The Webb City Route 66 Theater will be showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show the weekend following Halloween. However, this isn’t just any movie-going experience. This showing will be an interactive event for all in attendance.

The Missouri Southern Players has been sponsoring the event in this area for about 10 years, but the Rocky Horror interactive experience has been a thrilling, crazy night for freaky folks since the era of its creation in 1976.  

The movie started out as a stage production by Richard O’Brien, which opened at London’s Royal Court Theater in 1973.  

It was a big success in London and Los Angeles, but didn’t do so well in New York. The film version also struggled.  

In 1976, producer Lou Adler convinced New York’s Waverly Theater, located in bohemian Greenwich Village, to begin midnight showings of the film as an attempt to boost interest in the area.  

The idea caught on like wildfire and it wasn’t long before people across the country were coming out to watch dressed as characters, enthusiastically participating in the show. 

Now, the Rocky Horror Picture Show has become one of the biggest cult classics and the tradition lives on.

To be a part of the tradition, interested persons may come to the Route 66 Theater on Main Street in Webb City on Nov. 2 and 3. 

The show will begin at 10 p.m. and doors open at 9:30 p.m.  

According to Amber Julian, senior theatre major and President of the Southern Players, the show sells out every year, so attendees should arrive early.  

Admission is $6 and a prop bag will also be made available for $5.  

“In those prop bags we have things like newspapers, rice, cards, all of the little goodies that go along [with the movie].  

The audience participation is a huge thing because everyone participates and it’s a lot of fun,” Julian said.  

“Another big part of this event is all the costumes people come up with. 

“We encourage people to dress up as costumes of the characters.”

Parents of small children or those adverse to explicit material should be warned, however, that the movie is rated ‘R’ and features some sexual themes and some of the musical’s numbers feature rather racy lyrics.  

Furthermore, things the audience members typically shout at the screen during the interactive experience include some profanity. 

Parents should strongly consider these factors when deciding whether or not to bring children to the show. 

“I definitely encourage every college student to come and witness the awesomeness,” Julian said. 

“And the magical feeling that they get when they walk in the theater and see how many people are there, see who is dressed up as which character, and what the whole interactive experience is about.”