Creatures of the Night

The Pink Invaders were a Rocky Horror Picture Show shadow cast based at Crossroads Theatre in Merrillville, Ind. The theatre closed in October 2006, just months after the article was published. The cast regrouped to form Help Me Mommy, based out of the Hobart Art Theatre in Hobart, Ind. Learn more about their weekly show here: http://www.helpmemommy.com/hmm/ .

Crossroads was demolished in 2008.

 Creatures of the Night: Invaders prove eccentricity thrives in small town USA

Nyki Duda
August 2006
TF South Rebel Rouser

It’s midnight. The mob’s hoots are greeted by the low rumble of an ancient spotlight as it flickers on. aAn enormous set of ruby-red lips appear on the screen. Virgins – those who’ve never seen the film in theatres – sit, anxious, in their seats, both cheeks emblazoned with lipstick “V's” and survival kits filled with props like rice and newspaper in their laps. Veterans, decked out in their chicest drag, watch the newbies squirm. Then they all begin to sing along with those colossal lips.

 “Science fiction…double feature…”

The theatre isn’t in New York, LA or even Omaha. It’s Crossroads Theatre in Merrillville, Ind. A town of strip malls, Merrillville wasn’t even incorporated into Lake County until 1972. Yet one of its shopping complexes is fertile ground for a unique incarnation of one of the most influential cult phenomena in recent memory. Suburban discount theatre by day, Crossroads morphs into a freaky free-for-all every Saturday at midnight for a weekly screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a B-movie parody/musical. 

The film follows newlyweds Brad and Janet Weiss through their encounters with a gang of unruly, over-sexed aliens masquerading as convention-goers. The screening is accompanied by a shadow cast, or a cast acting out the events on the screen. Audience participation is encouraged – the louder you shout, the more mess you make, the better. 

From the film’s first floor shows at the Waverly Theatre in New York City, it was built on the offensive, the profane. In the early days, the ritual of audience participation – shouting retorts or chucking toilet paper at the screen (Great Scott!)– was established and blossomed into an integral part of the Rocky experience. 

The Pink Invaders, the troop that calls Crossroads home, take the inherent raunchiness of Rocky seriously and step it up a notch. You’re guaranteed to see one of the cast naked and the aisles always smell of booze and sweat. Fester, a crew member, strips down to his skivvies (in his case, a thong) to frighten virgins. Those sitting in the first row will receive lap dances. 

Crew member David “Boojie” Stokes says the Invaders have been called the black sheep of the Rocky community for their tongue-in-cheek antics and disdain for decency. 

“There is probably still not a theatre that would get away with what we get away with,” he said.

Stokes’ confidence is well-founded; Crossroads is owned by Shawn Stutler, one of the Invader cast. And the Invaders are the only cast in the nation, Stokes says, to enjoy this privilege.

“Not only do we have a place to put on the show as long as we can keep it open, but [Stutler] has a big say in what goes on.”

Crew run down the aisles spraying the audience with water as Brad and Janet are run through the rain, a gag, he's quick to point out, most theatres don’t permit.

Karly Dytrych, an artist who plays Frank-n-Furter with both the Pink Invaders and Midnight Madness at the Music Box in Chicago, Ill., prefers the suburban setting. 

“The Music Box is a gorgeous theatre, but it’s not as personal to me as Crossroads. Perhaps it’s because it’s not owned by one of us or we don’t do it there every week. And it is a lot less raunchy!”

The brand of suburban smut Crossroads sells has a market, but the cast and crew worry whether its following can sustain the theatre.  Massive multiplexes have cropped up in nearby Schererville and Hobart, Ind., and discount/indie theatres like Crossroads regularly go under. The Pink Invaders may lose their home as early as October.

 The Invaders are fighting to keep this nightmare far from their Rocky reality with some "shocking" tactics.  

 Stutler charged midnight film-goers five bucks a pop for the opportunity to zap him with a low-voltage stun gun. Another crew member ignited a bidding war among the audience when he offered auctioned the right to wax his back. 

“People have done painful things to keep this theatre going,” Stokes joked. 

And the staff and cast aren't the only ones anxious about the theatre's future. From doing the “Time Warp” in the aisles to whizzing toilet paper at the screen, the show has become a haven for the outsiders of Northwest Indiana looking for a community on Saturday nights. 

“Seeing the theatre close would be terrible,” Munster high school student Ashly Speakman said. “My friends and I have spent Saturday after Saturday there, and it sounds weird, it’s easier to be ‘different’ when you’re surrounded by people stranger than you are.”

If you are a virgin and interested in seeing the show, stop by the corner of 61st and Broadway Ave. to support the theatre. Admission is five dollars.

Children under 17 not be admitted. Technically. But after what you’ve just read, do you honestly think anyone’s going to check your ID?

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This article first appeared in my high school newspaper, the Rebel Rouser, in August of 2006 - I've since edited it for a blog post.