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The Rocky Horror Show is a long running stage musical (opening in London initially, on June 16, 1973) which inspired the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was written by Richard O'Brien, who returned to his native England after growing up in New Zealand. The musical was developed by O'Brien in collaboration with Australian theatre director Jim Sharman, who had already gained extensive experience directing rock musicals with the groundbreaking Australian productions of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Sharman's success with the original Australian production of Superstar led to an invitation to direct the first London stage production, and it was during the London run of Superstar that he met O'Brien, who briefly had a role in the show (he played Herod for just one performance). O'Brien played Sharman some of the songs he had written and they began to flesh out the concept for the show; Sharman later brought in fellow Australians Nell Campbell (aka 'Little Nell') and longtime design collaborator Brian Thomson, who had designed both Hair and Superstar. Sharman's theatrical background — his father and grandfather were famous tent-show promoters — influenced the deliberately makeshift look and feel of the original production, which premiered in a small, 60 seater, run-down theatre slated for demolition that was run by the Royal Court as a project space for new work. The show was voted Best New Musical by London's theatre critics and the production transferred to a theatre on the Kings Road where it ran continuously for three years. The movie has been much more popular in the United States than the theatrical show, revivals of which are mounted periodically without great success. In other countries the stage show has proved a perennial favourite with theatre audiences, and many successful revivals of the show have been mounted. In some places at the stage show, fans dress up as the characters and shout call-backs at the stage, e.g., whenever Brad's name is mentioned, the audience shouts "asshole," and shouts "slut" for Janet. Fans also use 'props' at appropriate moments, for example, throwing toast when Frank calls for "a toast," a using water pistols and newspapers for the scene in the rain; unfortunately many theatres do not allow this anymore. Versions of the show have played well in various other countries, including a New Zealand production that featured, at one time or other, the former prime minister Robert Muldoon (as the compère) and the (now shamed) Rock Star, Gary Glitter playing the lead. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals" (wherein Nation refers to the United Kingdom). [1] Original London cast and production team
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US PremiereThe Rocky Horror Show premiered in the U.S. at the Roxy theatre, Los Angeles opening March 24th 1974. Director Jim Sharman and lots of other backstage members came over from London. Tim Curry was the only member of the cast to reprise their role. Meat Loaf joined the cast here as Eddie/Dr. Scott, Kim Milford as Rocky, and Jamie Donnelly, Jan from Grease the movie, starred as Magenta/Usherette. There was a cast recording made of this cast and it is easy to find. BroadwayThe Rocky Horror Show originally went on Broadway in 1975 with the Roxy cast from Los Angeles. It opened March 10th at the Belasco Theatre. "We did a week of sold-out previews to audiences who loved it," said Kim Milford (Rocky). "Then opening night, the critics sat there in silence and looked at us like we just crawled out from under a rock." The critics trashed the show and it closed after 45 performances. The Rocky Horror Show had a short revival on Broadway back in 2000 and featured Tom Hewitt, funny lady Lea DeLaria, and of Rent fame, Daphne Rubin-Vega. UK TourThe Rocky Horror Show is currently touring the UK, starring David Bedella as Dr. Frank N Furter and Suzanne Shaw as Janet Weiss. Narrators have included Michael Aspel, Christopher Biggins, Clive Mantle, Russ Abbot, Steve Pemberton, Nigel Planer, Ian Lavender, John McArdle and Roger Lloyd-Pack. The current cast also includes: The 2006 tour cast, accompanied by Roger Lloyd-Pack as the Narrator and author Richard O’Brien, performed the Time Warp live in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 22nd July 2006 as part of The Big Dance event and was broadcast on BBC1’s Dancing in the Street. See also
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