‘Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul,’ Dr. Frank-n-Furter Returns to Toms River

Attention all transsexual Transylvanians and gold-lame-bikini-brief wearing muscle men: after a nearly two-decade-long hiatus from Ocean County cinemas, cult film favorite “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is returning to Toms River. The Traco Theater will be showing the 1975 film on Friday, February 25 at 10 pm.

Kim Ratto, owner of the Traco said all 70 tickets for the 10 pm showing had sold out so a second, more appropriate, midnight screening has been added.

Still in limited release after more than 35 years, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” can boast the longest running theatrical release in film history. Much of that run has been at midnight showings, starting at the famed Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village where patrons first started yelling things at the screen. Within months, the film gained notoriety as much for its audience dressing in costume and throwing props––such as rice after an on-screen wedding or toast when a character raises his glass in…well, you get the joke––as as for its outstanding soundtrack and stellar performances by Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and Meat Loaf.

For years in Toms River, the place to see and participate in "Rocky Horror" was the now-defunct Cinema Alley which was located in the Bob Kislin’s Shopping Center on Route 37. Brian Budd of Toms River remembered when he saw the film there. “My first time was the last time it was shown at Cinema Alley, probably around 1992,” he said.

Stephen Caldwell, also of Toms River, said he too is a fan and while he owns a copy of the film, the place to see it is in a theater filled with people. “I went to in Seaside when it was the thing you did in the 70's. Fridays at Midnight. Along with toast, squirt guns, rice and a cigarette lighter,” he chuckled.

Ratto noted, “This is a limited participation venue. Prop bags will be sold before the movie.” With a brand new theater and state-of-the-art projection system, neither water nor greasy food will be allowed in the theater. Despite the clean up needed after the film, Ratto said she is not too worried. After all, she has also been a fan. “I’ve seen it more than fifteen times but not in years.”

Ratto said the vast majority of tickets have been sold to adults of a certain age which should not be surprising since most of those aware of the film were teenagers sometime in the late 1970s through the early 1990s. However, a recent episode of Glee exposed a new generation to the music, if not the full-blown, gender-bending sexual glory and B-movie simplicity of the original.

Budd, who admitted he has seen the film “more times than I can count,” including many times at the New Hope Playhouse and even a live performance on Broadway, said he will always remember his first fondly. “I was a little worried, I didn’t know what to expect,” and rightfully so, as first timers can sometimes be singled out as “virgins.” “Friends said come, it’ll be fun. It was strange, hard to follow with everyone yelling and throwing stuff. But everyone was very welcoming. It was like a little family.”

Budd, who used to see the film often at a theater in Bayville with his wife Kim, said he is looking forward to share the experience with their daughter, Arielle.

“I’m so excited,” Arielle, 13, bubbled, barely able to contain herself. “We own it on tape and we used to watch it every Halloween. I’ve never seen it in a theater!”

In addition to the shadow cast, who act along with the movie, audience members are encouraged to dress in costume with gift certificates to the Traco being offered for the best costume.

Tickets for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” are $10 and can be purchased at the theater. The Traco Theater is located at 16 Washington St., Toms River. For more information, call the Traco at (732) 228-7273 or visit tracotheater.com.