The Stage

Rocky Horror stars reunite for Royal Court’s 50th birthday show

Published Thursday 4 May 2006 at 13:50 by Alistair Smith

Stars of the original 1973 production of the Rocky Horror Show have reunited on stage at the Royal Court Theatre, as part of the Royal Court’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Author and performer Richard O’Brien was joined by original cast members Patricia Quinn as Magenta, Nell Campbell as Columbia, and Rayner Bourton, who played Rocky in the first production, as the narrator. The special gala performance, which was in aid of Amnesty International, also featured appearances from Michael Ball and Anthony Head, who shared the role of Frank-n-furter, as well as Jamie Theakston, Toyah Willcox, Stephen Gately, Adrian Edmonson and Christopher Biggins among others.

O’Brien’s hit sci-fi musical was first staged at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs 33 years ago and was voted the Court’s most popular production in a pole sent out to 16,000 people on the venue’s mailing list, beating competition from works such as John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger.

The play first opened on June 16, 1973 and went on to win the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical that year. It ran at the Theatre Upstairs for five weeks and then transferred out of the Royal Court. Its run has continued ever since and it has been translated into ten different languages, including Hebrew and Icelandic.