 Tim Curry (centre), as the film’s Frank-N-Furter, with his horny cronies.
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show probably has a bigger cult following than that of any other movie ever made. Every year on Hallowe'en night thousands of fans, in Montreal and across the globe, show their devotion by dressing-up as transvestites and flocking to movie theatres to do the "time warp again."
Everybody knows the story, if not from having seen it themselves then from a friend who certainly has. Brad Majors is driving to a friend's house with his fiancée Janet Weiss when suddenly the car breaks down and the couple has to walk to the nearest house and ask to use the phone. The house belongs to one Dr. Frank-N-Furter, whose fondness for leather girdles and underwear goes far beyond casual. With the help of his servants, Frank has learned how to create life for his own sexual purposes and is about to bring the life his "fine speciman of manhood" that very night. Brad and Janet get invited into Frank's house, and soon find themselves at the mercy of the evil transvestite's perverted fantasies.
Yes, it's a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. But with great music and campy dialogue, the movie became an instant box-office success and a cult classic. Of course, before the film came out, The Rocky Horror Show was a low-budget rock-musical production in England, with a cast that featured Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and Meatloaf as Eddie the delivery boy, whose brain is put inside the creation, Rocky. After the success of the movie, which featured role reprisals by both actors, and added the word "Picture" to the title, a revival was produced on Broadway, and soon productions mounted around the world.
A recent incarnation of the show was produced right here in Montreal, by Dariusz Entertainment. This marked the first time in twenty years that the show has come to this city. Producer Dariusz was looking to create a show that was "not based on the movie at all.." He expressed his distaste for the original version of the film by saying, "I didn't even like the movie."
During the auditions, Dariusz was far more interested on searching for musical talent than acting talent, and the truth is that, with the exception of Janet, whose voice was much whinier than one would have liked, the cast sang really well. The best voice, though, belonged to Keralea Pollock, who played Frank's chief servant, Magenta. Dariusz himself did a great job as Riff Raff, Magenta's brother and butler to the doctor.
