Rocky Horror Picture Show Live At Manchester Opera House

Ever since I was about thirteen years old, Rocky Horror has been my favourite thing in the world. Over the last few years my obsession has become ridiculous and not a night out goes by without me insisting that the Time Warp gets played by the DJ. There's always just been something so comforting about Rocky Horror, especially when I look back at my teenage self - a confused, self conscious little goth girl. It's always been one of those sorts of movies/shows that has been there and made me feel more like I belonged in the world.

Last night, on the 9th January 2016, I finally got to see Rocky Horror live at the Manchester Opera House. After weeks of planning my outfit and listening to the original Roxy cast (because if you're going to listen to Rocky, you have to listen to the original recording), it was finally time to see the show I've longed to see for such a long time. I'd mentally prepped myself for what I thought the show was going to be like and I was ready to see a few people dressed up, but to be honest I don't think anything could of prepared me for the sea of Frank's, Columbia's and Magenta's we met with as soon as we got out of our friend's car.

It was fantastic, I was in my element from the moment we walked into the Opera House and I literally couldn't stop smiling. There were hundreds and hundreds of people dressed up. A crowd of strangers all brought together by the love of the strange. Men in bras, french knickers and fishnets paraded around like it was no big deal, perfect replicas of costumes from the show all around me. I've never felt so at home. Just before the show started, whilst we were all sitting in our seats, a man that must of been around 40 stripped to his golden leather shorts and the whole audience went absolutely wild. It was rowdy before the show even started, and I couldn't of been happier or more excited.

The show itself was insane. The audience loved every single second of it, shouting out at the cast and getting involved. And the cast were spectacular - their performances were almost dead on, and they did everything in their power to get us all up dancing (not that it took much to be honest). At a normal show you'd have to just sit there, you'd be asked to be quiet if you spoke or started to sing - but here anything went and nobody minded if you were singing too loudly or shouting profanities at the cast. My only gripe was that Frank Furter was american, this was something that I just couldn't get over. He was perfect performance wise and absolutely hilarious, but whyyyyyyy the american accent? I turned to my friend Tina during the show and joked that he was no Tim Curry, to which Tina replied "I know..I expected Tim Curry" - obviously our standards were ridiculously high. He was amazing though...he just wasn't Tim Curry.

I would honestly recommend this show to absolutely anyone. I'm genuinely thinking about trying to get some last minute tickets for another one of the shows asap because I can honestly say it was one of the best nights of my life. I've never laughed so much, had so much fun and felt so like I perfectly belonged in my entire life - surrounded by a bunch of like-minded, absolutely wonderful freaks.