The Skivvies Do Rocky Horror
by Steve Desroches
The 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the cult classic of all time. Based on the stage show, The Rocky Horror Show, which debuted at the Royal Court Theater in London in 1973, the glam rock musical has become a universe unto itself. There are numerous books and documentaries as well as productions on stages around the world, including a current Broadway revival, not to mention that the film still has midnight screenings everywhere from New York to Tokyo to Sydney to Buenos Aires. With a live cast usually situated under the screen, an organic culture developed in the late 1970s at the Waverly Theater in Manhattan where the audience would shout out call backs to the dialogue in the film and bring props to be used at certain times, as well as, of course, getting up and out of their seats to dance the “Time Warp.”
Obsessive fans abound and know most every detail about the story told within the movie as well as about the making of it. But there is one factoid that often gets overlooked and surprises the most ardent fan…The Rocky Horror Picture Show is set in Ohio. While castles don’t have phones, Ohio doesn’t have large gothic castles either. But to the musical duo The Skivvies, featuring Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina, Ohio is actually a sublime and subversive choice to set such a wild story.
“I’m from Ohio, and it make sense, as Brad and Janet are both totally square,” says Cearley. “Ohio is…let’s just say it’s often behind.”
“A Transylvanian castle in the middle of Ohio doesn’t make any sense,” says Molina. “But if you think about it, if aliens were going to land somewhere it would be in the middle of nowhere, so Ohio makes perfect sense.”
Cearley and Molina know of which they speak. Their affection for Rocky Horror runs deep, so much so they should qualify as honorary Transylvanians, the aliens in question there to party with Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his beefy blonde creation. For almost 15 years, The Skivvies, with a cult following of their own, has been performing their musical tribute to Rocky Horror each Halloween season at Joe’s Pub in New York. And in recent years, they’ve taken the show on the road, this year starting their tour in Provincetown with two shows this weekend at the Art House.
The two Broadway actors, he from Ohio and she from Michigan, and now both New Yorkers, began the Skivvies as a bit of a joke. The music was taken very seriously, but they came up with the idea to perform in their underwear when Molina was walking around her apartment in a bra and panties trying to decide what to wear. Cearley suggested she just perform in what she had on at that moment, and then he similarly followed suit, appearing almost in his birthday suit, creating a clever burlesque cabaret show that is still the toast of New York and gaining attention nationwide now. The Skivvies are known and beloved in particular for inventive musical arrangements and mash-ups of songs utilizing unexpected instruments like the ukulele and kazoo in surprising ways. And they put that into their Rocky Horror shows as well, reimagining the classic soundtrack of the stage musical as well as the movie. They have become such respected interpreters of Rocky Horror that they were asked by the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, to play Brad and Janet in a production created entirely for them. They of course knew the score backwards and forwards and were excited to take on the iconic roles. However, they were taken by surprise by an issue that has dogged revivals for years: the audiences often yell out in the theater at the stage shows the same way they do when watching the film.
“We were not prepared whatsoever for the volume of the call backs,” says Molina. “It was like a monster truck rally. The audience was just screaming. I’m trying to remember my lines and the blocking and they’re just screaming, and often before we said our lines, as they were setting them up to be a punchline. It was crazy. I turned purple! I was terrified.”
Cearley helped Molina along and they eventually got the vibe just right to perform during an occasional cacophony of hecklers. The Skivvies shows don’t get the same response, as it’s a concert performance and they don’t tell the narrative that elicits such participation. And while their audiences are devotees of Rocky Horror, they are also often a crowd with a deep affection for Halloween. The expansion of the holiday (which is Cearley’s birthday) from a one-day affair on the 31st to an entire season has definitely boosted The Skivvies Rocky Horror Show. The Art House invited The Skivvies to kick off the “Spooky Season,” which has crept into September, before embarking on a nationwide tour ending at Joe’s Pub. Both claim Halloween as their favorite holiday, with Cearley declaring he’s “obsessed.”
Combining the cult around Rocky Horror and Halloween creates a special camaraderie at each show. “We’re not religious people, but it feels like our time to get together, and it’s our church,” says Molina. “Halloween attracts a lot of really cool, passionate people.”
Completing the Skivvies personal holy trinity, in addition to Rocky Horror and Halloween, is Provincetown. They’ve been performing here for years, garnering a devoted fan base, and in particular for the past five years Cearley and his husband Eric Lesh, owner of the Eric Lesh Gallery, spend five months a year here. While the show in Provincetown and the tour were planned back in April, it all has taken on a greater significance since the passing of Rocky Horror star Tim Curry. And beginning this season of The Skivvies Rocky Horror Show in Provincetown feels a perfect way to honor the queer icon.
“We play a lot of gay places, but Provincetown is the ultimate gay place,” says Cearley. “The audiences here are just gayer. They’re the gayest. But we love the town so much. It just feels like home, like family.”
The Rocky Horror Skivvies Show is on Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Art House, 214 Commercial St. Tickets ($35/$45) are available at the box office and online at thearthouseptown.com.
