Under dim stage lighting at Fallout Theater, a puppet dressed in a lab coat seductively strips down to lacy lingerie. The cloth creature delivers a sultry monologue as a live band plays jazzy music. Between mouthfuls of beer and chips, audience members laugh, cheer and reach into their prop bags for one of the five kissy-face stickers that signal something steamy is happening onstage.
Ten minutes earlier, director Mac McDearmont stood before the sold-out crowd in fishnets and dark makeup, welcoming the audience to The Rocky Horror Puppet Show: Improvised Musical.
“It’s really nice when people want to come and support not just theater, but weird theater,” they told KUT in an interview.
Photo courtesy Mac McDearmont
Faithful Handyman, Groupie, Houseguest and Lips star in the Rocky Horror Puppet Show.
McDearmont is one of the founding members of Puppet Bucket, the Austin-based puppetry troupe behind the production. A fan of the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show, they envisioned puppets taking on the iconic roles.
The show blends improvised comedy with elaborate handmade figures. The result is campy, sexy and completely original.
The next performance is scheduled for Saturday, but it’s sold out — as were the previous two. Three additional shows were just added.
“It is kind of wild that we’ve somehow tricked 300 people into coming to watch us play with our hands on stage,” said LB Kovac, who plays the role of the creature. “That’s like such a beautiful thing, too.”
Kovac, one of the troupe’s founding members, designed and built some of the puppets featured in the production. She said adults should embrace puppetry and use it as a creative outlet rather than viewing it as something meant only for children.
That creativity has resonated with audience members, who said the show’s unique blend of humor, music and puppetry makes it unlike anything else in Austin’s theater scene.
“I think that the puppet design was phenomenal,” Amanda Chen said. “I think it was honestly one of the greatest shows I’ve seen this year.”
McDearmont said the sold-out crowds mean more than a successful run of performances; they see the enthusiastic response as proof that Austin has a growing community of people eager to support puppetry and unconventional theater.
“I keep saying, ‘Where are all the puppet people?’” they said. “I know y’all are out there, and so it’s just exciting because I feel like we’re finally starting to find the community.”
Puppet Bucket has added three August dates for The Rocky Horror Puppet Show: Improvised Musical — Friday, Aug. 21, at 11:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 28, at 11:30 p.m. Get tickets here.