August 14,1975 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show opens

When I was in college in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, I had friends that returned from a year studying at The Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London who were all abuzz about this show they had scene multiple times at the 500-seat King’s Road Theatre (a former movie theatre) in London. It was titled, The Rocky Horror Show, a rock musical with a score and book by Richard O’Brien. They explained that it was a tribute to the science fiction and horror B-movies and it was unlike anything they had experienced.

It was set to open at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood and we bought tickets on the day they went on sale. This was in an era when you went to the theatre box-office and stood in line to purchase tickets; believe it or not, there was no Internet.

Lou Adler was a millionaire record and concert producer who saw the show in London. Acting on impulse and smelling a hit, he met the producers backstage and within 36 hours had secured the American theatrical rights.

The show premiered at the Roxy Theatre in L.A. on March 14, 1974, and I was there. The cast was all new except for Tim Curry, who had played Dr. Frank N. Furter in London’s original production. Originally, Curry had rehearsed his character with a German accent and peroxide blond hair, and later, with an American accent. But, he decided to play Dr. Frank N. Furter with an English accent after hearing to an English woman say: “Do you have a house in town or a house in the country?” and decided: “Yes, Dr. Frank N. Furter should sound like the Queen”.

The Rocky Horror Show blew my 20-year-old mind. The Roxy is a small venue and the actors were just a few feet away. Curry and company were absolutely delicious. I returned to see it three more times. In a zany tid-bit, Al Franken was running lights for the show during that run. It played to a full house for 10 months and a deal was made with 20th Century Fox for a film version.

In early 1975, Adler closed the show at the Roxy Theatre. This gave the actors time to return to the UK for the film version’s shoot. Adler decided to open it on Broadway just before the film’s release. It was anticipated that this production would be as successful as it was in London and L.A. and help stir up interest in the film. It was unsuccessful and it closed after just 45 performances.

It’s astonishing that Hollywood bought into it at all. The Rocky Horror Show had only played in small theatres, and it was amazing that they would use Tim Curry, who was not well known, and keep the show’s director, Jim Sharman, who had never made a film. The only imperative from 20th Century Fox was that the cast include some American actors. That’s why Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon were cast as Brad and Janet. The entire project almost got scrapped when there was a change of Studio head at Fox. Later, the film kept studio afloat for three years.

The film was shot in at Bray Studios outside London and on location at Oakley Court, a country estate known for its earlier use by Hammer Film Productions, the maker of a series of the best horror films of all time. Some of props and sets were recycled from the Hammer horror films. Although the film is both a parody and tribute to campy science fiction and horror films, Sue Blane, the costume designer, did not use the earlier films for inspiration and instead used Punk Rock fashions for her influence.

Now titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it was critically panned and a box-office dud after it was released on this very day in 1975. The film was withdrawn from its eight opening cities due to very small audiences, and its planned NYC opening on Halloween night was cancelled. Fox re-released the film on college campuses on a double-bill with another fabulous rock musical, Brian De Palma’s Phantom Of The Paradise (1974), but again, the audiences were small.

Because John Water’s Pink Flamingos (1972) and the wacky Reefer Madness (1936) were making money at weekend midnight showings, Fox Studio execs talked distributors into trying midnight screenings starting in NYC on April Fools’ Day 1976. It soon became known as a “midnight movie” after audiences began participating with the film at the Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village. Then, audiences around the country began attending late night showings where they talked back to the screen and dressed as the characters. They were soon performing alongside the film as a “shadow cast”, miming the actions onscreen while lip-syncing the character’s lines. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was not only playing in big cities, but also smaller cities and conservative small towns. Before long, nearly every screening of the film in every theatre was accompanied by a live fan cast.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is still in limited release more than four decades after its premiere. It is the longest-running theatrical release in Film History. It also has a huge large international following, playing at midnight in theatres all over the globe.

It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library Of Congress in 2005.

Photograph from 21st Century Fox

In my city, Portland, Oregon, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been playing at midnight on Saturday nights at The Clinton Street Theatre since 1978, making it one of the longest runs in the world.

Don’t Dream It; Be It!