One film, released in the 1970s, surprised everyone by having a cultural impact far greater than its initial run in theaters would have suggested. The way it inspired a fervent cult audience changed popular culture forever. And though many have tried to capture the same kind of lightning in a bottle, none have succeeded so totally. Am I talking about Star Wars? The Exorcist? Jaws?
No, I’m talking about The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The story starts on the stage. Richard O’Brien, a struggling British actor, wrote the musical in the early 1970s. The show reflected his obsession with cheap sci-fi and horror films, glam rock, and the libertine energy of swinging London. This unlikely combo of influences was an immediate hit with Chelsea audiences, who went wild for Tim Curry’s portrayal of the mad doctor Frank-N-Furter. The Rocky Horror Show would eventually play 2,960 performances in London. In 1974, it made the leap across the Atlantic to play at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. That’s when a young Barry Bostwick first encountered the role that would make him famous. “We had seen Tim on stage at the Roxy, doing the play, and I had two or three friends in that cast,” says Bostwick.
Bostwick had originated the role of Danny Zuko in Grease on Broadway, which earned him a Tony nomination. When rumors of a Jesus Christ Superstar-like film adaptation started swirling around the cult hit, he and his friend Susan Sarandon got the call. “I didn’t have to audition; they just gave it to me,” he recalls. “The casting director had seen some things I’ve been in earlier, and he was a powerhouse in Hollywood at the time. He actually put Susan and I together for a meet and greet with the people. We went in and just said hello, and then they asked Susan to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ because she was very shy about singing. She did it, and the next thing I know, we’re on a plane for London.”
Bostwick and Sarandon played Brad and Janet, the normie couple whose car breaks down outside Frank-N-Furter’s castle, where they are pulled into a world of extremely weird — but totally free — freaks.
Unlike the play, the film took a while to catch on, until a 20th Century Fox executive decided to take a chance on midnight screenings, where fare like Pink Flamingos attracted young audiences. One theater at a time, the word spread. “It was very countercultural,” says Bostwick. “The AIDS epidemic was starting up, so if you were gay, you were afraid all the time. We created, and I think I still create, a safe space to basically just let it all hang out and have some fun in an era that was fraught with danger. Because of that, the LGBTQ world took it into their heart. In the beginning, they created a Rocky Horror Party, seeing it on a Friday and Saturday night at the Waverly in New York.”
The cult grew, and as audiences returned week after week, they started dressing up as the characters, talking back to the screen, and bringing props. Newbies underwent a “virgin ceremony” to be introduced into the fold. “Sal Piro was the first guy to stand up and try to bring some order to the weird chaos that was going on,” says Bostwick. “He became the head of the fan club and was actually, I think, responsible for making the audiences love this movie so much that it became something more than the movie. They are the participants, and we are in the background. It’s all about the audience, and them having fun. Disney says that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. Well, I think that being at a Rocky Horror show on a Friday or Saturday night is the happiest place on earth because there’s no judgment there. Everybody’s accepted. And you get to throw crap around!”
The Rocky Horror Picture Show has never really been out of release. Every weekend, there’s a screening somewhere, usually with a live shadow cast playing the parts in front of the screen. It’s considered the longest-running film in cinema history. On October 3rd, Bostwick will headline a 50th anniversary screening at the Orpheum Theatre. Memphis Rocky Horror shadow cast troupe Absent Friends will be on hand, as well as memorabilia, a costume contest, and more. “Rocky has changed lives, not just ours, and had a profound effect on how we accept our differences in this world,” says Bostwick. “We were fitted for our corsets and high heels and enthusiastically started singing songs that have endured for all these years. And ‘dammit, Janet!’ I have made nerds cool.”