CAST

The Transylvanians

CREW

Directed by JIM SHARMAN
Written by RICHARD O'BRIEN & JIM SHARMAN
Produced by LOU ADLER, JOHN GOLDSTONE & MICHAEL WHITE
Music by RICHARD HARTLEY & RICHARD O'BRIEN
Cinematography by PETER SUSCHITZKY
Edited by GRAEME CLIFFORD
Production Design by BRIAN THOMSON
Art Direction by TERRY ACKLAND-SNOW
Costume Design by SUE BLANE

Songs

"Science fiction, double feature
Frank has built and lost his creature
Darkness has conquered Brad and Janet
The servant's gone to a distant planet
At the late night double feature picture show"

From Stage
to Screen

ROCKY HORROR HISTORY
(by Lisa Kurtz Sutton) "Remove those lewd, lascivious lips mouthing the words "Twentieth Century Fox!" These were the angry words uttered by Fox's chairman of the board after viewing the advance trailer for the studio's soon-to-be-released musical send-up of 1950's sci-fi and horror flicks. Little did he know that those "lewd, lascivious lips" would become the symbol of the greatest cult movie of all time...The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Rocky Horror first saw the light of day (or is it night?) at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London on June 16, 1973. It was a small production, warmly received by critics and audience alike. The play, a musical, was written by a young man named Richard O'Brien, who narrowly escaped a considerably less glamorous life as a cheese farmer in New Zealand by moving back to his native London to make a go at an acting career. After performing small roles in the films "Carry On Cowboy and Casino Royale, O'Brien landed a role in Hair and made one disastrous but fateful performance in Jesus Christ Superstar. Although he didn't cut it in the role of King Herod, O'Brien had the opportunity to present his 3-chord rock musical entitled They Came From Denton High to Superstar's director Jim Sharman. Through Sharman, a solo acoustic tape of O'Brien singing "Science Fiction, Double Feature" came across the desk of independent theater producer Michael White. White became fascinated with the tape and story concept, and agreed to sponsor the production. Dubbed "The Rocky Horror Show" the play was based on a combination of grade B Horror movies, Steve Reeves muscle flicks and fifties rock 'n' roll. It starred O'Brien as a maniacal handyman named Riff-Raff, and another Hair alumnus Tim Curry in the leading role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the kinky scientist who creates "Rocky Horror", his personal Adonis. Even though Curry originally came to read for the role of Rocky, his raucous performance of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" made it clear he was destined to play the lead role. Growing up in rural New Zealand, O'Brien spent countless hours in movie houses watching the kitschy thrillers which would later inspire him to write The Rocky Horror Show. Rocky's story line focuses on an unworldly, young American couple and their adventures during a singularly ill-fated evening. After facing a blow out on a deserted highway on that rainy November evening, Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, seek refuge at a nearby castle, hoping to receive the assistance that their plight requires. Instead, they encounter the unexpected: an alien mad scientist from Transsexual Transylvania on the evening of the unveiling of his greatest creation - the blonde, muscle-bound "Rocky Horror". In the course of the 90-minute play, Rocky is born, loses his virginity, experiences infidelity, and dies. Throughout the play, Brad and Janet both have their staunch values challenged by the transsexual Dr. Furter who parades around in fishnets, garters, high heel pumps and several inches of make up. The show was steeped in all the glitz and glitter of the early '70s. It was campy, trashy and oh so hip. The Rocky Horror Show ran successfully for many months and was named "Best Musical of 1973" by The London Evening Standard. A turning point came when American producer and entrepreneur Lou Adler was brought to a performance.Adler was immediately taken with Rocky Horror. Within two days Adler had arranged with Michael White for the American rights to the show. On March 24th, 1974 (only nine months after opening in London), The Rocky Horror Show made it's American debut at Adler's Roxy Theater on the notorious Sunset Strip in Hollywood. The show played to packed houses for the duration of its nine-month run, with Tim Curry reprising his sensational leading role. Among the actors who tried out but did not receive roles in the L.A. production were John Travolta, Richard Gere, Chris Sarandon, Greg Evigan, and Jeff Conaway. As a result of its success at the Roxy, a deal was struck with 20th Century Fox to create a film based on the play. Filming for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, as it was now titled, began on the 81st birthday of Charles Atlas (October 21, 1974) on the set of a broken down Victorian mansion at Oakley Court / Bray Studios in England. Most of the original London stage cast reprised their roles, including Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien, along with Little Nell, Patricia Quinn, Jonathan Adams and (from the Roxy cast) Meatloaf. Relatively unknown American actors Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon were brought in for the roles of Brad and Janet. After completing the six-week shoot, it was decided to open a run of the play on Broadway as a sort of pre-release hype, building anticipation for the film's scheduled release the following fall. The production was brought to the Belasco theater in Manhattan, a legitimate theatre which was converted to a cabaret style venue (like the Roxy) by adding tables to the floor. Unfortunately, the large size of the theater only served to destroy the intimacy which had existed at the show's previous productions. To further detriment, local critics implied that the play had no place in such a cosmopolitan area as New York. Forty five performances later, the show closed without a trace of ever having arrived. Things didn't appear much brighter on September 24th, 1975 when The Rocky Horror Picture Show had its American theatrical debut. Although the film, touted as "A Different Set Of Jaws", opened to sell-out crowds at the UA theater in Westwood Village (a college town surrounding UCLA in Los Angeles), the story was quite dismal almost everywhere else. The film bombed in most cities, and looked to be doomed to the vaults until a strange phenomenon was observed. Although theater owners were complaining of low attendance, it seemed that a small dedicated audience was returning for repeated viewings. While the film was still running successfully in Los Angeles, Lou Adler and Tim Deegan (20th Century Fox's marketing director for Rocky Horror) began to discuss the situation at hand. Together they decided the film would need a special kind of marketing, geared toward helping the film find its own unique audience. Their first step was to try Rocky Horror as a midnight movie in New York City, a relatively new idea at the time. Word of mouth, they decided, would be the best form of promotion - let the audience find the film and vice-versa. Six months after its initial release, Rocky Horror hit the midnight-movie circuit (with a re-edited ending - sans the down beat Super Heroes and Science Fiction Reprise) by opening at the Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village. Within weeks, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was also playing at several other theaters throughout the country at the witching hour. The audience continued to grow steadily and, in addition, began to develop a special relationship with the movie. The first evidence of the unique tie between The Rocky Horror Picture Show and its audience surfaced in its initial run at the UA Westwood. Many of the same people who attended multiple performances at the Roxy were attending the movie on a nightly basis. These people were actually singing along with the songs as early as opening week, and calling out "2-4-6-8-10-12-14-eat your heart out, Anne Miller" from the Roxy Soundtrack's Time Warp. This phenomenon was not, however, exclusive to the Westwood audience. The barriers between audience and screen broke down almost simultaneously at Rocky Horror screenings throughout the country. At first it surfaced in small ways - someone might hold up a teddy bear during the "Eddie's Teddy" number or a group of viewers would bring noisemakers to rattle during the creation scene. Although no one knows for certain what the first audience comeback was, some people were already calling out "antici-'say it'-pation" before the movie hit the midnight scene.And doing the "Time Warp" in the aisles during the closing credits became an essential part of the Rocky Horror experience very early on. A ritual began to develop around attending a Rocky Horror screening. Its glittery, colorful palate inspired people to dress up in outrageous costumes, usually designed to mimic the movie's main characters. Groups of regulars developed loyalty to their Rocky Horror venue wherever it played. In early 1977, the first full-fledged official "dress-up" group emerged at the Fox Venice theater in Los Angeles. "The Rocky Horror Revue" performed a staged, lip-synch Rocky Horror act on the Fox stage inbetween the evening's two screenings. Possibly the most noteworthy group emerged at the Waverly Theater. This industrious ensemble was one of the earliest and most enduring of all the performing groups, eventually becoming the founders of the Official Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Club. At its peak, the New York based national fan club boasted over 20,000 active members worldwide, according to fan club president Sal Piro. In its earlier run, it was noticed that the film's attendance seemed to rise when one of these "live" groups were performing. The wackier the audience, the bigger the draw. By the end of 1977, Rocky Horror had mutated into a multimedia event - a loud and boisterous come-as-you-are party where anything could - and often did - happen. "Don't Dream It, Be It" was Rocky's central message, and the ever-increasing audience took it to heart. Attending The Rocky Horror Picture Show was an experience that could be compared to no other. Where else could you go out at midnight, dressed in lingerie, and hang out with a couple hundred other free-spirits? Soon annual and semi-annual conventions were held in celebration of Rocky Horror, and a great many friendships were formed through its faithful cult. One couple even got married at a midnight screening at Hollywood's Tiffany Theater. The phenomenon of Rocky Horror is the subject of much speculation. The film creates a unique experience for anyone who attends. Those who've seen the movie more than once will say that it was simply a great deal of fun, while the hard-core following generally finds something more deeply satisfying in the recreation of the film's various scenes - it became a ritual. Shouting out a new comeback line for the first time and hearing an entire audience respond with laughter could be quite a rush. For the most part, it was one big regularly recurring party - a consistent and enjoyable way to relieve the tensions of day-to-day life. By 1979, Rocky Horror was receiving a great deal of media attention worldwide. The New York group (now transplanted to the 8th Street Playhouse) was featured on The Tom Snyder Show. The Tiffany's group was featured on various news programs. Groups in all areas were finding themselves featured on local news broadcasts. Magazines from Newsweek to Rolling Stone ran features on the film and its massive following.At this point The Rocky Horror Picture Show was experiencing its greatest success ever. Aside from its usual midnight showings, many 2-AM shows were added to accommodate the sell out crowds. Media coverage included a feature on NBC's Real People and a Ronald Reagan spoof on ABC's Fridays called "The Ronnie Horror Show". In addition, the films Fame and Willie and Phil contained scenes depicting the Rocky Horror experience. Because of the widespread interest in Rocky Horror, it was decided to stage a major revival of the play in The United States. Rocky Horror - the play, had run continuously in London, moving from the 60-seat Theatre Upstairs to the 400 seat Kings Road Theater in 1974 where it ran straight for 7 years. Touring companies had already performed in Germany, Norway, Australia, Japan, France, and New Zealand (where rocker Gary Glitter took the lead as Dr. Frank-N-Furter). The U.S. touring company surfaced in 1980, and played to sell-out crowds wherever it performed. This was the first opportunity for most of the hard-core fans to see Rocky Horror in its original form. Most notable of the performers who participated in the revival were Kim Milford from the original Roxy Cast reprising his role as Rocky and Wendy O. Williams (from the controversial punk band The Plasmatics) in the role of Magenta. Australia and New Zealand also experienced successful revivals of The Rocky Horror Show at this point in time. Possibly the most exciting Rocky Horror event of the '80s came on the movie's 10th anniversary. On Halloween night, 1985, a gala event was held at the Beacon theater in New York City. It was a smashing tribute to the film and the surrounding cult, drawing fans from across the country. Even a group of Rocky enthusiasts made the trek from London to New York City to participate in the festivities. On this occasion Richard O'Brien, Pat Quinn, Little Nell, Meatloaf, Jonathan Adams, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon reunited together for the first time since the filming to participate in a question & answer session. The grand highlight of the evening came when the cast members performed various numbers from the soundtrack, including a rendition of "Hot Patootie" from Meatloaf that nearly brought the house down. That evening was indeed a sentimental journey for many of those in attendance. One young gentleman from Kansas had an especially significant Rocky Horror experience to share. "Rocky Horror kinda kept me from dying", he told a camera crew covering the event. It seems that he had been diagnosed as having intestinal cancer, but decided while in the hospital that he wanted to live long enough to have seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show 100 times. The night of the anniversary party was his 175th viewing. "I'll be dying in January..." he mused. The Rocky Horror experience has remained very much the same since the early '80s. As an established institution of Pop Culture, fifteen years later the cult and fervor surrounding The Rocky Horror Picture Show endures. It has played in hundreds of theaters across the country every weekend. Since the late seventies, it continues to draw loyal audiences wherever it plays. Word of mouth helped give Rocky its start as a happening, and continues to be the method to Rocky's madness. New generations of fans continually emerge without any signs of letting up.Rocky Horror has left an indelible mark on countless thousands worldwide and will doubtlessly always stand as the greatest cult film of all time.

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