow cast actors develop and improve after each performance.
Scott Gore, Glendale - who played The Criminologist on Saturday - said he used to regularly perform in the show from 2003 to 2006, and is happy to be back.
Rocky Horror gives you a chance “to be yourself,” he added.
Sean Hunter, Mesa, starred as Dr. Frank-N-Furter - complete with all the make-up, lipstick and black garters - said he enjoys the “Diva-aspect” of the character and also works in drag outside Rocky Horror under the name, Asia La’Vega.
Yenkala added that Rocky Horror is a true community and said, “It’s a place where you come as you are and everyone is welcome.”
A true community seems to fit, as Gail Andreasen – who played Magenta – said that she’s performed in Rocky Horror for about 10 years.
This production plays at various venues, like the Phoenix Comicon last month, but Yenkala said that since Halloween 2010, Madcap Theaters in Tempe has been their regular weekly home – every Saturday night (the show was a monthly Madcap Theaters’ event prior to that).
A weekly show seemed to suit Julio Souffle of Tempe just fine. “(The show) was so cool. I want to come back next week,” he said.
For more information on “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” production reported above, go to www.azrocky.com. Check Madcap Theaters at www.madcaptheaters.com for showtimes (seating begins at 11pm), and they are located on 730 South Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281.
