It didn’t take long for North American audiences to take hold of an idea born in Elmira. Less than a year after Laura Griffin had the idea to turn the 2003 hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean into an interactive event – similar to The Rocky Horror Picture Show – the practice is taking off across the continent and now overseas.

“It [surprises me] that it took off at this rate, because it hasn’t even been a year since the movie came out,” she told the Observer. “Any coastal town seems to really embrace this. It seems to be those areas where it’s really taken off. Because it’s on the ocean … people have the spray of the sea in their faces, they seem to be into it more.”

The movie – based on the Disney ride – tells the tale of pirate captain Jack Sparrow as he battles to reclaim his ship from crewmates who abandoned him years prior and are cursed with immortality. During interactive presentations, audience members are encouraged to dress up and respond to several scenes in the film.

Since Griffin first promoted the idea – several others have helped to spread the concept and create a Web site – interactive viewings have been held in Atlanta (Georgia), Tampa (Florida), Portland (Oregon), Boston (Massachusetts), on a Texas cruise ship and in Holland. Viewings are also planned for Rimouski, Quebec and Biloxi, Mississippi.

The events were even referenced in the May issue of Esquire magazine, in an article on star Johnny Depp.

The first local interactive viewing took place at the Princess Theatre in Waterloo Feb. 5. Another is planned for this fall, with proceeds going to a local youth group.

“Everybody just got right into it. Everybody came dressed up in pirate gear; a couple people came really decked out with swords and everything,” Griffin said of the February presentation. She was particularly impressed to see the audience stand and salute character Jack Sparrow in one of the movie’s opening scenes, as suggested in the interactive script.

“I turned around (to see if a friend was going to stand with me) and as I was turning around to see if she would stand, half the audience was already on their feet. They weren’t even waiting for us to lead. They’d already read the script and knew what they were supposed to do. It was fun.”

An interactive script and additional information on the interactive Pirates of the Caribbean can be found online at www.potcinteractive.com.