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Hot patootie, bless our souls! The Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show has revealed the astounding all-star team that has been assembled for the cult classic musical’s upcoming Broadway revival, part of Roundabout Theatre Company’s current season on the Main Stem.
As previously announced, Luke Evans (who played Gaston in the 2017 Beauty and the Beast film) will take on the iconic role of Frank-N-Furter, under the watchful eye of director Sam Pinkleton (Oh, Mary!).
Newly revealed to be joining him are Rachel Dratch (POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, SNL) as the Narrator, Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw) as Brad, Amber Gray (Eureka Day, Hadestown) as Riff Raff, Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Eddie/Dr. Scott, Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once, SpongeBob SquarePants) as Janet, Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets, Cape Fear) as Magenta, Josh Rivera (American Sports Story, West Side Story) as Rocky, and Golden Globe winner Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Loot, Pose, Rent) as Columbia.
The cast will also include Renée Albulario, Anania, Boy Radio, Caleb Quezon, Andres Quintero, Larkin Reilly, Paul Soileau, and John Yi.
The production will feature an eye popping 8 Broadway debuts, with Guillén, Lewis, Rivera, Rodriguez, Anania, Boy Radio, Quezon, and Soileau all making their Broadway debut. The production will also welcome the stage return of Hsu, following her ascent to screen stardom.
The Richard O’Brien musical will begin previews March 26, ahead of an April 23 opening night at Studio 54. The show is a limited engagement through June 21.
Said Tony-winning director Pinkleton in a previous statement: “I’m giddy to crack this untamable classic open with the razor-sharp Luke Evans at the center. And I hope to do at Studio 54 what The Rocky Horror Show has done for people around the world for decades—open a dimension to another possible reality. It seriously is the honor of a lifetime to bring the freakiest people I’ve ever met into the freakiest theatre I’ve ever been in to revisit the freakiest show there’s ever been. No pressure, of course. Rocky Horror is, to me, a sublime, ridiculous, giant-hearted act of love—a trashy little musical that means so many things to generations of tender weirdos with mascara streaming down their faces. I hope we can make something joyous, unfathomable, straight from outer space and I can’t wait to welcome, really WELCOME you into the slimy tentacles of Studio 54.”
The production has also announced its creative team. The staging will feature choreography by Ani Taj (Dead Outlaw), music direction and orchestrations by Kris Kukul (Beetlejuice), set design by Tony Award nominee dots (Oh, Mary!), costume design by David I. Reynoso (Water for Elephants), lighting design by Tony winner Jane Cox (Appropriate), sound design by Tony winner Brian Ronan (Beautiful), and hair and wig design by Alberto “Albee” Alvarado (The Outsiders), and make-up design by Sterling Tull (No Glow, Love Island USA), with Bryan Bauer (Oh, Mary!, Mother Play) as the production stage manager.
Said creator O’Brien in a previous statement: “It is music to my ears to hear that a cast of very fine actors is on its way to NYC in order to play let’s dress-up and make-believe, sing and dance and uplift the hearts of all those who enjoy the gift of free-thinking and the pleasure of love. Break out the fishnets and let’s have a party.”
READ: Richard O’Brien on 50 Years of The Rocky Horror Show and Its Impact on the Queer Community
The Rocky Horror Show first premiered in London at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on June 19, 1973. It moved to several other locations, and ran a cumulative 2,960 performances, closing in 1980. The musical follows a straight-laced couple, Brad and Janet, who stumble upon a spooky house on a rainy night, and become attracted to the strange denizens who live within—particularly Frank-N-Furter, a gender non-conforming mad scientist. The show’s rock-influenced score include the crowd-pleasing songs “Sweet Transvestite, “The Timewarp,” “Dammit Janet,” and “Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me.”
After London, Rocky Horror played in Los Angeles in 1974, where it ran for nine months. Its 1975 Broadway debut was not as successful, receiving mixed reviews and running for only three previews and 45 showings.
But it was the film adaptation of Rocky Horror, called The Rocky Horror Picture Show, that truly propelled the musical into legendary status. Starring creator O’Brien as Riff Raff and Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter (reprising his stage performance), as well as Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, the film has been playing in movie theatres since 1975, with fans attracted to its message of sexual and gender acceptance. The property’s cultural impact was recently explored in the new documentary Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, created by Richard O’Brien’s son, Linus.
The Virgin’s Guide to Rocky Horror Callouts
The Rocky Horror Show had a Broadway revival in 2000 and a West End revival in 2023. It’s also a favorite of regional theatres. The production estimates that the stage version has been seen by over 40 million people in some 15 languages.
Rocky Horror will be the final show in Roundabout’s 2025–26 season, which also includes Fallen Angels starring Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne, Oedipus starring Olivier winners Mark Strong and Lesley Manville, Rajiv Joseph’s new play Archduke, and Alex Lin’s Chinese Republicans.
Visit RoundaboutTheatre.org.
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