Right image: Lisa Schroeder
Campy cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) has been playing continuously as a Saturday midnight movie at the Oriental Theatre since 1978. Like other Rocky troupes, Milwaukee’s Sensual Daydreams performs as a “shadow cast” that gives an interactive performance with the film and audience every second Saturday of the month. “We’re the longest-running showing of Rocky Horror in the United States. We’re beat out by one group in Germany,” says Annaleigh Vytlacil, one of the group’s current co-directors.
Emily Walker-Miller, 38, joined the Rocky cast in 1996, portraying the role of Magenta, until an accelerated college program ate up her time and she left in 1999. She’s gone on to follow other hobbies like swing dancing, roller derby and hockey. Emily’s daughter, Sydney Walker, first took the stage in a special show where performers’ kids joined the cast onstage. Now 20, Sydney has just joined her mother’s former troupe as a Transylvanian (or “Trannie,” basically a cast extra). Her boyfriend is also in the cast and plays Riff Raff.
Emily, how did you get involved with Sensual Daydreams?
I was struggling as a young mom and one of the things I really wanted was to balance motherhood with having my own identity. I don’t think a lot of parents think of that until they hit a midlife crisis type thing. I was having a rough time, and a friend of mine said, “Let’s go to the show.” I went and it was just amazing, so I kept going. Then they had cast interviews and I filled out an application. I handwrote mine in a sort of blood script. I was like, “They’re going to love me!” I got on the cast. It was a good time. It made me feel empowered to have an identity like that. It helped me believe in myself and grow to be an independent person. I played it all the time and Sydney grew up thinking Rocky Horror was like “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” or something.
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What about you, Sydney?
I always loved it since I did see it constantly as a little girl. I loved seeing my mom doing it. I stopped going for years and then I went to a show around the time I started being friends with my boyfriend. I went and loved it and started going every month for two years now and wanted to be in the cast. I don’t know what part I would play if I had the opportunity. I love to interact with the audience before the show, and that’s what the Trannies do. They give the show a little extra oomph and are really the glue of the show.
Emily: What do you remember from me being in the show? Do you remember practicing on the weekends and how often it was playing in the house?
Sydney: I remember very vividly going to work with you and you having that big red hair. It was awesome. I think the childhood I had was the most amazing I could ask for. And I know my children aren’t going to exactly have that same childhood, but it’ll influence it a lot. I want them to know about Rocky, too.
Find out more about Sensual Daydreams at sensualdaydreams.com.
