Kawasaki Rocky!

I went to Kawasaki again this year on Halloween and this time actually went to see the Rocky Horror Picture show, which I had planned to see last year but didn't.  It was really fun and interesting to see how similar it felt to seeing it in the US, yet how different it was at the same time.

Some differences I noticed:

1.  The Japanese cast that performs Rocky are a lot less creepy than people in the States who do it.
(No offence to US Rocky performers...but I still have nightmares about the time I saw it in Madison and a Tiny Tim look-a-like with a 2-foot long beard wearing nothing but bikini briefs sat his cold, bony ass on my lap and kissed the top of my head *shudder* during the "Don't Dream it, Be it" number.)

I theorize that the reason for this is that they only perform it once a year here.  Perhaps weekly or monthly performances are just too much for a normal person to handle and after a while people start to lose the boundaries between their everyday life and the film world...or maybe it is just that there are so many weirdos in Japan who do much crazier things, people who act out a cult classic in fishnets and a boostie seem tame by comparison...? 

2.  They spent several minutes before the show teaching the audience how to do the Time Warp.
At first I thought it was a waste of time, since it should be pretty easy to pick up during the movie--I mean there is a dance chart and a guy giving instructions and everything--but when the pivotal scene arrived, I realized that I now knew the moves, including all the hand motions, much more thoroughly than ever before, so it was a lot more fun!

They also did a little pre-show Time Warp outside to get people interested; here's a clip:

(However, compared to the street dance performance I caught last year http://sarahheartsjapan.blogspot.com/2009/11/kawasaki-halloween-adventures.html 

this was not very impressive...)

3.  Overall, is seemed much less "dirty."  The last time I saw it in the States at the Uptown in Minneapolis, they added a lot of gratuitous lewdness that really had nothing to do with the film, or as my mom put it, "they took the innocence out of it."  The show in Kawasaki didn't have any random strip-show, or overly heavy use of crude language (don't worry, they still made "the virgins" erotically eat bananas on stage, so it wasn't some Mormon edit of the show or anything.)  It was just about enjoying the film and having fun no matter who you are and what you wear; a more pure style of Rocky Horror similar to what it originally like in the 70s (based on what I have heard anyway).

4.  People brought children.  There were several parents who had never seen the movie before and brought kids with them...I was shocked at first, but then realized that the kids probably didn't have the ability/patience to read the subtitles, so most likely wouldn't pick up on any "adult situations."  Also, there are plenty of magazines and porno theater posters with much more explicit visuals out in the open for kids to see here anyways...   

All in all, it was a great show, and I actually think it is the most fun I've had at a live showing (compared to the three times I have gone in the States before).  Good job Japanese Rocky fans!