SAM BASSETT | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

At 13, Sam Bassett found themselves in a new school, in search of new friends. When they found a group that looked promising, the new friendships came with a cultural assignment: Watch “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and read “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

Now, at 35, Bassett has been running Pittsburgh’s “Rocky Horror” shadowcast for seven-plus years and performed with them since 2007 — and has become friends with Stephen Chbosky, the Pittsburgh-born author of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.”

Bassett liked the assignment, to say the least.

“I liked these new people who accepted me as I was,” says Bassett, who uses they/them pronouns. Screenings of “Rocky Horror” and shadowcast performances (wherein performers imitate and exaggerate the action onscreen) provided them a sense of community and belonging.

“There aren’t a lot of places available for younger audiences to explore their sexuality, explore their individuality, explore comedy — basically have fun without oversight.”

By day, Bassett is the assistant director of integrated marketing within annual giving at Carnegie Mellon University. By night — quite literally, as shows often start at midnight — they’re the president of both the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players, Pittsburgh’s longstanding “Rocky Horror” group, and the Shadowcasting Arts of Pittsburgh, a nonprofit Bassett formed to better administer the group and its dozens of yearly performances.

A registered nonprofit is a far cry from the early days of “Rocky Horror,” known for wild and reckless screenings at the bygone King’s Court in Oakland. “Nowadays, we’re a little more welcoming. We don’t say very inappropriate things; we look more for comedy and expression rather than the moment of gasping and clutching your pearls.”

The nearly 50-year-old movie, a countercultural staple upon release, has become an institution. Midnight showings have persisted across the country. That longevity, Bassett says, is not merely a result of the film’s onscreen charms, it’s also about community.

“I grew up without stability, so having something [that allowed me] to see my friends on Monday and Thursday for rehearsals and then for a meeting on Sunday, that’s just seeing your friends multiple times a week.”

When they first joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players in college, they say, “the people at ‘Rocky Horror’ seemed more familiar to me. They weren’t as scary as the people that I was just meeting for the first time at the university.”

That sentiment is echoed in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” in which the awkward protagonist Charlie finds belonging and acceptance with his friends at “Rocky Horror” screenings. Written by Chbosky, the book was adapted into a 2012 film; scenes depicting “Rocky Horror” were filmed at Dormont’s Hollywood Theater, with the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players serving as the in-film shadowcast. Bassett not only appears in the film but got to know Chbosky; they still email regularly. “We’ve become friends — just talking about our lives.”

Bassett is notably unintimidated by celebrity encounters. On their 25th birthday, they went to PPG Paints Arena to see Bruce Springsteen, bearing a handwritten sign requesting a birthday dance with the Boss. Springsteen eventually pulled them onto stage.

“I love you,” Bassett said.

“I love you, too,” Springsteen replied. “Do you want to play guitar?”

Suddenly, Bassett was jamming with the E Street Band in front of a sold-out arena. “They say never meet your heroes. I say dance with them.”

As Pittsburgh has continued to establish itself as a shadowcasting hotbed, the amount of events — and connections to the “Rocky Horror” film’s stars — has grown. Bassett has performed with Barry Bostwick, the longtime film and television favorite who plays Brad Majors in “Rocky Horror,” as well as Patricia Quinn, who plays the mysterious Magenta. This month, Pittsburgh will host the second installment of YinzCon (appropriately dubbed “YinzCon N’at” rather than “YinzCon 2”), a “Rocky Horror” convention featuring shadowcasts from across the country.

Some of those groups attending the event, scheduled for Aug. 28 through Sept. 1 at the Wyndham Grand and other local venues, will offer performances of other films such as cult favorite comedy “Clue” and fellow oddball musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” While other films do receive the shadowcast treatment both in Pittsburgh and elsewhere, none has captured such a commanding presence as “Rocky Horror.”

“Nothing has come close to ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ because you can do whatever with it,” Bassett says. “There’s enough campy problems with it that you can turn it into comedy, you can turn it into drama, you can look at different characters.”

The result is a space that fosters not only creativity but also personal exploration.

“I’m a little bit more of myself,” Bassett says. “I think that’s where ‘Rocky Horror’ really blossoms — it’s a community that will try out different pronouns, try out different personalities.”