Wearing vibrant blue eyeshadow, heavy blush and dark red lipstick, journalism freshman Julienne Bajusz opens Snapchat and takes a number of selfies to document her transformation into Dr. Frank-N-Furter, her role in the Rocky Horror Picture Show Quote-Along on Wednesday Oct. 28.

By Vianney Torres

In its third year of production at the University of Texas at Austin, the show featured a “shadow cast” in which actors lip sang and mimed the lyrics and lines of the movie. Members in the audience were given prop bags that played a part in the interactive features throughout the show.

While getting her hair curled, Bajusz did a Q&A with ORANGE to talk about her experience with the show and her role as Frank.

Q: First off, how did you find out about the Rocky Horror Quote-Along?

A: I was looking for different theater organizations, since I had done theatre all throughout high school, and I crossed the Creative Arts and Theatre page online and the auditions were that day, so I kind of just went for it and here I am now.

Q: Tell us more about the character that you play.

A: I play Dr. Frank-N-Furter. He’s a transvestite, which is an interesting aspect of him. He’s kind of like an alien. A crazy guy who dances around and creates a sexy man for his own pleasure.

Q: Describe your experience playing him in the show.

A: It’s been both a challenge and an experience. He’s one of the crazier characters, so I definitely really enjoy it. I am a very cerebral actor, and I use my face and mouth a lot when I act, so it was kind of a challenge for me since the character required a lot of physicality. It also required me to get out of my comfort zone and in-touch with my body in weird, sexual ways.

Q: Were you familiar with Rocky Horror before?

A: Yes, in high school and middle school my friends and I would always watch this film and sing along to it. It’s a really odd movie, and I enjoy it a lot.

Q: Do you think you would want to continue doing theatre later?

A: I definitely want to stay involved and be a part of different theatre organizations. Ideally I would want to become a theatre producer in the future.

Q: Are you a part of any other organizations?

A: Yes, I’m in Hook ‘Em Arts which gets me involved with different theatre related things on campus. I’m also a member of the University Democrats Club. Politics and social justice issues are things that I’m interested in.

Q: What’s one thing you can take away from this experience?

A: If there is one thing that I can take away from all of this, it’s definitely a lesson in confidence. When it comes to acting, I’ve always wanted to play one of the pretty, feminine characters, but I’ve always been given the characters with more substance. I’ve realized that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I feel like it’s more fun to be outrageous and not really care about what people think about you. Rocky Horror is basically a lesson in learning how to accept yourself and being proud of that.

This Q&A has been edited for clarity.