Frankie’s Fishnets performed their first semi-monthly show of the year at the Landmark Theater at Scottsdale Quarter on Saturday, January 27, 2024.
The show was a riot, in every good way possible. From the moment emcee Gabe came out to explain the rules (and was greeted with a very hearty “f— the rules!”), the audience was engaged and on the edge of their seats, ready for, arguably, one of the best parts of every show-identifying the Rocky Horror virgins. Virgins, in this sense, are audience members who have never seen a shadowcast before, and are immediately (but lightly) hazed into the world of Rocky before the show begins. The four virgins in attendance were brought to the front of the theater to perform on the spot what they think different pop-culture characters and celebrities might sound like during “alone time.”
With their efforts receiving cheers of approval, the virgins took their seats, and the show started. As soon as the theater lights went down, callbacks began, and cast director Amanda took to the stage as Trixie to perform a striptease during the Lips’ opening monologue. Behind the scenes, the cast was putting on their final touches, eager to perform their first show of the year. Despite a slightly smaller turnout, the show was a success. The audience’s cheers and laughs were heard and felt throughout the theater, making for a fun night of enjoying the performing arts.
Frankie’s Fishnets seems to have some of the most audience participation and callbacks than other casts in the Valley. Whether it was parodying the “Star Wars” intro, pointing out that The Criminologist has no neck, or setting up raunchy questions timed with character’s lines to answer them, almost every line from the film received an audience response. What was even more engaging was when the cast would go into the audience for certain scenes, like when Brad Majors and Janet Weiss meet Frank-N-Furter for the first time, and when Frank-N-Furter is chasing Rocky and Janet around the castle.
Over the last few years, Frankie’s Fishnets has traveled down to Tucson and worked with the Heavy Petting cast. The Phoenix cast is now in talks about traveling up to Flagstaff a few times a year to perform for more Rocky Horror fans. Right now, Flagstaff only has one Rocky Horror show a year-the annual Halloween celebration put on by students at Northern Arizona University. A few locals have shared that they are excited about the idea of more shows throughout the year, and believe it would be a good investment for both Frankie’s Fishnets and the Flagstaff performing arts community.
You can catch the next Frankie’s Fishnets show on April 27!
January 27, 2024 Cast:
Trixie – Amanda
Frank-N-Furter – Jaden
Janet Weiss – Tyler & Hayley
Brad Majors – Jeremy
Riff Raff – Helen
Magenta – Madison
Columbia – Taylor
Dr. Everett V. Scott – Schmitt
Rocky Horror – Jacqueline
Eddie – Ashleigh
The Criminologist – Sean
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