About Who We Are

The RKO Army is a shadowcast performing in the Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, and southern Massachusetts area since 1981.  They have had on-going runs at two dozen cinemas over the decades, and they have also performed as guests at a long list of of theaters, conventions, universities, clubs, and parades.

Known primarily for their legendary performances of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, they have added other fan-favorite productions.  The current list of alternative productions includes REPO! The Genetic Opera,  Dr. Horribles’ Sing-A-Long Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Once More with Feeling”, Firefly’s “Jaynestown”, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Room, Shock Treatment, and the RKO Horror Picture Show.

They hosted the National Rocky Horror 38th, 41st, 44th and 47th Anniversary Community Conventions in Providence in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022 (This in addition to hosting a 15th Anniversary East Coast convention in 1990).  They will be hosting the 50th Anniversary Community Convention in 2025. At these conventions, they have led the drive for doing even more shadowcasting beyond the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
 
RKO Army is all about having fun, but they are very serious about that fun.  The cast’s chief mission has also been their biggest reason for growth – Reaching out to people who feel the same. This has been accomplished thru three primary avenues – Contact, Venues, and Awareness.

The common theme within the Rocky Horror community emanating from the movie is “Don’t Dream It, Be it”.  RKO Army has put that theme into practice by enriching themselves thru association with similar communities who also do the same, most notably in the Cosplay, Steampunk, Gaming, Rave, LGBTQ, Browncoat, Gothic, and Club communities. 

While still performing at regular-run cinemas in the traditional method, the cast also has established a highly effective road cast in multiple types of venues in Southern New England. They have become major parts of conventions and parades, and sometimes are called in as entertainment for local business organizations, causes, charities, or even weddings! 

RKO Army’s operational focus will always be awareness of its audience.  They love performing, but what will always supersede that is the relevancy of the entertainment to the audience. The RKO perspective is to never lose sight of the view from the seats audiences are sitting in.

For more information, check out the History tab.