History

History of Rocky Horror in the Twin Cities

PLEASE add to our history! If you have any information or pictures, please send them to history@transvestitesoup.org.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been in the Twin Cities since the late 1970's. IT has been shown with and without casts at:

  • The Uptown Theater in Minneapolis
  • The Heights Theater in Columbia Heights
  • The Riverview Theater in Minneapolis
  • The Mounds Theater in St. Paul
  • Various events and occasions (including showings at SCSU, the U of M, Block E, PRIDE parades, The Gay 90's, and others).

Pre-1998

Before Transvestite Soup there was a number of other casts that performed at the Uptown and Heights theaters. Naming shadow casts was not a common practice in the early stages of Rocky. We are looking for more information from this time in our history!

July 20, 1996 - July 19, 1998

Midnight Madness (not the same as the cast currently in Chicago by the same name) began performing at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. Sometime in 1997 the cast changed it's name to Transvestite Soup.

July 19, 1998 - ????

When Rocky moved from the Heights to the Riverview the cast, crew, and fans caravaned the print to the Riverview. Why you ask? Because WE HAD MONO! Our print was a very limited copy of the movie with mono sound and he Superheroes ending. At one point it was rumored that only six of these prints existed.

Transvestite Soup began performing at the Riverview Theater in late 1998. When it started shows were every Saturday night.

???? - The First Homeless Period

In 2004 the Riverview stopped showing Rocky for approximately six months. During this time the cast looked at many alternatives to bring the show back to the Twin Cities.

???? - April 5, 2008 - We're Back!

Thanks to Loren's (Riverview Theatre owner) dedication to Rocky, the Riverview brought Transvestite Soup back to show on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Saturdays of every month. Our final performance at the Riverview was on April 5, 2008. This performance was almost a sellout with over 600 people in attendance. Loren presented Rockymom with a gift of one of the theater's front row seats.

April 5, 2008 - June 7, 2008 - The Second Homeless Period

Transvestite Soup was homeless for a period until the Mounds Theater in St. Paul picked us up and we performed there from June 2008 through Halloween 2008.

 

October 31, 2008 - October 30, 2009 - The Third Homeless Period

We went a year homeless again until our original Twin Cities home, the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis, brought us back. Our first shows were   Halloween weekend in 2009. We currently perform on the last Saturday of every month.

The End of an Era:

On November 27, 2010 our beloved cast Mom, Rockymom, attended her last show with us. She has traveled out of the country to be with her love. We had over 300 people in attendance, including former cast and crew. Mom has been with us since the first show at the Heights theater. We wish Mom luck, and hope to see her visit us someday.