DON’T DREAM IT … SEE IT
THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK‘N’ROLL MUSICAL OPENS IN FEBRUARY WITH A BRAND SPANKING NEW PRODUCTION.
It’s astounding, time is fleeting and The Rocky Horror Show is back. We’re starting another sensation and we’re definitely not under sedation!
A new Australian production of the much-loved Rocky Horror Show will open Sydney’s brand new Star Theatre in February 2008 and tickets go on sale on Monday 27 August.
Co-Producer Paul Dainty, Chairman of Dainty Consolidated Entertainment says: “It’s a thrill to be bringing The Rocky Horror Show to the Australian stage. It is a timeless piece of theatre that has spanned decades. I know Australian audiences – both new and old fans – will love this show which stars some of our finest talents.”
“This fresh production is an exciting new take on the world’s favourite rock ‘n’ roll musical. It brings together the hottest cast I have seen for a long time” commented co-producer Howard Panter, Joint Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director of the UK’s Ambassador Theatre Group.
The Rocky Horror Show is an institution and one of theatre’s most endearing and outrageously fun shows.
Its well-known and much-loved storyline goes something like this: Squeaky-clean sweethearts Brad and Janet knock on the door of an eerie house to use the phone after their car breaks down in the rain on a dark and stormy night. Little do they know but they’ve just walked into a convention of beings from the planet Transsexual, led by the irrepressible leather-clad sweet transvestite Frank N Furter. What ensues is a night of music, mayhem and naughtiness where fantasy becomes reality.
The Rocky Horror Show made its debut at London’s internationally famous Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1973. While it’s essentially a rock’n’roll show it has also become an iconic brand and an entity unto itself which has defied the decades and continued to grow in popularity.
Millions of people all over the world have seen a production of The Rocky Horror Show and sung along to classics like I’m Just a Sweet Transvestite, Damn It Janet, I Can Make You A Man, Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me, Over At The Frankenstein Place and of course The Time Warp.
Rocky Horror writer Richard O’Brien wrote the musical stage show in three months and almost three and a half decades later it is still being produced around the globe.
“When you do something like Rocky, which is undefinable somehow, it always becomes difficult to lose that,” says the now 64-year-old writer, creator, actor and performer. “Not that I have any interest in saying goodbye to Rocky. I absolutely adore being involved and a part of something that is really a phenomenon. And I have no problems with that at all. If it overshadows anything else, I can understand completely why and again it doesn’t worry me.”
Why do people go and see this show? The answer is simple according to O’Brien: “It’s a guaranteed party”.
Next year’s Australian production opening in Sydney will star 2007 Helpmann Award winning Actor, ARIA-nominated singer/songwriter iOTA as the outrageous Frank N Furter and the muchloved Paul Capsis pulls out his best to play Riff Raff the butler. Tamsin Carroll, recently seen in Dusty, plays the maid Magenta and is joined by award-winning singer, dancer and actress Sharon Millerchip as Columbia. Mamma Mia! star Kellie Rode plays Janet and internationally accomplished singer and actor Michael Cormick will be Eddie, with more cast announcements expected soon.
The new production will be directed by award-winning director Gale Edwards whose credits include working in theatre, opera and television. She’s worked on projects as far ranging as the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, singer Delta Goodrem’s arena tour, The Boy From Oz, Sweeney Todd, Festen and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Multi-disciplined choreographer John O’Connell brings a wealth of experience to the production having worked with everyone from Baz Luhrmann on Moulin Rouge and PJ Hogan on Muriel’s Wedding to the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix).
The Rocky Horror Show has not been seen in Sydney for a decade and will be the debut production for the soon-to-be-opened Star Theatre, Star City.
“I cannot think of a better way to showcase the Star Theatre than by opening with The Rocky Horror Show which appeals to theatregoers of all ages,” says a delighted Walter Bugno, Chief Executive of Tabcorp’s Casinos Division. “The Star Theatre gives Sydney the new venue it needs for productions like the Rocky Horror where the audience want atmosphere, comfort and great views of the stage.”
While the original fans of The Rocky Horror Show are closer in age to the show’s creator, the show can proudly boast that it indeed now entertains three generations of fans. From the UK, across Europe, Africa, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, from local community productions to full-blown theatre shows, The Rocky Horror Show is always on stage somewhere in the world playing to teens through to those in their 60s.
The show has always attracted notable cast members and those who have put their hands on their hips and done plenty of pelvis-thrusting include: Reg Livermore, Craig McLachlan, Jason Donovan, Kate Fitzpatrick, Daniel Aberneri, Tim Curry, Tracey Ullman, RuPaul, Jerry Springer, David Arquette, rockers Joan Jett and Sebastian Bach, Russell Crowe and Luke Perry.
Thirty four years later, Rocky Horror fans and audiences are still going strong. Websites, fan clubs and annual conventions all over the world continue to foster an obsessive love for the show, its music and unusual characters.
Those fans still turn up to productions dressed in every version of an authentic to a home-made costume eager to laugh, sing along and add their two cents when requested. The Sydney season promises a rollicking night and the boldest bash of them all. So fish out the fishnets and sharpen those stilettos for the rockiest ride of your life and buy a ticket before madness takes its toll.
The Sydney season goes on sale on Monday 27 August so if you have voyeuristic intentions, you know what to do.
CALL
TICKETMASTER: 1300 795 267
PRESENTED BY AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP AND DAINTY CONSOLIDATED ENTERTAINMENT
ALL MEDIA ENQUIRIES:
SYDNEY: DIANNA O’NEILL PUBLICITY
(02) 9337 2288 or dioneill@ozemail.com.au
NATIONAL: KERRY O’BRIEN PUBLICITY
(03) 9596 9792 or kerry@kob.com.au
