Posted: 9/15/26 at 4:34pm
THDavis said: "The Usherette introduces this production and bids us a teary farewell at the end. When you watch Sherie and Amber play throughout the evening (and please do, there is ALWAYS something to watch), and you have less central focus/command on Frank, I was left with the feeling that I was brought into the Usherette's fascination and obsession with the very genre she lives for. It was almost her dream. And it was sad when Sherie bid us farewell at the end."
There was a mostly-replica production staged at Pittsburgh CLO last year that aimed to return Rocky Horror as much to the roots of the original London production in staging and style as possible, Coke machine and all. One of the few big deviations from the original concept was a bit of local flavor: Pittsburgh is a pretty legendary horror town thanks to George Romero and the late night show "Chiller Theatre with Chilly Billy Cardille," which was such a huge local sensation that it kept SNL off the air for decades. The opening was staged with the Usherette at home watching the beginning of the late-night horror show as she changed into her waitress/usherette uniform, and the closing was staged with her returning home and catching the end of the late show as she changes into her pajamas. It felt like a very smart way to maintain the meaning and resonance of O'Brien's Usherette character, for a society two or three generations removed from the movie-palace ice-cream-and-cigarette-girl experience.

