The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in the UK on 14 August 1975 before its release in the United States on 26 September 26, 1975. It was intended to be a quirky tribute to B-grade sci-fi movies but flopped at the box office. It was subsequently moved to midnight screenings where audience participation, including dressing up, helped transform it into a cult classic. Over four decades later, its legacy is stitched into the fabric of pop culture, championing queer identity and radical self-expression long before they hit the mainstream.
At its heart, the plot is a campy, subverted take on the "old dark house" trope. We follow Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, a squeaky-clean, newly engaged couple whose car breaks down in a storm. While looking for a phone, they stumble upon the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a "Sweet Transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania." The couple is quickly swept up in a night of chaotic liberation as the Doctor unveils his greatest creation: Rocky Horror, a golden, muscular man built solely to relieve the Doctor's..."tension." Brad and Janet soon find their innocence disappearing as rapidly as their clothing.
In a rare case of a film inspiring the stage rather than the other way around, The Rocky Horror Show made its grand leap to Broadway in 1975 starring the original cast (including Tim Curry in the role of Frank-N-Furter) but ran for only 45 performances. The show was revived on Broadway in 2000 following decades of its subsequent success.
When I heard that a new version was coming to Broadway and that Luke Evans would be playing Frank-N-Furter, I couldn’t get tickets fast enough. After cast members were announced - SNL alum Rachel Dratch as the Narrator, Juliette Lewis as Magenta, Golden Globe winning actress Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Columbia, acclaimed Broadway star Andrew Durand as Brad and Oscar-nominated Stephanie Hsu as Janet - I was positively shivering with antici…pation!
The production was nothing short of spectacular; it felt like a high-voltage reimagining of the much-loved classic with fabulous costumes (Luke Evans certainly puts the “frank” in Frank-N-Furter - though I am ambivalent about his stringy wig), an extravagant set (loved the central staircase) and outstanding performances from the stellar cast. While I was already aware of Luke’s theatrical background, his vocal range and commanding stage presence still managed to completely exceed my expectations. Rachel Dratch was a scream and rolled with whatever callbacks the audience threw at her without missing a beat.
Part of the show's cross-generational appeal is that it doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not - it’s fun, it’s camp, “it’s a show for people who consider themselves eccentric, or quirky, or misfits—people who like to shake things up” as Michaela Jaé Rodriguez notes in an interview with Vogue magazine. By the time the show wrapped, I was more than ready to do The Time Warp again so it was great that the entire cast performed a snippet of the signature song before the curtain came down.
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