Rocky Horror Turns 35 and It’s Still Rocking
It was the winter of ’74. I was bumming around the West End of London and wanted to see a show. I’d already taken in Jesus Christ Superstar. Most of the good shows were sold out or only had premium tickets which were way over my budget. A ticket office had a couple of cheap tickets for a fringe show in Chelsea. The guy selling them knew nothing about the show. Not able to get tickets for anything else, I payed the guy and went of to Chelsea to find the theater where the show was playing. The place looked more like a church about to be demolished than a theater and that was just from the outside. The hall itself was dark, and had scaffolding everywhere. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the roof caved in on us then and there. You could just about see the person sitting next to you, it was so dark. Suddenly I heard a scream from behind me. A guy with a nylon stocking over his face had sat down next to a girl and had put his arm on her shoulder. From around the hall I could hear similar screams as more girls were surprised my masked men. Then the hall went pitch black and there was a tremendous scream. The Rocky Horror Show had begun. At that time nobody had really heard of the show that starred transvestites from Transylvania, but history was in the making.
After the success in London, the play oped in New York. Critics and theater goers alike hated it. It was the typical case of British outlandish humor not suiting the American audience. Luckily, because of the success of the London play, a film was already in the making, and it was too late to cancel it. The film originally bombed and if not for a single event would probably have been buried and forgotten long ago. The film was withdrawn from its eight opening cities due to very small audiences, and its planned New York opening (on Halloween night) was canceled . Even Fox’s attempt to re-released it around college campuses on a double-bill with another failing rock music film parody called Phantom of the Paradise (directed by Brian De Palma) drew small audiences. Then because of the success of midnight showings of two other films; Pink Flamingo’s and Reefer Madness, Rocky was screened at a Midnight showing. Since then The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been the longest running movie in history and is still filling midnight showings today. A screening of Rocky is more of a cult fashion event than a visit to the movies. Many of the audience come dressed for the part, in outlandish costumes, and recite the dialog and song lyrics together with the actors on screen.
The Immortal Tim Curry
Live Performance



























