Sweet Transvestite

At a concert called Out On the Dance Floor, programming "Sweet Transvestite" is an act of cultural acknowledgment as much as a musical one. On March 21, 2026, at Jaeb Theater of Straz Center in Tampa, Florida, soloist Jason Shock, backed with Elwyn Dragoste, and Kenny Seguin fronted the Gay Men's Chorus of Tampa Bay's performance of Richard O'Brien's signature Rocky Horror Picture Show number, and the room responded with the unmistakable energy of a song that has long since become its own ritual.

Shock took the central role with theatrical conviction, embodying Frank-N-Furter's swagger and seductive command without slipping into impersonation. His phrasing was confident and rhythmically precise, carrying the song's distinctive mix of camp and threat. Dragoste and Seguin played Brad and Janet — with the kind of comic timing that makes a Rocky Horror number land for an audience that almost certainly knows the lyric better than the performers do.

Bodo's drumming kept the rock-and-roll pulse driving forward, and Pozenatto's keys handled the song's signature glam-rock chordal stabs with relish.

The Jaeb Theater's cabaret-style intimacy was practically built for this kind of number, and the audience responded the way Rocky Horror audiences always respond — with knowing laughs, audible callbacks, and at least a few people mouthing every word.

Within Out On the Dance Floor, "Sweet Transvestite" served as a deliberate, joyous nod to the queer performance traditions that built the dance floors the concert celebrates. It was theater, history, and party all at once, and the performers delivered it with full commitment.