Rocky Horror Picture Show: Stockings and suspenders out for Wolverhampton Grand Theatre sing-along - review

Rocky Horror Picture Show fans gave themselves over to absolute pleasure as a singalong screening came to the city centre last night; complete with a fancy dress competition, a mini dance class and a goody bag of props.

Before the film began to play, our host for the evening stepped on to the stage, dressed as Brad in a set of glasses, a white vest and white underpants.

His daft humour and at times blue, tongue-in-cheek references had the audience giggling before he got fancy dress competitors lined up across the stage for judging. You’d have stood out if you didn’t dress up last night, as Riff Raffs, Magentas, Columbias, Frank-n-Furters, Eddies and Transylvanians filled the theatre.

The host then taught us how to use our array of props - from prompt cards, to latex gloves - before the show began, as well as a few dance moves to get fans moving.

To give those who have never attended a Rocky Horror screening an idea of how it works, the audience has ‘magic moments’, as the host put it, where everyone in the crowd does the same thing at the same points in the film. Mirroring Janet as she puts a newspaper over her head as she gets out of the couple’s broken-down car in the rain is one example.

And it was absolutely hilarious from start to end; whether we were screaming obscenities at the lead characters, wolf-whistling Rocky or cheering every time Frank-n-Furter appeared on screen.

Fans also of course belted out each and every word to all the songs in the film, all the way from Science Fiction, through to Don’t Dream It, Be It - and danced like crazy to favourites such as The Time Warp.

Though it may seem a little strange to fill a theatre to watch a film you’ve seen a million times before, these bawdy interactive screenings really are an experience - and one I’d encourage fans to attend.

It’s astounding...