“Our first performance was at Snow Bowl, with a few technical difficulties (our fault, not theirs!) and people bowling ten feet away from our “stage”, completely opened me to the world of Rocky Horror. People were traveling up from Denver in full cosplay. When our sound cut out, the crowd sang the songs loud to help us out. We were lip syncing to the voices of our audience. What could have been a disaster turned out to be a way for us to connect with our community further. The timing of the bowling pins falling during the movie added a whole other layer of slapstick on top of an already hilarious night.

Since that first performance, I’ve met the people I want to spend time creating with. People who are committed in their personal and professional lives to making Steamboat a place where we can give each other safety, kindness, and unbridled queer joy. Because of this discovery, I made the decision to make Steamboat home. 

This experience isn’t unique to me or our shadow cast. Over the past three years of performing and directing this show, I’ve been shown countless stories of people exploring their identities and finding their communities through participating or attending a Rocky Horror shadow cast. For some, it’s the first time they’re surrounded by people who are different and proud of it. It may even be the first time they see a gender non-conforming person portrayed in a film. After fifty years, this show is still building community and manifesting queer joy. And if it’s affected me and my friend’s lives this deeply, I can only imagine what it did for those first shadow casts in 1975.”

Abbey Iberg, 2025