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Rocky Horror Show LiveOpening Date: Sept 11, 2015
Closing Date: Sept 26, 2015 Air date: Oct 17, 2015 Medium: cinema Where to watch: not officially available |
Stage Production Notes
Written by Richard O’Brien and Richard Hartley, The Rocky Horror Show began life in 1973 at the tiny 50-seat Royal Court Theatre in London. The production starred Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-n-Furter, Julie Covington as Janet, Christpher Malcolm as Brad, and Richard O’Brien as Riff-Raff. Put together in three weeks, and expected to run for just as long, the in-your-face show quickly became a cult phenomenon.
Rocky Horror continued to play at successively larger houses until it transferred to the West End, playing at the Comedy Theatre (now the Harold Pinter Theatre) from April 6, 1979 until September 13, 1980.
The show had a very brief run on Broadway in 1975, playing for just 45 performances.
Rocky Horror has toured extensively around the world, and has been performed in over 30 countries.
A film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was released in 1975 and starred members of the original cast, along with American actors Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. The film was made in six weeks. Although deemed a commercial flop, the film didn’t take long to achieve its own cult status, spawning resplendent midnight screenings complete with intensive audience participation. Composer Richard Hartley has been quoted as saying that the audience participation developed as a result of the long and “boring” nature of the film.
A special condensed concert version, The Rocky Horror Tribute Show, featuring stars from stage and screen versions of Rocky Horror was held at the Royal Court Theatre in May 2006. The concert was filmed and released on DVD by Kultur Films.
After seeing a touring production starring David Bedella as Frank-n-Furter in 2009, Rocky Horror fan Richard Dunn started a Facebook group and petition to have the show recorded and released on DVD. Within a year, 1200 people had signed the petition, but a recording was not made available.
In July 2015, it was announced theThe Rocky Horror Show would return to London’s West End for a limited two-week engagement. The revival was set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film. The show proved immensely popular and sold out within three days of tickets being released.
Fox aired The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, a live television event, in October 2016. The show was directed by Kenny Ortega and starred Laverne Cox as Frank-n-Furter. The event received tepid reviews.
Written by Richard O’Brien and Richard Hartley, The Rocky Horror Show began life in 1973 at the tiny 50-seat Royal Court Theatre in London. The production starred Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-n-Furter, Julie Covington as Janet, Christpher Malcolm as Brad, and Richard O’Brien as Riff-Raff. Put together in three weeks, and expected to run for just as long, the in-your-face show quickly became a cult phenomenon.
Rocky Horror continued to play at successively larger houses until it transferred to the West End, playing at the Comedy Theatre (now the Harold Pinter Theatre) from April 6, 1979 until September 13, 1980.
The show had a very brief run on Broadway in 1975, playing for just 45 performances.
Rocky Horror has toured extensively around the world, and has been performed in over 30 countries.
A film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was released in 1975 and starred members of the original cast, along with American actors Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. The film was made in six weeks. Although deemed a commercial flop, the film didn’t take long to achieve its own cult status, spawning resplendent midnight screenings complete with intensive audience participation. Composer Richard Hartley has been quoted as saying that the audience participation developed as a result of the long and “boring” nature of the film.
A special condensed concert version, The Rocky Horror Tribute Show, featuring stars from stage and screen versions of Rocky Horror was held at the Royal Court Theatre in May 2006. The concert was filmed and released on DVD by Kultur Films.
After seeing a touring production starring David Bedella as Frank-n-Furter in 2009, Rocky Horror fan Richard Dunn started a Facebook group and petition to have the show recorded and released on DVD. Within a year, 1200 people had signed the petition, but a recording was not made available.
In July 2015, it was announced theThe Rocky Horror Show would return to London’s West End for a limited two-week engagement. The revival was set to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film. The show proved immensely popular and sold out within three days of tickets being released.
Fox aired The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, a live television event, in October 2016. The show was directed by Kenny Ortega and starred Laverne Cox as Frank-n-Furter. The event received tepid reviews.
Filmed Production Notes
As a part of the 40th Anniversary production, a special gala performance to raise money for Amnesty International was held on September 17, 2015 and broadcast live to cinemas in the UK and across Europe. In the UK, the screening took place in over 600 cinemas and reportedly bought in £600,000 in ticket sales.
The livestream was re-screened a month later, and also made available on British television via SkyArts. It was made available for a limited time in the USA on television via BBC America.
Another Rocky Horror fan, Nikki Golder, started a second petition following the screening to have the 2015 livestream made available on DVD. Although the show has not been officially released, it was briefly available to view on YouTube.
As of January 2017, the 40th Anniversary production continues to tour around the UK.
An earlier concert, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Royal Court Theatre, The Rocky Horror Tribute Show is available on DVD.
As a part of the 40th Anniversary production, a special gala performance to raise money for Amnesty International was held on September 17, 2015 and broadcast live to cinemas in the UK and across Europe. In the UK, the screening took place in over 600 cinemas and reportedly bought in £600,000 in ticket sales.
The livestream was re-screened a month later, and also made available on British television via SkyArts. It was made available for a limited time in the USA on television via BBC America.
Another Rocky Horror fan, Nikki Golder, started a second petition following the screening to have the 2015 livestream made available on DVD. Although the show has not been officially released, it was briefly available to view on YouTube.
As of January 2017, the 40th Anniversary production continues to tour around the UK.
An earlier concert, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Royal Court Theatre, The Rocky Horror Tribute Show is available on DVD.
Rocky Horror Show Live PRODUCTION CREDITS
Theatre: Playhouse Theatre, London
Producer: Ambassador Theatre Group
Book, Music and Lyrics: Richard O’Brien
Director: Christopher Luscombe and Simon Staffurth
Musical Director: Greg Arrowsmith
Original Arrangements: Richard Hartley and Simon Beck
Choreography: Nathan M. Wright
Scenic Design: Hugh Durrant
Costume Design: Sue Blane
Lighting Design: Nick Richings
Sound Design: Gareth Owen
Wig Designer: Darren Ware
Stage Manager: Martin Hope
Cast: Jayde Westaby (Usherette/Magenta), Haley Flaherty (Janet Weiss), Ben Forster (Brad Majors), Stephen Fry (Narrator), Kristian Lavercombe (Riff Raff), Adrian Edmondson (Narrator), Sophie Linder-Lee (Columbia), Emma Bunton (Narrator), David Bedella (Frank N. Furter), Dominic Andersen (Rocky Horror), Mel Giedroyc (Narrator) Richard Meek (Eddie/Dr. Scott), Rachel Grundy (Phantom), Ben Kerr (Phantom), Will Knights (Phantom), Hannah Malekzad (Phantom), Andrew Hern (swing), Richard O’Brien (Narrator)
Theatre: Playhouse Theatre, London
Producer: Ambassador Theatre Group
Book, Music and Lyrics: Richard O’Brien
Director: Christopher Luscombe and Simon Staffurth
Musical Director: Greg Arrowsmith
Original Arrangements: Richard Hartley and Simon Beck
Choreography: Nathan M. Wright
Scenic Design: Hugh Durrant
Costume Design: Sue Blane
Lighting Design: Nick Richings
Sound Design: Gareth Owen
Wig Designer: Darren Ware
Stage Manager: Martin Hope
Cast: Jayde Westaby (Usherette/Magenta), Haley Flaherty (Janet Weiss), Ben Forster (Brad Majors), Stephen Fry (Narrator), Kristian Lavercombe (Riff Raff), Adrian Edmondson (Narrator), Sophie Linder-Lee (Columbia), Emma Bunton (Narrator), David Bedella (Frank N. Furter), Dominic Andersen (Rocky Horror), Mel Giedroyc (Narrator) Richard Meek (Eddie/Dr. Scott), Rachel Grundy (Phantom), Ben Kerr (Phantom), Will Knights (Phantom), Hannah Malekzad (Phantom), Andrew Hern (swing), Richard O’Brien (Narrator)
Sources
Articles
Websites
- Katie Abbott, “How we made: The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” The Guardian (March 4, 2013)
- Ben Beaumont-Thomas, “Stephen Fry, Mel Giedroyc and Emma Bunton to appear in Rocky Horror Show,” The Guardian (Aug 13, 2015)
- Mark Brown, “Richard O'Brien returns to Rocky Horror Show for West End run,” The Guardian (July 31, 2015)
- Jessica Kahn, “Fans Continue with Halloween Campaign for DVD of UK's THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW LIVE Tour,” BroadwayWorld.com (Oct 28, 2015)
- Stefan Kyriazis, “Rocky Horror gala will star Stephen Fry, Emma Bunton and GBBO's Mel Giedroyc,” Express (Aug 13, 2015)
- Keith Staskiewicz, “Rocky Horror Picture Show cast reunites for EW,” Entertainment Weekly (Oct 7, 2015)
- West End Frame, “The Rocky Horror Show gala to be broadcast on Sky Arts!,” West End Frame (Oct 19, 2015)
- Karen Woodham, “Rocky Horror Live Could There Be A DVD Release?,” Blazing Minds (Oct 1, 2015)
Websites
- Rockypedia, "History of the RHS," Accessed via: https://web.archive.org/web/20121027224819/http://www.rockypedia.org/History_of_the_RHS
Written by Luisa Lyons (January, 2017)