Rocky Horror Picture Show Still Alive In Hoboken: Halloween 2019

HOBOKEN, NJ — The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” is alive and well in Hoboken.

After four successful production runs, Hoboken’s first “Rocky Horror Picture Show’ shadowcast company, RHPS at Hoboken, is celebrating its two-year anniversary in the Mile Square City this October.

Showings of the cult classic – accompanied by a cast of actors as per tradition – have been taking place at Hoboken Bow Tie Cinemas on 14th Street from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Remaining shows are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26. (Learn more about this local event or purchase tickets)

According to organizers, RHPS at Hoboken was founded as a way of keeping “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” alive and running after Stevens Institute of Technology, revoked performance permissions for the theater arts club that ran the school’s RHPS production.

Intent on continuing the Rocky Horror tradition in Hoboken, a small group of passionate and dedicated Stevens alumni and students successfully ran and crowdfunded an Indiegogo campaign with the aim to fund their first independent show run.

Achieving their goal in late September 2017 with the help of forty-two generous donors, the team appointed production board members, ran auditions, cast actors, held rehearsals, and organized costumes, props, and lighting to host a full-fledged shadowcast production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” that Halloween weekend.

“The fact that we've gone from the show possibly leaving Hoboken to holding it four times in one season is incredible,” said Kevin Alvarez, producer of the RHPS at Hoboken.

“We have the wonderful Hoboken community to thank for that,” Alvarez said.

Co-director Dylan Praul said shadowcasts offer a fun way for people to experience the movie on another level.

“Shadowcasts are like 80 percent acting,” Praul said. “They're all the parts of acting except for actually saying the words, and if you miss a cue the movie keeps going. I like to think that makes it a lot lower stakes, easier to get into, and a lot more fun, since the show doesn't stop for anyone and the energy stays high the whole time.”

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