Micro-Shock Spotlight On: Sin O' The Flesh

By Rhonda Baughman

Despite recent reports to the contrary, there are a few curvy hip pockets of LA culture remaining …

It just happens to occur every Saturday night at midnight, rain or shine, at the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica, CA. Raucous debauchery is always in store for audience members and cast alike for Sins O’ The Flesh shadow cast performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

After a particularly fleshy evening in late August, and after I had recovered my good writerly senses, I sat down with Sins darling Lauren Ciancimino for a brief chat:

SOC:  Give me some … background on your arrival to the Sins group, that is …

LC: (laughs) A week before my 15th birthday, a gaggle of friends and I went to see Sins. I and another one of the girls went on stage for our birthdays and that's when I knew performing on the Sins stage was right for me. I've been performing with Sins since April 2002 in various roles, mainly as a Transylvanian and Columbia.

SOC:  I notice a strong camaraderie. Who do you enjoy working with the most?

LC: Of course, I enjoy working with my boyfriend, Drew Stanz, (Frank-N-Furter), however it's always a great show performing with my best friend (and the primary reason I finally joined cast) Christine Horror.

SOC: Although tonight was not one of those nights, what do you do if the crowd is a dud?

LC: If it's a slow/dead night, the cast will tend to incorporate more "casturbation" (inside jokes) and have a good time with something we do every week. If it looks like the cast is having more fun in one way or another, the crowd will hopefully lighten up a little!

SOC: What are a few of your techniques (acting-wise) we need to be aware of …  that is to say, how do you prep for the role and gear up pre show?

LC: To join cast, an auditioner is judged on a variety of things: performance accuracy, costuming, personality brought to the character, past relations with cast as a whole. In regards to performance accuracy, auditioners are expected to have trained with a current/past role holder and to study the movie on their own. The audition is basically a memory test to see how well a performer can remember the important parts of the film as well as details (hand flicks, sighs, pivots). Even still, if an auditioner has all the right moves but looks absolutely terrified, chances are they won't get the role. Moves can be taught, however stage fright tends to be a much harder thing to correct.

SOC: What has been the best part of the Rocky experience?

LC: ROCKYCON 2005!! In June of 2005, Midnight Insanity, the Long Beach Rocky Horror cast, hosted a convention in Las Vegas for fans as far as Japan to attend. About 75% of Sins caravanned to Vegas and spent four days in our 2nd home--Sin City! There, we participated in costume contests, dancing, gambling, drinking...oh, and that thing that unites us all--The All-Star Rocky Horror Picture Show. After RockyCon, there was this new life restored to our cast that I felt for months afterwards.

SOC: And … what about the least favorite part of the Rocky experience?

LC: Ugh...Auditioning can be difficult, especially if the performer is currently on cast and is trying out for a new role. To gain access to an on-stage audition, there's a process referred to as preliminaries, or "prelims". Prelims usually occur in someone's living room on a Sunday night--a very inclosed space to say the least. From past experiences, I've found prelims to be very unnerving because you're performing for 20-30 people who've seen the movie hundreds of times and aren't there for a good time. They're there to judge (and support) you, and the proximity is only a few feet as opposed to the separation a performer has at the actual show. Other than that and the occasional drunk audience member causing trouble (which tends to be a humorous situation), I haven't experienced an overwhelming amount of bad experiences.

SOC: Where do you want to go from here?

LC: There are few people in the world that can make a job out of Rocky Horror. For me, the experience is a hobby or could be considered community theater. I've used it on job applications to distinguish my personality from other applicants. Unless something happens in my professional life or otherwise from preventing me from performing, I intend on "sinning" for a very long time.

SOC: And we hope you do …

The official myspace page indicates Grease 2 as a favorite film (how could one go wrong?) and gives the delectably ominous answer to the Who I’d Like to Meet question:

Ever wanted to join a Rocky cast??? Well SINS is always looking for a few good men. We're also looking for a few good women. We're especially looking for a few good transvestites, and we'll even take a hermaphrodite while we're at it! If you see a part you'd like to play, or play with, send us a message and a Cast Leader will get back to you.

Too chicken to get up on stage? You can always approach the Heads of Tech or Security to see if they're looking for people. It's a great way to get onto the cast if you've got the commitment but lack the dashing good looks to be onstage with the hotties. 

Say whatever you want about the Sins crew, but at least they’re honest – and honesty in 2007 goes a long, long way

http://www.myspace.com/sinsotheflesh

Go Back