The Rocky Horror Picture Show in VRChat

🏳️‍⚧️ Don’t Dream It, Be It: A Story of Eggs, Queer Vampires, and Phones

Rocky Horror Picture Show is a classic musical about sexual liberation and finding your true self. It’s a show that’s been around for decades.

One of the most iconic musicals of all time, RHPS is a staple of the queer community, where the audience is encouraged to participate in the show by throwing props at the screen, yelling out lines to heckle the characters, and watching as people dressed as the cast act out the movie while it plays in theaters!

One of my favorite audience callbacks “Castles don’t have phones, you asshole!” every time Brad insists on asking to use the phone.

When I performed in this show, I found it incredibly hard to stay in character and not collapse into laughter hearing the hilarious heckles directed at the movie’s characters.

Before joining this production, I did know of RHPS, but I didn’t know much about it. I was aware it was a musical and a cult classic, but beyond that? Not much.

When I finally watched it, I was blown away by the raunchy jokes, and how deeply the show’s themes resonated with me — especially since my egg cracked 🍳 a month before Improv Knight was casting for this production.

I went through the casting process and was thrilled to be cast as Riff Raff, Frank ‘n Furter’s hunchback butler.

Directed by Ru, this show was a labor of love for the entire cast. In true RHPS tradition, not only did we learn the performance, but we also created our own “costumes”—or rather, in this case, our VRChat avatars.

❤️ Shoutouts

• Ru, for bringing this vision to life with passion and care. You are a gem and an absolute Queen 👑
• Sayorain, who gave me incredible character suggestions, like replacing Riff Raff’s candles with a lamp and yelling “CLICK CLICK CLICK” as I chased Rocky around the stage and audience. Her other genius idea of having me fly to the top of the stage, just behind a wall, during Riff Raff’s first singing part in the castle. It was hilarious and perfectly in character!

The creativity and hard work everyone poured into this production—designing avatars, figuring out how to stage the scenes in virtual reality, and brainstorming ideas—was nothing short of magical.

It was an unforgettable experience full of laughs, camaraderie, and moments of brilliance as we worked together to bring this show to life in VR.

Doing this while also being in the process of understanding my own gender identity was an incredible journey.

Ultimately, the two showings were a huge success with the instances being filled with people within seconds, and I’m so proud of everyone involved.

🌟 Final Thoughts

I’m so grateful to have been part of this production. It was a transformative experience, and I hope we’ll have the opportunity to put on more shows in the future!

Remember: Don’t dream it, be it!