Loews owns the print and treats it like any other movie showing. But a cast and crew of more than 50 volunteers—actors, directors, lighting crews, security personnel and prop managers—works to put on the production each week. They lug their costumes from home in rolling suitcases and duffel bags. They’ve built scenery to look like the coffins and elevators in the movie, and they store it at the theater between performances.

The group holds auditions twice a year for the two casts that trade off acting duties every other week. They rehearse regularly and they have understudies. And after every show, the directors—one of whom first saw the show with his Jewish youth group from Needham, Mass. more than a decade ago—share notes with the performers.

When the auditions were last held in November, 36 people showed up—including about 15 or 20 first-timers—to try out for the 21 slots. Even once they’ve been picked, cast members must re-audition on videotape for the directors.

Taking it Serious

Out on the street after Rocky Horror lets out, J.D. Leggett stands with a toolbox in one hand and a fistful of plastic bags with costumes in the other.

He wrote and directed the pre-show battle between Rocky Horror and Priscilla, which was a take-off on “The Drew Carey Show.”

This was the big night for his pre-show—after tonight’s premiere it will run every week for the month of April—and it took some major preparation.

He’s been rehearsing the skit with the actors for seven to eight hours a week for the last two months, using the yoga studio where his boyfriend works.

“It took a while to learn down the choreography,” Leggett says.

Leggett’s day job is supervising an office for a group that works on heating costs for low-income area residents. But he has been spending his Saturday nights with Rocky since 1994.

“It spices up everything,” he says. “I work in an office during the week. I come here at the end of the week and it’s ‘bam!’”

During his seven years with the cast, he has played four different roles, including Rocky. He prides himself on the group’s spirit of professionalism.

“We try to take it seriously,” he explains. “A lot of casts across the U.S. are more lax on costumes. We try to be as screen accurate as possible.”

Waiting for his ride, he works out a casting switch with Tara Rappolt, who played Dr. Scott tonight and acted in his skit.

Her pre-show debut made Rappolt, a sophomore acting major at Northeastern, so nervous all night that she didn’t even notice how the audience was reacting to her performance.