The ‘Mrs. Roper Romp’ is coming to Winchester

Have you heard of the “Mrs. Roper Romp?” I had not, until recently. 

According to the Mrs. Roper Romp web­site, the event “start­ed as a group of 50 in New Orleans ten years ago when they walked in the Southern Decadence parade. Now it’s a world­wide phe­nom­e­non! People are orga­niz­ing events all over the globe and we hope the Mrs. Roper com­mu­ni­ty con­tin­ues to grow!”

Men and women dress as the char­ac­ter from the 1970s tele­vi­sion sit­com Three’s Company. Mrs. Roper, por­trayed by actor Audra Lindley (1918–1997), was famous for her flam­boy­ant wardrobe and her per­son­al­i­ty, described on Wikipedia as “wise­crack­ing, per­pet­u­al­ly unful­filled and sex­u­al­ly frustrated.” 

Winchester res­i­dent Brett Cheuvront had the idea to host a local romp, and he approached Mason Rhodus, own­er of Mason on Main, to help out. They float­ed the idea on Facebook and were encour­aged by the response, so they decid­ed to plunge in. 

The local event will take place at The Hall on Saturday, April 20, start­ing at 7 PM. Just for the one night, The Hall will be renamed The Regal Beagle, which was the name of the pub where the Three’s Company gang hung out. 

The events vary, but Cheuvront says he has no detailed plans for Winchester’s inau­gur­al Roper Romp. He says there will be food avail­able, as well as drinks with “spe­cial names” relat­ed to the show. “It will be a time to meet, and have fun,” he says. 

Rhodus describes the event as “some­thing fun for the adults.”

While the events are held all over the US and in oth­er parts of the world, Kentucky has only one, in Louisville, accord­ing to Cheuvront. “We want to get start­ed here in Winchester before Lexington does.” 

They have ten­ta­tive plans to walk in the Christmas parade this year, accord­ing to Rhodus. “Maybe . . . ” says Cheuvront. 

You can learn more about the Winchester Mrs. Roper Romp by lis­ten­ing to the pod­cast inter­view I record­ed with Brett and Mason. And if you aren’t already sub­scribed to The Voices of Winchester, please check it out wher­ev­er you get your podcasts.