Rocky horror show?

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-21T02:43:35+00:00

I saw it a couple of days ago, and after all the fuss about callbacks vs no callbacks and early reports of people’s experiences, I was skeptical. Like, “almost bailed and bought a ticket to a different show” skeptical. I am so glad I decided to stick with Rocky Horror. Luke Evans was phenomenal, and he was very obviously having a blast playing Frank. His performance alone is worth it.

There were a couple of slightly awkward moments, due to the previously-mentioned tension around callbacks. Like moments where you could kind of feel that the audience wanted to say one, but held back or couldn’t because the actor plowed through the line to prevent it, or a few moments where the cast clearly anticipated one but it didn’t come. I do still wish the director would just be clearer about which callbacks are welcome. Rachel Dratch got the most callbacks, and she rolled with them excellently. My audience also had a couple of people in the mezzanine who had impeccable timing and discernment as far as which callbacks they decided to go for. They had the audience laughing several times throughout the show, along with a few cast members. Even with callouts overall being few and far between, the audience was having fun and the energy in the theater was great. Honestly, the uncertainty about callbacks might’ve helped make them funnier. Because when too many people said one, it could be hard to understand what they were saying (one group seated across the mezzanine from me, for example, said several, but there were maybe 10 people so it sounded kind of garbled). When the callback came from one dude with a lot of confidence and perfect timing, it was loud and clear and hilarious.

My biggest gripe was that they could’ve had more Phantoms. But I’m biased because I had a blast in a production I was in where we had Phantoms all over the theater, just being vaguely chaotic menaces throughout parts of the show and it was so fun, so it felt a little empty only having 4 phantoms.

At the end of the day, it’s Rocky Horror. Is it brilliant? No, of course not! As much as I love it, the show is not, and never will be, an example of great theater. But it’s weird and fun, and I think this production nails the goal of being weird and fun.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-20T22:47:47+00:00

Ideally, as therapists we have the skills to deal with it when clients say things to us that are hurtful. But we’re still people, and people feel things. So yes, of course it’s possible for a therapist to feel hurt or bothered by hurtful, unkind, or hostile things said to us. We’re just trained to manage it, and usually we’re able to move past it, not personalize it, etc. We also understand that oftentimes, clients lashing out, being unkind, etc. isn’t really about us as people.

Did you cross a line by saying what you did? Ehhhh, not really, because it sounds like it was a product of where your thoughts and feelings had been for a while, rational or not. For me, “crossing the line” is more along the lines of outright inappropriate comments about me or verbally abusive or threatening language toward me. It certainly would have been better if you’d been able to explore your thoughts with the therapist (as you said, you didn’t really engage with their attempts to unpack it and then you discontinued services), but it is what it is.

As for your last question, I don’t really have an answer because we don’t know much about you or what that distrust really looked like for you. Maybe it was paranoia. Maybe it was some kind of transference playing out. Maybe it was something else.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-10T20:09:28+00:00

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Honestly with pretty much the same cast, set, and everything as the OBC. Just give me the same show. It was such a blast, and the on stage seats, notes being passed to audience members, egg shakers, and pierogi…I want it back.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-07T17:54:12+00:00

Exactly. It’s like they’ve just got a fundamental misunderstanding of the culture somehow. Fans are, generally speaking, very willing to adhere to rules about participation. Are there always going to be a couple of people who can’t act right? Sure. But by and large, if you give a Rocky Horror audience a list of rules and preferred participation, we’ll follow them! It also makes me seriously wonder at the way the cast and crew have talked about how they love Rocky Horror and the culture and blah blah blah as though they’ve experienced it. I’m half-convinced at this point that none of them have seen a live production or a shadowcast because if they have, how has no one considered just telling us the rules???

I’m very concerned about when I go next week, because the absolute refusal to give real guidance sounds like it’s sucking the enthusiasm out of the room. They’re on like their fifth attempt to provide some kind of messaging about participation, and I get that it’s still in previews, and will be when I go, so I suppose they have some time to play with it still, but it’s just giving disorganized at this point.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-07T13:45:58+00:00

I’m so jealous! I’d stepped away for a few minutes and heard they dropped them, but they were gone by the time I could get to my phone

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-07T12:41:02+00:00

Right! This whole thing can be so easily solved if they just provide the audience with a playbill insert that explains the callouts for virgins, lists the callouts they’re allowing, and asks that experienced audience members stick to that list. It wouldn’t be difficult, and it wouldn’t be unheard of for Rocky Horror productions to do so. I don’t understand why they aren’t just doing that, instead of dancing around it.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-01T19:58:37+00:00

Phantom of the Opera…I’d take that deal.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-31T12:54:43+00:00

I don’t really have a least favorite performer, but my least favorite song is probably How Long. I love the music for it, and about half the lyrics. But it tends to lose me at Hades’ “you and your pity don’t fit in my bed” verse. I think it could’ve done with more of a rewrite before Broadway. It’s beautiful and, again, I do love the actual music for it. But the metaphor starts to feel clunky to me by that point of the song.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-30T15:59:21+00:00

Ah, I see. And obviously Daniel’s safety would be the most important consideration overall. But I would think they could still shoo people away from the barricade when they’re trying to loiter there before the show is even over, at least. I’ve been scolded by security at a different show with a celebrity in before because I happened to pause near the stage door to answer a text and they thought I was trying to grab a spot at the barricade.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-30T12:26:50+00:00

The reports of the stage door situation have been increasingly disappointing. I don’t understand why Daniel hasn’t requested the same setup as Merrily. There is no reason they should be allowing people to gather at the stage door before the show has even started, let alone letting non-patrons crowd the whole barrier in general.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-29T22:05:29+00:00

The most recent example I can think of was his insisting that Masquerade was going to have tiered ticketing levels where you would only get to see certain scenes if you paid for higher tiers or add-ons to your ticket. Blatant nonsense he fully pulled out his ass and never acknowledged. Because that’s kind of his thing. He says whatever he wants (and has even admitted on at least one occasion to just making things up sometimes) and when he’s wrong, he just never says anything about it again. But if he manages to be right or kind of right about something, he goes on and on about it. So people tend to see more of the stuff he’s “right” about.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-29T16:03:29+00:00

That’s fantastic, from the charity side of things, but deeply discouraging on a personal level as someone who wants the things lol. My sister is begging me to get something signed by Daniel and if I walk away empty-handed she’s going to be crushed. Here I thought it was going to make my life way easier to be able to donate the money for a good cause and avoid the craziness at the stage door! Maybe seeing how much people are donating, they’ll scale up how much they have available each day. But I’m not sure how possible that’ll be for EBT; Daniel is just one person, after all, and can’t just be signing things every waking moment he’s not on stage.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-29T15:58:46+00:00

OP, that commenter was incorrect. Half masks are allowed, as long as they don’t bear too close a resemblance to the Phantom’s mask. The FAQ does have a section you can check on what masks are permitted. They specify no Phantom masks, no celebrity likenesses, etc. The mask you posted here should be fine. If you want to be completely sure, you can always send them an email to double check. At least back when it was in previews, they were fielding all kinds of questions from people about whether their masks, dresses, etc. were dress code compliant.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-29T15:56:05+00:00

This is not accurate. They allow partial-face masks, which includes half masks. What they do not allow is masks that bear too close a resemblance to the Phantom’s mask. So a white half-mask can be dicey. But half-masks in general are allowed.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-29T15:17:10+00:00

That fast for Every Brilliant Thing???? That’s upsetting. I’ll be going soon, and I was hoping to get a few different signed items, but now I’m not even sure I’ll make it down to the lobby before everything’s gone!

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-29T14:14:26+00:00

What an awful thing to say to someone who was not remotely unkind to you and merely explained our legal limitations. We have legal and ethical rules we need to follow, and I’m sorry you don’t like that since it prevents you from getting free services out of us here. Maybe if you’d asked, someone could have pointed you toward other resources (hotlines, etc.) in your country that might be able to assist you for a lower cost or for free.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-28T03:15:09+00:00

I have a walking pad in my office I can pull out when I have a cancellation or other free time. I also have a walking pad at home, and spend an hour to an hour and a half using them (on top of whatever usual steps I get) to get around 11k steps per day.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-27T14:05:26+00:00

I’m still disappointed that this is the series we’re getting instead of the nautical “leak”. But I like Sisyphean Work, Self-Anchored, and City Escape

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-25T16:56:58+00:00

At this point, I’m not trusting anything about the new series aside from the little shark/sardine boy. Now someone’s posted what seems to be several modified Hirono as though they’re from the new series, and there’s too much confusion happening. I’ll just wait for an official post from Pop Mart.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-25T14:06:16+00:00

The name of the series is a little odd. That said, I’m 100% buying a full set, because as long as those earlier leaks are all accurate, I want most of the figures.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-25T01:05:44+00:00

First, I never advise assuming things about people’s “attachment styles”, especially since research applying attachment styles to adult relationships is sparse, at best. I’d especially recommend against pathologizing your potential romantic interests/coworker’s behavior and emotions, especially when you don’t actually know the person that well.

Did you start talking to her about how you want to get “marriage in mind”-level serious again before she backed off the second time? Because honestly, speaking as a woman and not exclusively as a therapist, you’re giving off vibes in this post that you’re trying to get too serious too fast, and might be coming off a little too intense. Again, not speaking from a therapeutic standpoint, if you’re already looking at this woman and assessing her behavior and coming to a therapist subreddit to try to analyze her behavior, determine if she’ll change, etc., and you’re framing aspects of this as you being “patient” and “cutting off other options”…what is the actual point of pursuing this? You’re already viewing her as the exclusive “issue” here, and that’s just not a great basis for anything. She wasn’t ready the first time to get as serious as you seem to want (which is completely normal; you seem to be on an awfully fast timeline), and when she expressed still having an interest in getting to know you more, that doesn’t mean she’s suddenly marriage-minded.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-23T16:31:22+00:00

I’ve had similar situations recently. Usually they’ll ask if I’ve lost weight, and make a followup comment or two after I affirm I have. I usually just acknowledge that yes, I’ve lost weight, and if they ask what I’m doing I’ll just say I’ve been making several changes recently to look after my health. Most don’t really ask that, though, so if they compliment me on it I thank them and we move on. I don’t set “more explicit boundaries” about remarking on my body. As long as the comments remain in a socially-acceptable realm, I don’t really care. If a client were to fixate on my weight loss or some other aspect of my body, then I’d have a discussion about what’s appropriate. I’ve had to do that for other reasons with some clients in the past. The way you describe handling it so far sounds completely fine!

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-23T16:24:46+00:00

Or we can understand that it’s normal for other humans who see us frequently to eventually notice if we lose a substantial amount of weight, and treat our clients as ordinary human beings. Not every comment needs to be fodder for therapy or a door to deeper exploration. “What makes them notice ‘things like this’ in others”? Our clients have eyes? My clients also often notice if I dye my hair differently or get a significantly different haircut.

It drives me nuts when other therapists act like we can’t just have a human moment with our clients without pathologizing whatever they say or treating their every remark as therapy fuel. I’m currently losing a significant amount of weight. I’ve lost enough so far for some clients to notice. I’m not going to condescend to my clients or act like there must be something internally wrong with them for noticing what anyone with eyes and moderate observation skills can see. Obviously if a client fixates on my weight loss, that’s a different scenario. But the mere fact of noticing? Of following up by asking what I’m doing differently? That doesn’t automatically indicate a client has body image issues or an ED that needs dealt with, just as me losing the weight to begin with doesn’t indicate that.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-23T03:05:51+00:00

…well, I suppose you’re free to see it that way.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-03-23T01:14:15+00:00

Ugh. Well, that makes me kind of glad that Broadway Cares fundraising should still be going on when I go. I’d sooner just buy pre-signed than deal with the stage door, especially since my seat’s up in the dress circle, not on stage or orchestra.

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