Curtains Close on the Esquire's Last Performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

It's time for the final bow. After 24 years of performing The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Denver's Esquire Theatre every month, Colorado's Elusive Ingredient held its last show at the venue on Saturday, June 29.

The shadow cast has acted out the cult-classic film hundreds of times, but Saturday's production was the group's first funeral. The 250 attendees of the sold-out show wore black in mourning for the Esquire, which is set to close its doors for good on July 17 after nearly 100 years in operation. By the movie's end, the cast and audience alike were reduced to tears.

"You got the saddest show we've ever done," said Casper Smith of Colorado's Elusive Ingredient. "It feels very real now. This cast is not going anywhere, this community is not going anywhere. We're going to stick around. It sucks, though."

Rather than a moment of silence, the cast led the audience in a "moment of screaming" to vent their frustrations about the theater's demise. Despite a community effort to save the historic venue, Landmark Theatres chose not to renew its lease with the Esquire, and no other theaters signed on to take Landmark's place, according to ownership. The building is slated to be redeveloped into office, retail and restaurant space — to the chagrin of longtime customers.

The theater's fate weighed heavily upon Saturday's event. As part of the cast members' usual call-and-response with the audience before showtime, the cast offered a new line: “If you think the Esquire should be developed into offices..."

The crowd screamed in response: "Go the fuck home!"

"It's heartbreaking that Denver hasn't put more pride into maintaining these historic spots, this iconic piece of history, to put up a soulless multiplex. We don't need it," said audience member Shaleen DeStefano. "We need more people who care about art and the LGBTQ community and independent films. To have that go away, it's just heartbreaking."
DeStefano and Janee McConnell both grew up going to the Esquire Theatre, watching such films as Schindler's List, Basquiat and Stealing Beauty. They raised their now-adult children in the theater, as well, calling it "a second home." Saturday was the first time DeStefano and McConnell had attended the Rocky Horror event.

"I have loved the Esquire for my whole life, so we wanted to go out with a bang," DeStefano says. "I've always wanted to see it and it's always been sold out. The minute the tickets went on sale, we grabbed two."

The Esquire's monthly screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a cinematic milestone for the LGBTQ+ community, have helped make the theater a safe haven for art lovers and marginalized groups. Denver is one of the few cities that has never stopped showing the film since it was released in 1975, according to Colorado's Elusive Ingredient.

Since 2000, the shadow cast has acted out the movie as it plays on screen — and the experience is just as interactive for audience members. Attendees on Saturday were given props to use during the show, including maracas, party hats, toilet paper to throw and condoms, just because. In between sing-along musical numbers, the cast and crowd danced, clapped and shouted jokes, setting up the film's dialogue to serve as punchlines. (“Describe the death of the Esquire," one person yelled before the movie character Frank said, “It was a mercy killing.” The audience booed.)

Audience member Tony Borrego has been to so many Rocky Horror shows that he's lost count, though he's certain the number is over 100. He discovered the event in high school and has been coming regularly ever since.

"It means a lot. It's an escape," Borrego said on Saturday. "There's something liberating about it. It was something I had never seen before. I grew up in Brighton, so it's like, Brighton, you know."

But now that the Esquire is closing, Borrego said he's unsure about the future of his personal tradition. "I don't know if I'll be going as much as I did when [the Esquire] was still here," he admitted. "It's not just Rocky; it's everything else. The midnight movies were everything."
The Esquire was a community staple, showing independent films not offered in other theaters and providing an increasingly rare form of entertainment with its late-night $5 movie series. After opening in 1927 as the Hiawatha Theatre, the property served as a meeting place for the Jewish community in the 1930s. When it reopened as the Esquire Theatre in 1942, it had Denver's first female theater manager and an all-female staff.

Drea Canales and her partner, Lawrence Gallegos, often went to the Esquire for everything from new releases to Midnight Madness to screenings of The Room. In 2011, Canales joined Colorado's Elusive Ingredient as a shadow cast member performing Rocky Horror. Her first show was at the Esquire.

"It's been amazing. There's this blog called 'Rocky Horror saved my life,' and for real, that hits hard. When things got bad, Rocky Horror has always been a constant in my life," Canales said. "I love everything I do. I want to cry. It breaks my heart. I've done hundreds of shows here."

"It's sad. Everything in Denver is closing," Gallegos added.

Under the Esquire's redevelopment plan, the century-old building at 590 Downing Street will become retail and restaurant space on the ground floor and office space on the second floor. The Esquire's iconic signs will be refurbished and "prominently featured" in the redevelopment, as may other items like marquees, according to a March 19 announcement.

While time is up for the Esquire, the show will go on at other venues for Colorado's Elusive Ingredient. The cast has Rocky Horror shows scheduled at Meow Wolf on July 22 and 23, and the Studio Loft at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on August 17 and November 8.

Vanessa Short has worked with Colorado's Elusive Ingredient for 22 years, making her the group's longest-running cast member. She says that although the shows will continue, by losing the Esquire, they are losing a regular meeting place where Denver residents can be part of a welcoming and inclusive family.

"This show means community, and this theater has been a place where the community can gather," Short said. "Even if you don't get a ticket to the show, you know that you can show up before the show and see somebody you know. You can talk to them and, for that moment, you're not alone. You have your community and you're part of something bigger.

"People wanted to be part of this. People want to be part of this community, even if it's just one last time."