The Rocky Horror Picture Show in Detroit, Michigan
In the Detroit area, the show has had great difficulty finding a home, leaving the generation too young to remember the original midnight showings of the 70s and 80s to put on feeble imitations of the full experience in basements and living rooms. Annual Halloween showings on and around college campuses draw sell out crowds, but theatres have been reluctant to put on the loud and often times messy event. Every once in a while, a cast would pop up, only to fizzle out for lack of a reliable venue. Now, all of that has changed.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show has found a home, in a basement club called The Labyrinth. Located in the heart of downtown Detroit, just a stone’s throw from the MGM Grand Casino and the stunning new stadiums that the Lions and Tigers call home, the club is hidden in the midst of the bustling city. Finding the club can be an adventure in itself for the first time visitor. The building itself is a Ramada Inn, located on Bagley Street, but you must follow the building around to a side door on Cass to find the entrance. An unassuming door with a small neon sign above it leads down a flight of dark stairs and into the club, which is one of the late night homes of Detroit’s Goth scene.
Doors open at the underground club at 10 PM on Rocky Horror nights, but the movie doesn’t begin until midnight. The pre-show entertainment can be as over-the-top as the production itself, ranging from talented local bands and poets to a singing transvestite and a lingerie contest for fans of either gender who come in costume. A masseuse and a tarot card reader sometimes offer their services to patrons while the pre-show festivities occupy the stage. A full bar serves drinks of all kinds, and the bartender is well known for his creative concoctions.
Put on my a group called the Michigan Rocky Horror Preservation Society, the show itself is classic Rocky Horror. With a full cast, excellent costuming, and all the traditional props, actors play out each scene as the film rolls on the big screen behind them. From the ritual deflowering of the Rocky Horror virgins – people who are seeing the film in a theatre for the first time – to the audience participation lines yelled out from the seats, this production offers the full Rocky Horror Picture Show experience from start to finish.
