Transvestite Soup is the shadow cast for the Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS) in the Twin Cities and Metro Area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.
We perform at the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis, MN, typically on the last Saturday night of every month.
Transvestite Soup is entirely volunteer and we do not get paid to perform. Tips are always appreciated to help us pay for maintaining and improving our props and the quality of our show!
History of Rocky Horror in the Twin Cities
The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been in the Twin Cities since the late 1970’s. RHPS 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:
- SCSU
- U of M
- Block E
- PRIDE parades
- The Gay 90’s
- Gaylaxicon
- CONvergence
- Wizard Wold
- Galaxycon
Pre-1995
Before Transvestite Soup there were 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 Twin Cities RHPS history!
Pre 1996
This history here is foggy; please contact us if you know what happened during this time. From an unknown start date until 1995 or early 1996 the movie was shown at the Uptown Theatre. The shadow cast was named “The Midnight Hour.” When the screen came down, the Uptown toyed around with the idea of canceling the show entirely due to the high cost of replacing it. Cory Mottaz, Shelly Rounsville, and Maria Gomez tried to put together another shadow cast shortly after the expulsion of the Midnight Hour. They added Anthony Butterfield, Adam Hines, and a few other people into the cast but it was too late; the Uptown closed the show. Anthony Butterfield was close family friends with Loren Williams.
July 20 1996 – July 19 1998
Midnight Madness (not related to the cast of the same name currently in Chicago) began performing at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. Sometime in 1997 the cast changed its 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 the Superheroes ending. At one point it was rumored that only six of these prints existed. If the print went back to the movie house we would have lost it.
Transvestite Soup began performing at the Riverview Theater in late 1998. Shows were performed 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 Riverview Theater owner Loren’s 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 (our cast mom) 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. 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 home the Uptown Theatre brought us back. Our first shows back were Halloween weekend in 2009.
The End of an Era:
On November 27 2010 our beloved Rockymom attended her last regular show with us. She moved out of the country to be with her love. We had over 300 people in attendance including former cast and crew. Mom had been with us since the first show at the Heights theater. She came back to visit in November 2015, which brought a lot of old cast out of the past and onto the stage. We lost Rockymom in June of 2017, but she’s still in our hearts.
October 30 2009 – Now
In January 2012 the Uptown underwent significant renovations. During the renovation period, Transvestite Soup temporarily moved to the Uptown’s sister the Lagoon Theater. Halloween 2012 (October 27 and 28) saw our first shows in the newly renovated Uptown Theatre.
One of the highlights of our cast’s existence came in May 2017, when we had the chance to perform onstage with Barry Bostwick. He played Ralph for us, and was exactly as fantastic (onstage and off) as we could have hoped.
We continue to perform at the Uptown the last Saturday night of every month. See our Calendar on the homepage for a list of shows.
PLEASE add to our history! If you have any information or pictures you’d like to share, please contact us!