One of the theater’s most popular productions is back after a small hiatus. The Rocky Horror Show’s opening night is Oct. 6th at 7:30 p.m. The Gilbert Theater is ready to take viewers on a strange journey full of song, fun, and fishnet.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at www.gilberttheater.com. Those who are planning on attending should purchase their tickets early.

Audience members are in for a treat this year as there will be bags of props given out at the door for interactive fun later in the show.

Audience members are highly encouraged to participate, as this is part of what makes this show so fun and popular. The show couldn’t come at a more perfect time as this season marks the Gilbert Theater’s 30th season.

The Gilbert Theater got its start as most successful things do, in a basement. Founder Lynn Pryer gathered community thespians in his basement in 1994. Eventually, the theater moved into the space it occupies now above the Fascinate -U Museum downtown at 116 Green Street.

The theater started putting on The Rocky Horror Show production sometime in the 2000s and ran the show every season until a couple of years ago.
Lawrence Carlisle is the current Artistic Director of the theater and took great care in planning this season’s shows.

“When I was planning the 30th season, I wanted to do four shows that we had done previously in our 30-year span and then one brand new show that has never really been done anywhere.”

“When we started talking about doing it that way this show was the first one, this was it. This was the first one we were going to bring back,” Carlisle said.

This year’s director directed the very first season of the Rocky Horror Show, adding to the nostalgia of the production.
The show will feature new faces on the Gilbert stage and a live four-piece band. Carlisle is excited about the addition of the live band.

“We don’t often have a live band because we don’t have a lot of space. But if we can get a band that doesn’t require a lot of room, we like to do that,” he said.

With the addition of a live band comes more technical stuff. Although actors don’t usually wear mics at the theater — the theater is intimate and doesn’t require it -- because of the live band, the theater needs extra equipment and sound for Victoria Lloyd, the Gilbert Theater’s Technical Director to manage and run during shows.

She has been with the theater since 2017 and has been Technical Director since 2019. A job she manages solo, Victoria is the “light, sound, and set” of every production.

“[My favorite part is] seeing a completed product and seeing people when the lights come back up after the show and just seeing their reactions,” Lloyd said. “Whether it’s a drama and they are gripped to their chest, passion or it was funny, they just had a good time. It means the world to me.”

The Rocky Horror Show will also act as a fundraiser for the theater. Funds raised during the show’s run will be put back into the theater, ensuring it’s here for decades to come.

With the mark of the 30th season and the return of The Rocky Horror Show, sponsors are in no short supply this year. Sponsors this year include UPS Store Westwood Shopping Center, Breathless Tattoo, Pan, Arts Council of Fayetteville, Allstate Glass, Up & Coming Weekly and Circa 1800.

Lawrence also credits “people, just people, the people who come to the shows.”

This year’s season is full of familiar shows and a brand new one, including A Christmas Carol, In the Blood, a Lynn Pryer favorite, and Assassins, a musical.

The new title show, Ivories, was written by a local talent whose show was performed at the Fringe! Film Festival in the U.K. and is currently one of the shows Lloyd is the most excited about.

“It’s going to be very different. Lots of things with gender, and it’s kind of spooky and it’s got all of the things I love,” she said.

There are several ways to get involved with the Gilbert Theater. Community members can audition for a show or volunteer.

The theater also has a great youth education program, Gilbert GLEE, and an adult education program, the Gilbert Adult Theater Education (GATE). Gilbert GLEE runs from September to May and is $250. Siblings are half-price.

Whether an audience member, a volunteer, a patron or aspiring to headline a show one day, the Gilbert Theater hopes the community will come support and keep theater alive in Fayetteville.