‘Rocky Horror' doc underscores heightened relevancy of a cult classic
AUSTIN — 'Okay, who in here's a freak?!' drag entertainer Emerald Van Cartier asked while surveying an eager lunchtime crowd at this city's legendary gay bar, Oilcan Harry's, and towering above it all in high heels, a flirty red plaid gown and a bouffant Tracy Turnblad '60s flip.
Hands with long glittery nails flew into the air as the whole room screamed and jumped up and down. This was, after all, the celebration for the world premiere of 'Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror' — a new documentary about arguably the most enduring rock musical of all time, directed by Linus O'Brien, son of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' creator Richard O'Brien — in a city whose slogan is about keeping it weird.
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Richard O'Brien reveals this famous rocker tried to buy ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show' film rights
Owned by Jagger. In the new documentary 'Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror,' creator Richard O'Brien revealed that Mick Jagger and his team tried to buy the film rights to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' after the stage show made its US debut in 1974. But director Jim Sharman advised that they shouldn't go for Jagger's deal, and with producer Lou Adler's help, they created the film without a big name attached. 8 Richard O'Brien, Tim Curry and Patricia Quinn a lobby card from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.' Getty Images 8 Mick Jagger performs with the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in 1975. Getty Images 'One of the great things about this is that we were a fringe theater event, and we were allowed to make a movie,' O'Brien, 83, said in the doc, according to People. 'Not only that, but Jim was allowed to direct it. Not only that, but Brian Thompson was allowed to be the artistic director. Not only that, but Tim [Curry] was allowed to play the lead role,' the famous producer continued. 'That's very rare, especially when it's America and a Hollywood matter.' 8 Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Jonathan Adams and Peter Hinwood on a lobby card from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.' Getty Images Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta in the original stage play and the 1975 film adaptation, revealed that Jagger, 81, was also interested in Curry's role in the movie. [There were] three people who wanted to play [Dr. Frank-N-Furter] — Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, and of course, David Bowie,' Quinn, 81, recalled. '[They said] no Mick Jaggers, no Bowies, I'm having the original cast,' she added. 8 Mick Jagger with Sue Mengers at a stage production of 'The Rocky Horror Show' in Los Angeles. Penske Media via Getty Images As revealed in the doc, 'The Rocky Horror Show' made it to the big screen after producers Adler, 91, and Michael White made a $1 million deal with the studio. They agreed to present their own funds if the film didn't make that amount, per People. 'From the beginning, I had the feeling it was an event and something very, very special by the cast and the music, immediately,' Adler recalled of the original stage production, which premiered in London in 1973. 8 Richard O'Brien at the Oxford Union in March 2004. CLA/LFI 'Enough so that I wanted to make a deal that night,' he added. Adler also said that The Roxy in Los Angeles was the 'perfect' location for the show's debut in America. 'Sort of like cabaret, that you could go beyond sitting in a theater but you could enjoy the whole experience of it. And in the back of my mind, I just envisioned it as a film pretty much from the beginning,' Adler shared. 8 Lou Adler at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in 2006. © Mark Savage/Corbis He continued, 'The casting for the Roxy, we had some very, very talented people, most of who were local actors. I thought pretty much I couldn't duplicate Tim Curry. That was somebody we had to bring over, and that went for Richard also. But not only the fact that you're getting the actor that was in it, you're getting the creator.' 8 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' stars Richard O'Brien, Tim Curry and Patricia Quinn. Getty Images 8 Patricia Quinn, Tim Curry, Nell Campbell in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.' ©20thCentFox/courtesy Everett Adler recalled that the first 'Rocky Horror Show' show in LA was 'something really special.' 'We had a turn out of the rock and roll celebrities, the John Lennons and everyone wanted to be there for it,' he said.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘Rocky Horror Picture Show' stars coming to Rockford for 50th anniversary screening
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Barry Bostwick ('Brad Majors') and Patricia Quinn ('Magenta') will be appearing at the Coronado Theatre for the 50th anniversary screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show this October. The screening will include a live shadow cast and interactive audience participation, according to press notes. A memorabilia display with artifacts and costumes from the 1975 movie and a pre-show costume contest will also be featured. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, based on the stage musical Rocky Horror Show, stars Bostwick and Susan Sarandon as newlyweds whose car breaks down near the castle of mad scientist Frank-n-furter (Tim Curry). The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be shown on Thursday, October 16th, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 25th at 10 a.m. on and via the Coronado Performing Arts Center box office. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
14-04-2025
- Boston Globe
Merry mayhem in Actors' Shakespeare Project's ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream'
A gifted actor himself, Parent gives his cast a lot of running room — literally. He amps up the physicality in a no-holds-barred, propulsively on-the-move production that's rife with visual, verbal, or musical allusions to pop culture. Blue Man Group. 'The Lion King.' Marvin Gaye. 'RuPaul's Drag Race.' NSYNC. Brando howling 'Stella!!!' in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' Interpretive dance and its pretensions. 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.' And, in one of the production's high points, some truly sensational break dancing by Alan Kuang as Puck, the mischief-sowing sprite. Advertisement Perhaps inevitably, perhaps not, the verse takes a backseat to the knockabout antics in Parent's modern-dress production, which unfolds in a stark, industrial milieu (scenic design is by Ben Lieberson) that is dominated by large metal scaffolding upstage and on both sides of the stage. A mirrored ball gleams high above, and performers are adorned with feathers and glitter and leather and masks (costumes are by Seth Bodie). The overall vibe Parent seeks to evoke is that of the New York club scene of the 1990s. (Somewhat similar thematic territory was memorably staked out by the American Repertory Theater's long-running 'The Donkey Show,' a mostly wordless, disco-driven riff on 'Dream' that was set in a 1970s club and directed by husband-and-wife collaborators Randy Weiner and Diane Paulus.) Advertisement 'Dream' revolves around a quintessentially Shakespearean series of romantic muddles. There are erotic overtones, but on balance this is a PG-13 'Dream' that could serve as an introduction to Shakespeare for your young offspring. Demetrius (De'Lon Grant) and Lysander (Michael Broadhurst) are both in love with Hermia (Thomika Marie Bridwell). But Hermia loves only Lysander. Her friend Helena (Deb Martin, a comic force) loves Demetrius — a passion that is most definitely not reciprocated. Hermia's autocratic father, Egeus (the always welcome Bobbie Steinbach) orders Hermia to marry Demetrius, but she is prepared to defy him. When the four young Athenians end up in the woods, natural begins to yield to supernatural. Puck puts flower juice on the eyes of both Lysander and Demetrius, causing both men to fall head over heels in love with Helena, confusing and infuriating her. Meanwhile, the fairy king, Oberon (Dan Garcia), is locked in a running battle with his wife and queen, Titania (Eliza Fichter). Aiming to get the upper hand by humiliating her, he puts magical flower juice on her eyes as she sleeps, designed to make her fall madly in love with the first person — or creature — she sees. That turns out to be Nick Bottom, a weaver whose head has been transformed by Puck into that of a donkey. The role of Bottom is a juicy one, not just accommodating hammy excess but demanding it. Doug Lockwood doesn't miss his chance; he takes a big swing, and his Bottom is every bit as funny as he needs to be for 'Dream' to fully work. Bottom and his friends, a group of manual laborers whom Puck calls 'the rude mechanicals,' are preparing to stage the love story and tragedy 'Pyramus and Thisbe,' at the wedding of the duke of Athens, Theseus (Kody Grassett) to Hippolyta (Fichter again). Advertisement At that performance of 'Pyramus and Thisbe' by Bottom and his friends for the assembled aristocrats, Lockwood captures the vanity of an egotistical, scene-stealing theater hog. He is abetted in grand style by his colleagues: Rémani Lizana as Snug, the joiner; Evan Taylor as Flute, the bellows-mender; Grassett as Starveling, the tailor (Grassett also plays the wall); and Steinbach as Quince, the carpenter. In the past couple of years. Actors' Shakespeare Project has enjoyed success with first-rate productions of plays by authors other than its namesake, including All well and (very) good. But 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' reminds us that the company is still pretty good at the work of that Shakespeare fellow. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Play by William Shakespeare Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent Presented by Actors' Shakespeare Project. At Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown. Through May 4. Tickets $20-74. At 617-241-2200 or Don Aucoin can be reached at
