The Idea.
In early 1970s London, Richard O’Brien was an actor and musician trying to catch a break. While working as an actor, O’Brien began conceiving a new edgy musical with a sexy twist. He sang an original song from this musical, “Science Fiction/Double Feature” at an EMI Christmas party in 1972, and shared the initial pages with director Jim Sharman, who saw great potential in the spooky and salacious unfinished script. The glam-punk-drag-rock aesthetic of the story was inspired by the canon of old school horror, sci-fi, and B-movie films that fascinated both O’Brien and Sharman.
Assembling the Team.
The dynamic duo convinced theatre and film producer Michael White (whose credits include Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and who is the subject of the documentary The Last Impresario) to back a three-week Off West End run at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, a small space geared towards experimental productions. Early in the casting process, O’Brien bumped into an acquaintance, Tim Curry, in front of a gym. O’Brien divulged that he was on a quest to find a muscleman to play Rocky in a musical-in-development. Curry, intrigued and inspired, auditioned with a wild punk rendition of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.” He was cast as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Richard O’Brien was convinced to originate the role of Riff-Raff, though he originally planned to play Eddie.
The Rehearsal Process.
The musical evolved throughout the fluid, collaborative rehearsal process. Early drafts were entitled They Came From Denton High and The Rock Hor-roar Show. Once rehearsals began, actors leaned into the show’s inherent playful nature and were given license to experiment. In the beginning of the process, Frank had a German accent, an ode to mad scientist archetypes. The character came into being physically and vocally later in rehearsals, with a pair of authoritative custom heels and a posh accent, an intentional glitter-rock wink to the Queen’s English. Once those aspects were established, Curry began delving into developing his character’s expansive, otherworldly sexuality and gender. Frank came into being as a villainous vixen.
The act of performing itself superseded a locked-in libretto. Legend has it that Time Warp (the musical’s hit dance number) was written mid-process in a pinch, purportedly to expand the duration.
Opening Night.
The Rocky Horror Show opened in June 1973. Legendary horror film actor Vincent Price was among those in attendance at the 63-seat theatre. Those present speak to his silhouette, sporadically illuminated by an electrical thunderstorm outside. The omen seemed to be as fitting as it was fortuitous. The theatre was staged as an old-time cinema by set designer Brian Thomson, with campy costumes designed by Susan Blane. The stage production was immersive from the start. An ensemble of Phantoms (who would later become Transylvanians) greeted the audience prior to the show with interactive group warm-ups and provided back-up vocals throughout the piece. Direct address, or breaking the fourth wall, was built into the experience. Frank’s entrance through the audience was electrifying. Cobwebs and flashlights heightened the haunted house feel.
The play was a smash, and the hype buzzed across London, attracting celebrities and repeat attendees, including David Bowie, who brought an entourage to multiple performances. Curry credits Bowie’s wife, Angie, with one of the first unmistakable audience outbursts, loudly responding to the show in real time. London critics praised the piece’s wild abandon. An iconic Hollywood music producer, Lou Adler, saw the London production and obtained the US rights for a stage production at his club The Roxy, as well as the film rights. Within a short six months after a hugely successful premiere, the production moved to Hollywood.
US Premiere.
On opening night at The Roxy in March 1974, searchlights beamed brightly. The Sunset Strip red carpet was rolled out for major stars like Elvis, Jack Nicholson, Roman Polanski, John Lennon and the Jaggers. The LA cast was all new apart from Tim Curry. The budget couldn’t carry everyone across the pond. According to Susan Sarandon, who saw the LA show, the audience dramatically gasped at Curry’s explosive runway entrance from the wings. The musical was well-received by the West Hollywood audience but got mixed critical reviews. While in LA, Fox inked a deal to turn the show into a low-budget film. At the time, it was arguably the most Queer film ever greenlit by a major studio.
The stage production ran for the better part of a year at The Roxy, then regrouped in England to shoot the film before it began a Broadway run. The intention was to use Broadway’s momentum to market the film. The Broadway production opened at the Belasco in March 1975, received lukewarm reviews, and ran for less than 50 shows. But on stages elsewhere, the show was slowly still going strong. The show was produced at the Chelsea Classic Cinema, the Kings Road Theatre, and eventually the West End, where it completed a seven-year stint. Despite some obstacles in the play’s early phases, The Rocky Horror Show has been produced in almost two dozen languages and seen by 30 million people.
Being It: Evolution to Film.
O’Brien and Sharman co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sharman retained his role of director, and O’Brien continued to deepen his portrayal of Riff-Raff. Sharman championed keeping much of the original London cast, despite interest from bigger stars. Curry was non-negotiable, despite rumors Mick Jagger wanted the part. Two new additions to the cast included Barry Bostwick (Brad), who had been nominated for a Tony Award™ for originating the role of Danny Zuko in Grease, and Susan Sarandon (Janet), who had never sung professionally before. Most of the actors on set had never done a film before.
The film used the original set and costume designers. Makeup went from DIY to a full concept by esteemed makeup designer Pierre LaRoche, famous for David Bowie’s lightning bolt. Elevating Frank with glitter-rock gold standard styling aimed to heighten both his absurdity and appeal. The team shot at Bray Studios, a location used in classic Hammer Horror films like The Brides of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein. The dilapidated Victorian-era castle, Oakley Court, was the perfect place to shoot, except that it had no heat and a leaky roof. Actors contracted pneumonia. It was a trying process at times, but the creative spark, and sparkles, kept them all going.
The order of songs was restructured for the film version. In the stage show, the opening song “Science Fiction- Double Feature” was sung by an usherette, Patricia Quinn (Magenta). The film version used Quinn’s lips with O’Brien’s voice. Quinn was bitter about losing her solo and threatened to quit before eventually acquiescing. The iconic image of the red lips was inspired by Man Ray’s 1936 painting Observatory Time: The Lovers. In fact, the film is peppered with references to high-brow art: like paintings American Gothic by Grant Wood, Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, and The Creation of Man by Michelangelo. There were also pop culture references: Columbia’s shoes are an ode to the The Wizard of Oz, and Rocky’s ascent up a radio tower is a nod to King Kong. The film changes the order of the songs “The Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite.” They cut Brad’s scene from the song “Over at Frankenstein Place.” Rocky’s lines were scraped from the film entirely. The song “Super Heroes” was cut when the film was released on the midnight circuit, and re-released when the film went to DVD in 2000.
The film sought to retain and enhance iconic elements of the stage production. Frank’s dramatic entrance through the crowd became a slow and suspenseful emergence from a vintage elevator. His intimate direct address moments were retained to bring the energy of the play to the screen. The film is a film, not a recorded stage play. It earns the Picture in Picture Show.
The film was released in September 1975, only a few months after the Broadway show closed. The original cinematic release was also a box office disappointment. It was pulled from theaters. But that was only the beginning of the film’s journey into cinematic history.
It’s Just a Party: The Cult Classic.
When the film premiered in September 1975 ticket sales were disappointing – and when it showed in college towns in February 1976, audiences were small, but devoted. Producers at Fox were almost ready to cut their losses. But some had a hunch that it just hadn’t found its audience yet.
Midnight movies were a relatively new offering. The witching hour was the perfect time for films that may have been overlooked or were too avant garde for mainstream audiences. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was re-released at the Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village in April 1976 in the midnight time slot. It was a sleeper hit. It made history not as a film, but as a happening. It became the ultimate cult classic.
Few movies truly embody the term cult classic like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The word cult is derived from Latin cultus meaning worship or adoration. Films within the canon have an “if you know you know” appeal. The West Village in the 1970s was the ideal market for all that was camp. (Camp is derived from French se camper meaning to strike a pose. The term was popularized by Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay Notes on Camp, referring to an ironic juxtaposition of high-brow and low-brow, particularly within Queer culture. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was as camp as you could get. ) This countercultural community was exactly where The Rocky Horror Picture Show resonated most. They got it. The film didn’t take itself too seriously, and neither did its audience.
And then it became a movement. The intimacy and informality of the midnight space allowed for more raucous audiences. Audience reactions to The Rocky Horror Picture Show were at first typical: applauding the heroes, and booing the villain. But they soon evolved into a ritualized, interactive element of the showing known as audience participation, or AP. People didn’t just watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show; they embodied it. Participating fans would dress up as characters, an early form of cosplay. They created a new vernacular, with cues for callbacks and props and preshow performances. Audiences sang-along and danced in the aisles. Many showings incorporated live synchronized performers, or shadow casts. Eventually, an AP album and guidebook were created. Audiences shared a cosmic camaraderie: a feeling that you’ve found your people. It was a rite of passage. At its height, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was playing on Friday and Saturday nights at midnight in over 250 theaters across the country. By the first anniversary of the cinematic release, signs were already emerging that the phenomenon was here to stay. A convention was organized by a 16-year old fan, complete with a costume competition. The film was released to VHS in 1990 for its 15th Transylversary. Rather than keeping audiences at home with their VCRs, the release introduced a wider group of prospective participants to the material. A new generation of fans was electrified.
Sharman once astutely reflected that while the play brought cinematic references into theatres, the film brought theatrical references into cinemas. It is within that interplay that the true beauty of Rocky Horror thrives, and how it attained the status of the longest-running theatrical release ever.
Sources:
Curry, Tim. Vagabond: A Memoir. Grand Central Publishing, 2025.
Goodman, Fred. Rock On Film: The Movies That Rocked The Big Screen. Running Press, 2022.
Hadleigh, Boze. The Lavender Screen: The Gay and Lesbian Films: Their Stars, Makers, Characters, and Critics. Citadel Press, 1993.
Piro, Sal and Larry Viezel. The Rocky Horror Treasury: A Tribute to the Ultimate Cult Classic Musical. Running Press, 2014.
Rock, Mick. Rocky Horror: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at The Cult Classic. Harper Pop, 2025.
Sontag, Susan. Notes on ‘Camp’. Penguin Books, 2018.
Wood, Jennifer M. The Curious Movie Buff: A Miscellany of Fantastic Films for the Past 50 Years. Weldon Owen, 2021.