Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/a>\u2019s<\/em> 1975 debut. \u201cThat was it. I was transformed. I didn\u2019t feel so alone. I felt like there was a place in this world for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\tFat Mike\u2019s sentiments were clearly shared by the audience, who gathered at the museums\u2019s Clive Davis Theater that evening to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em>. The intimate crowd was joined by Tim Curry, Lou Adler, and David Foster for a conversation on the cult film\u2019s generation-spanning impact, while Fat Mike moderated the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\tAs Curry, the \u201csweet transvestite\u201d Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film, entered the theater, fans rose to their feet, some teary, and cheered loudly. In a wheelchair since a 2012 stroke, the 89-year-old icon was still sharp as a tack \u2014 as numerous bon mots proved \u2014 with a vivid memory matched only by his dry humor. He joked about L.A. traffic, called the U.K.\u2019s Queen Camilla a \u201cfrump,\u201d and revealed that in the U.K. stage rehearsals, he initially was playing Frank-N-Furter with a German accent. Until, that is, Curry overheard a woman on the bus and had a lightbulb moment. \u201cI thought, \u2018That\u2019s the voice. That\u2019s who he really is. He\u2019s a hostess without any guests who wants to sound like the Queen and be like the Queen\u2026 or be a queen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tGratitude for the film\u2019s life \u2014 and lifestyle \u2014 affirming contributions and Curry\u2019s role as the over-the-top sexy mad scientist clad in satin panties and fishnet stockings \u2014\u00a0was shown from the both the audience and speakers, including The Rocky Horror<\/em> Picture Show<\/em> executive producer Adler, termed by Fat Mike as a \u201cvisionary, a California dreamer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tIt was at Adler\u2019s Roxy Theatre where the stage production made its U.S. debut in 1974, after Adler saw it in London at the urging of his then-wife, actress Britt Ekland.<\/p>\n
\n\tFoster, a 16-time Grammy-winning composer known for commercial songs and production for acts including Chicago, Michael Buble, and Celine Dion, spoke of his role as a 20-year-old keyboard player for the Sunset Strip production. \u201cMy whole experience with the Roxy Theatre, The Rocky Horror Show<\/em>, was such a phenomenon, such a big part of my life. And here we are, 50 years later, talking about it. So thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tFoster turned to his left, looking at Curry as he told the crowd, \u201cEvery night this man left it all on the stage. I watched it for one year and two weeks. And my God, the people that came to see this show, there\u2019s Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, Dustin Hoffman. I mean, the list of celebs was just phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat said, Curry and Adler, now 91, both recalled screening the film version for 20th Century Fox distribution. There was a stunned silence among the room\u2019s 60 or so executives when Curry revealed, \u201cWe crept out of the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tUltimately, Adler says, \u201cAlthough we never put any money, no marketing into it, the lines that were being said [to the screens by the audience] at the Waverly Theater in New York were being said in Austin, and in Cleveland, they were just natural.\u201d A literal word of mouth.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was a teacher named Louis Farese Jr. who was apparently the first to talk back to the screen, Adler said, yelling to Janet (Susan Sarandon), \u201cBuy an umbrella, you cheap bitch.\u201d The called-out responses to the screen and the \u201cshadow cast\u201d who act out favorite characters in movie theaters were simply a \u201cnatural instinct.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tThis fan fanaticism and interaction that led to its midnight-movie cult status have helped make The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em> the longest-running theatrical release in history. With a blend of high camp, pre-punk, and equal parts parody and tribute to science fiction, horror films, and music of the 1950s, the film more than earned its place in the Library of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\tIt even influenced the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and Curry recalled her and Prince Charles attending a stage play he was in post-Rocky Horror. \u201cThey wanted to meet us, so we all lined up. She was introduced to me, and she said: \u2018You were in the Rocky Horror Show<\/em>,’\u201d said Curry. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018Yes, well, I don\u2019t suppose you saw it, ma\u2019am.\u2019 And she said, \u2018Indeed, I did. It quite completed my education.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tRichard O\u2019Brien, creator and composer of the musical play the film is based on (and who also featured as Riff Raff on-screen), wasn\u2019t on the evening\u2019s panel, but all agreed that it was his songs, arising from a genuine love and knowledge of early British rock and glam, that proved a major hook.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think the difference in Hair<\/em> and Jesus Christ Superstar<\/em> is that the writers were trying to write rock and roll. They were theater writers. And Richard, he was the source,\u201d says Adler. \u201cHe was the truth. He loved rock and roll, and he was able to make it so the play didn\u2019t stop for the song, it just kept it moving along. It was the storyline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tAs for a revelation that still demands further clarification? Both Curry and Adler recalled O\u2019Brien telling them that the song title that also serves as the film\u2019s de facto soul\/motto \u2014 \u201cDon\u2019t Dream It, Be It\u201d \u2014 was nicked from an advertisement. However, no one seemed to remember just what product it was promoting.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThose words \u2014 \u2018Don\u2019t Dream It, Be It\u2019 \u2014 gave me the courage to live my life exactly how I wanted to, and I have,\u201d Fat Mike said. \u201cIf I never saw Rocky Horror<\/em>, I don\u2019t want to think what my life would be like now, and how many other millions of people feel the same way. Who would have ever dreamed that a movie could mean so much to so many people? Well, the people on stage,\u201d he said, looking to the panel. \u201cThey did. They realized it. They didn\u2019t just change millions of people\u2019s lives. They fucking saved millions of people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tCurry, who released his Vagabond: A Memoir <\/em>this month, proved gracious in answering questions from audience members \u2014 one of whom was crying, while another woman said, \u201cWhen I first saw you come down that elevator [in the film] when I was 14 years old, I thought you were the most beautiful creature I\u2019d ever seen. Looking at you today, I feel the exact thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tThe rapt audience cheered Curry again as the panelists considered the film\u2019s legacy, and what its status might be another 50 years hence. \u201cIt seems that whenever the Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em> is needed because of some social situation, it rears its head,\u201d Adler said. \u201cAnd I think it always will. When it is needed \u2014 as we are aware of today \u2014\u00a0it\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen the forces of conservatism get too strong,\u201d Curry chimed in. \u201cA friend of mine in England sent me an email saying, \u2018Why are you still living there [in America]? How is it to live underneath the Tangerine Messiah?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs for his personal legacy, Curry decried his singing and dancing talents while the audience volubly protested. \u201cI think it\u2019s [Rocky Horror<\/em>], because it\u2019s unavoidable that it should be,\u201d he concluded. \u201cBut I\u2019m very, very proud of it. So if it is my legacy, I\u2019m very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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