The phenomenon of shadowcasting can best be described as live theater with the aid of a film being played in the background.

However, unlike traditional theater, audience members are encouraged to interact with the actors and become involved with the production by calling out jokes, jeers and encouragement. The rule of thumb is generally the more boisterous the audience, the better the production.

Although the most popular film to shadowcast to date is probably “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” another film, “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” is quickly gaining notoriety.

Saturday night, Sacramento’s own “Repo!” shadowcast, Amber’s Sweets, put on its third performance this year.

There were many special guests in attendance, including members from the San Diego and Los Angeles “Repo!” shadowcasts, but the guest who really got people’s attention was the director of “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” Darren Lynn Bousman.

Besides “Repo!,” Bousman is known for his work directing horror films including “Saw II,” “Saw III” and “Saw IV.”

“I’m looking forward to performing in front of Darren Bousman and the other shadowcast members from ... L.A.,” said Dani Fontana, who plays Graverobber from the film. “The people from ‘Addicted to the Knife’ … are here to come check us out because they wanted to see us. So I’m looking forward to meeting them. I’ve heard that the whole Southern California cast knows about me, and I’m like, ‘Really?’”

“I’m a little anxious [about Darren being here tonight],” elaborated Jessalyn San Gregorio, who plays Amber Sweet. “It’s been bugging me for a while, but not in a bad way – in a good way. It keeps me on the edge so that I’m really prepared.”

Even though the Sweets crew was excited to have Bousman and his wife (who also has a part in the film) attend their performance, Bousman himself was just as excited to be there.

“I’ve heard from every single person that’s seen this show that it’s amazing,” Bousman said. “I’ve heard from Terrance [co-creator of the film] and Spooky Dan that this is THE show. It took me a while to get out here, but I’m really excited I finally made it. They talk nonstop about it, so I’m excited by that.”

The Amber’s Sweets team is known for keeping its performances fresh and exciting, and Saturday’s show was no exception.

It began with an a cappella performance of two songs by BrieAnn Welch, one of which was “Chromaggia,” from the climactic scene in the movie where the character Blind Mag rips out her own eyes.

The performance would not have been complete without the trailers for the upcoming Sacramento Horror Film Festival and Callson Manor, both of which will be occurring in October. The heavy metal cartoon rendition of the singing snack bar foods also received a lot of audience laughs.

The amount of effort and practice that the Sweets cast put into the performance was evident. Everything seemed to go off without a hitch, even though the show is packed with special effects.

“How did I prepare for tonight’s show? We do weekly rehearsals and performance-wise, being the producer, I gotta stay on top of everything,” explained Tim Meunier, who plays Nathan, the Repo Man. “Usually every night before the show, I always watch the movie at least once or twice, even though I’ve already seen it so many times. I don’t want to get comfortable and cocky and think, ‘I know this movie. I’ve seen it a hundred times,’ and then look like a goof on stage.”

“[I prepared for tonight’s show with] a lot of practice,” elaborated Catt Miller, who plays Shilo Wallace. “I watched the movie over and over again, which I’ve always done, but this time I kinda did it a lot more. I worked on a lot more of my scenes and fine-tuned them and fixed what I was doing wrong.”

The parts that people cheered loudest for were the goriest scenes in the film. During the “Thankless Job” song, one man gets his inner organs ripped out by the Repo Man. The Sweets cast’s own Repo Man, Meunier, not only reenacts the darkly humorous scene, he throws his victim’s intestines, lungs and heart into the crowd.

At another point in the performance, Rotti Largo shoots his doctor in the head after being told that he has a terminal illness. The headshot reenacted on stage surpasses the one in the film - the blood from the back of the doctor’s head shoots literally 10 feet in the air and showers the audience members in the front row.

“I thought the show was awesome,” said Madeline Thompson, an audience member. “My favorite part was where the Repo Man ripped the spine out of the guy. Spines are awesome.”

The gore in the film and the gore in the theatrical production did not bother Bousman in the least.

“I think that the people in the horror genre are the most sane, well-balanced people,” Bousman said. “People that do romantic comedies are fucked up and have all these weird, oppressed emotions. With horror, it’s like we’re the nicest people out there because we put it all up on the screen and it’s over. So I think that we’re able to expel demons that others aren’t able to do. I think that we’re more well-adjusted than a lot of people that are working on dramas or comedies.”

The show ended with a question and answer session with Bousman where audience members were encouraged to come up on stage and speak directly with him.

Discussion topics ranged from his latest project “11 11 11” to his views on the recent release of “Repo Men,” a movie with a premise similar to that of “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and starring Forrest Whitaker and Jude Law.

When asked by a cast member during the Q&A what his favorite thing about his Amber’s Sweets experience was, Bousman said, “I’m not just saying this – everything. Everyone’s been calling me and telling me to come out here and about how fantastic it is and how intricate the production is – and it really is. I guess I wasn’t expecting the head blow to actually really be a head blow, but that was pretty badass.”
 

Photos courtesy of David Alvarez