‘Unprecedented’ — NYC ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ screenings are on the rise

They wanna go, oh-oh-oh-oh, to this late-night, single-feature picture show — which, on the eve of its 50th anniversary, is more popular than ever.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” has long been beloved as an off-the-wall musical, but in recent years its popularity has freshly reached a fever pitch.

This October alone, New York had well over 40 showings of the cult classic — a remarkable amount, according to Aaron Tidwell, who maintains a comprehensive spreadsheet of local screenings.

“I have never seen this many groups actively performing in New York,” said Tidwell, who has been with New York City’s longest running “Rocky Horror” shadowcast (a troupe of costumed actors who perform alongside the film) since 2005.

“Just the sheer number of other groups that are doing stuff this year is way more than I've ever seen,” he said. “This is definitely unprecedented in the last 20 years, really.”

Tidwell said the number of New York area “Rocky Horror” shows has doubled since he started carefully tracking them a few years ago, and that this year's count is the highest he’s ever seen — although he can’t speak to how it compares to 1977, the year his shadowcast was founded. The group has performed continually every single weekend since, until COVID-19 temporarily shut down the production. They now have two regular shows a month.

Fans who’ve long-adored the 49-year-old film are hardly shocked that it’s having a moment.

Joanne Hutchins grew up attending “Rocky Horror” shows in Queens and never doubted the timelessness of its wild magic.

“I’ve been following ‘Rocky Horror’ since when I was first introduced to it. I was 14 years old. That was back in 1978,” said Hutchins, who estimates she’s seen the flick about 200 times in theaters. “My father would drop us off at the theater at 11:30. Everybody would be lined up and dressed up. We were going every single weekend.”

It was the early years of “Rocky Horror” mania then. The film initially debuted as a flop, but quickly became the granddaddy of a new, innovative brand of participatory midnight movie that still deeply resonates with fans new and old nearly a half-century later.

“ I think the way our world has changed, I think that [‘Rocky’] relates to a lot of people. I don't even know how to explain it really, but … this is something that I think is all-inclusive and just takes you out of real life and into the imagination,” said Hutchins, who raised her children on the film, and whose daughter is now part of the NYC shadowcast.

“I’m just excited that it’s still going strong,” she added.

As for the reason behind its current resurgence, Tidwell chalks it up to a few factors: Functionally, pandemic closures opened up “more spaces for ‘Rocky’ groups to get into” beyond just theaters. His spreadsheet of this month’s shows includes events at bars, burger joints and nightclubs. He posits the pandemic created a newfound drive for interactive experiences.

“I think that the 50th anniversary coming up is just massive,” he added. “So, kind of a perfect storm this year. We’ll see the peak of it next year.”

And it certainly doesn’t hurt that original cast members Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors), Nell Campbell (Columbia) and Patricia Quinn (Magenta) are currently capping a 50-city tour in celebration of the anniversary.

After the milestone passes, Tidwell said he believes “interest will probably wane, but I think that it will maintain a lot of that momentum.”

It will certainly keep on as a subversive lodestar, a rare anchor for weirdos who feel, as “Rocky Horror's" original creator Richard O’Brien croons in one scene, “lost in time, and lost in space — and meaning.”