Let’s do the strip tease again!
A raucous burlesque show featuring songs and characters from The Rocky Horror Picture Show is heading to Illusion Magic Lounge in Santa Monica this weekend –– and first timers aren’t getting off easy.
The Hollywood Jane Revue’s adults-only production promises bawdy routines, daringaerial acts, live singing and a playful twist on one of the cult classic’s most notorious traditions.
“We always ask the crowd who is attending their first burlesque show or their first Hollywood Jane production,” producer and founder Blanche Bourgeois tells The Sun.
“It’s always fun to identify the newcomers, and we do our own playful variation on the classic ‘virgin sacrifice.’”
Consider yourself warned. And welcomed.
Readers who caught our recent deep dive into Sins O’ The Flesh –– the live shadow cast that accompanies weekly late night screenings of Rocky Horror at the NuArt Theatre –– will be excited to learn that many of Hollywood Jane’s founding members came straight from that iconic lineup.
“That shared passion made Rocky Horror an obvious choice right from the beginning,” Bourgeois says.
Several of those veterans will perform Saturday. But this time, there’s no movie to keep up with.
No Screen, lots of screams
Saturday’s performance isn’t a screening — or a full stage adaptation.
Instead, each performer builds their own individual act around a Rocky Horror character or song, with a designated host keeping the party moving.
“One of the great things about live burlesque is that we want the audience engaged — cheering, clapping, and yelling along,” Bourgeois says. “That energy pairs really well with the Rocky Horror tradition.”
Callbacks during the songs are welcome. And feel free to arrive in costume. But you don’t need years of midnight-movie experience to join the fun.
The troupe’s pop-culture productions draw burlesque regulars alongside movie fans who have never attended a live revue.
For Bourgeois, the appeal goes deeper than a familiar soundtrack.
“The film has a unique way of connecting people who might not have felt like they fit in at school or elsewhere growing up,” she says. “That sense of belonging was a huge draw for me personally.”
Then there are the characters.
“Their larger-than-life personalities are a natural fit for burlesque.”
A new home for horror
Saturday marks the troupe’s thirteenth year of the Rocky Horror revue. But it’s only their second production at Illusion. The troupe performed a Jurassic Park-themed show there in June and now hopes the 150 seat venue will become a steady home.
Hollywood Jane performs four or five productions each year.
More movie-inspired mischief is already on the calendar: their annual Die Hard holiday show brings the fun back to Illusion in late November.
Know before you go
What: The Rocky Horror Burlesque Show (18+)
Where: Illusion Magic Lounge, 1418 4th St, Santa Monica
When: Saturday, October 10, 8:30 PM
Tickets: On sale now, $23
- Cheat Sheet 10/8: Santa Monica news, entertainment, sports, events - October 8, 2026
- ‘Rocky Horror’ burlesque show heads to Illusion Magic Lounge - October 8, 2026
- And the Emmys go to… Prime Video - October 6, 2026