TIME LINE OF EVENTS
1973
First showing of Rocky Horror at the Royal Court Upstairs in Sloane Square London. Later in the year it transferred to the Classic Cinema, Kings Road Theatre. The show lasted for 2960 performances and closed September 13th 1980.
1974
First showing in the US at the Roxy Theatre for 9 months
On October 23rd 1974 filming for the Rocky Horror Picture Show started.
1975
March 10th was the beginning of the shows run on Broadway, in Belasco Theatre and had a short run until April 5th 1975.
In august later that year was the world wide premier of the film.
On September 29th the film was released in the US.
1976, 1677
The fan base started to grow and the film and musical began to build a cult fan base and following. Mid night showings came into fashion and people began dressing as the characters at these events.
1978
Richard O'Brien started work on the sequel ( Shock Treatment)
1979
The soundtrack was released in the US.
1980
The film had its 5th anniversary and the filming of 'Shock Treatment' started.
1981
Shock Treatment aired in theatres.
1985
Rocky Horror has its 10th anniversary at the Beacon Theatre.
1993
The film 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' was broadcast on Fox TV in HD with audience participation edited into it.
2000
The films 15th anniversary
2006
Rocky Horror has a new tour around the UK playing popular theatres in the west end and outer London locations.
2010
In 2010 the Fox TV programme 'Glee' aired a Rocky Horror episode featuring the most popular songs from the show.
http://www.rockyhorror.com/history/timeline.php - Link to timeline
Independent research
Carry On Screaming and B Movie research
‘Carry On Screaming’ is a 1966 horror/ detective film pastiche, directed by Gerald Thomas and stars Kenneth Williams and Fenella Fielding. The film holds many similarities to ‘Rocky Horror’. The film opens with a song explaining the plot using other horror film quotes to entertain the audience and give them a clue as to what is going to happen in the film. Similarly in ‘Rocky Horror’ the show opens with ‘Science Fiction Double Feature’, sang by Richard O’Brien, which explains the story of the show by using B movie names/ plot lines and famous actors to initially interest the audience.
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| CARRY ON SCREAMING BMOVIE POSTER |
The film then goes only to show a young innocent couple, who speak with lots of hidden innuendos, this is typical of the style of film and this is the same in ‘Rocky Horror’. The show opens with Brad and Janet, a young innocent couple, also speaking in similar innuendos. By the end of the show Brad and Janet change and become dirty and influenced by what they have seen and done, as do the characters in ‘Carry on’.
In ‘Rocky Horror’ Brad and Janet stumble across Frank n Furter place and a monotone servant (Riff Raff) opens the door to reveal an expensive yet aged open entrance area. The exact same happens in the parody horror: ‘Carry On Screaming’, the butler Socket answers the door and speaks in an RP monotone accent. These stereotypical characters appear in many pastiche style horror films , including the character of Magenta in 'Rocky Horror' who is clearly very parallel to the mistress in 'Carry On Screaming'.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060214/ - Link to Carry on screaming context
For our upcoming production of ‘The Rocky Horror show’ I have been given the roll of choreographing the song ‘Make you a man’. The song is in act 1 and features mostly everyone in the show, but focuses on Rocky (Nehemie) and Frank (Myself). The song is Frank telling the story of Rocky and all the things he expects of Rocky, for example: ‘He’ll do press-ups and chin ups, do the snatch clean and jerk.’ Before going into the studio and choreographing something alongside Nehemie, I wanted to have an idea of how I wanted it to look. I needed to consider everyone who was onstage, not just myself and Nehemie. So I thought about how I could include everyone in a subtle way so that it didn’t distract from what the audience needed to focus on (me and Nehemie). I watched the film version of the song as well as many live versions to get an idea of they incorporated everyone into the song. This was helpful as this gave me the idea to have everyone doing one simple movement during the chorus. I decided on the whole company lifting their arms gradually up into a ‘flexing/ muscle man’ pose on the lyrics: “Make you a ma- a- a - a -an” This would look in sync and appropriate for the song. I thought about some similar corresponding moves for Nehemie and myself to do to match lyrics of the song and help tell the story. I came up with these myself by using the script and annotating off of the lyrics. For example on the words: “Will get sand in his face, when kicked to the ground”, I touched Nehemie's face and kicked her across the stage. It made the peace more comical and easier for the audience to see the relationship between Rocky and Frank.
Something I have be
en working on in my own time at home is characterisation. I have mainly been focusing on how to be a woman who is playing a man who dresses up as a woman, this is a really hard task and was a challenge I knew I would face when taking on this role. To make the process easier for myself I have been watching many different versions of Rock Horror: The 1975 film version with Tim Curry, The Glee episode with Amber Riley and various stage versions, my favourite one which I feel inspired my character the most was the production with David Badella. I found this a useful task, as I was able to take inspiration from each of their interpretations of the character. I found watching Amber Riley the most useful as she was a female playing a males part which is exactly what I had to do. Something she did the feminise the character is change the ways she sang the song ‘Sweet Transvestite’ and how she moved on stage. She gave the song a sassier feel and sang it up the octave, I would like to do the same when I play the role, as I feel that with the combination of this and the inspiration I have pulled from other performances it will give me an original take on the character. Further more, another thing I did to create a believable character was hot seating in my acting lessons. We sat down and were questioned as our characters, to try and build more depth and dimension into our characters personality. This was a great task for making a character, as it will help me with my reactions and improvised moments in songs.
Interviews with the cast of 'Rocky Horror Picture show'
LGBT Rights and Rocky Horror
In the 1960s LGBT people had very few rights. Although in 1966 The Beaumont Society was set up to educate and inform the general public and medical professionals on 'Transvestitism'. The society had great success and is the UKs longest running support system for transgender people and their family unit. It is also the largest support group and helps thousands of people every year. The community gained this huge form of support at the time but just 3 years later an event took place that changed the LGBT community and their fight for equality ; The Stonewall Riots ( SEE FURTHER DOWN).
After the Stonewall Riots the 'Gay Liberation Front' (GLF) was founded in 1971 and from this the first pride march took place in 1972. The GLF encouraged gay, lesbian and trans people to come out and engage in radical direct action, and to count term societal shame with gay pride. In 1971 their manifesto spoke to all people oppressed the LGBT community and their feelings on being mistreated, it was obvious that their anger was enough to begin fighting for their rights. GLF was taken over by CHE: 'Campaign For Homosexuality Equality' and they led the new legal reform.
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| MAGENTA- ROCKY HORROR |
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| VALERIA- CARRY ON SCREAMING |
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| SOCKET- CARRY ON SCREAMING |
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| RIFF RAFF- ROCKY HORROR |
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060214/ - Link to Carry on screaming context
Characteristics of a B Movie
- Horror or SiFi elements with unbelievable or dramatic story lines.
- Usually in black and white due to the period it was made in.
- The films had a cheap budget with cheap sets and B list actors.
- Each film has the same cartoon bright font and dramatic music in the opening titles.
- Normally the movies contain a formal dramatic narrative voice.
- Women are usually shown as the damsel in distress and the films feature a lot of characters screaming.
- B Movies were typically short as they would be played before the main feature or A list movie at the cinema.
Characteristics of B Movie poster
- Bright, garish colours with cartoon fonts and giant monsters killing people.
- The woman is always shown being killed in minimal clothing and being attacked.
- The poster also has cringe and obvious tag lines which give away the plot of the movie.
http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/b-movies.jsp - Link to Bmovie research
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| ROCKY HORROR BMOVIE STYLE POSTER |
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| TARANTULA BMOVIE POSTER |
http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/b-movies.jsp - Link to Bmovie research
Character and Choreography research
For our upcoming production of ‘The Rocky Horror show’ I have been given the roll of choreographing the song ‘Make you a man’. The song is in act 1 and features mostly everyone in the show, but focuses on Rocky (Nehemie) and Frank (Myself). The song is Frank telling the story of Rocky and all the things he expects of Rocky, for example: ‘He’ll do press-ups and chin ups, do the snatch clean and jerk.’ Before going into the studio and choreographing something alongside Nehemie, I wanted to have an idea of how I wanted it to look. I needed to consider everyone who was onstage, not just myself and Nehemie. So I thought about how I could include everyone in a subtle way so that it didn’t distract from what the audience needed to focus on (me and Nehemie). I watched the film version of the song as well as many live versions to get an idea of they incorporated everyone into the song. This was helpful as this gave me the idea to have everyone doing one simple movement during the chorus. I decided on the whole company lifting their arms gradually up into a ‘flexing/ muscle man’ pose on the lyrics: “Make you a ma- a- a - a -an” This would look in sync and appropriate for the song. I thought about some similar corresponding moves for Nehemie and myself to do to match lyrics of the song and help tell the story. I came up with these myself by using the script and annotating off of the lyrics. For example on the words: “Will get sand in his face, when kicked to the ground”, I touched Nehemie's face and kicked her across the stage. It made the peace more comical and easier for the audience to see the relationship between Rocky and Frank.
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en working on in my own time at home is characterisation. I have mainly been focusing on how to be a woman who is playing a man who dresses up as a woman, this is a really hard task and was a challenge I knew I would face when taking on this role. To make the process easier for myself I have been watching many different versions of Rock Horror: The 1975 film version with Tim Curry, The Glee episode with Amber Riley and various stage versions, my favourite one which I feel inspired my character the most was the production with David Badella. I found this a useful task, as I was able to take inspiration from each of their interpretations of the character. I found watching Amber Riley the most useful as she was a female playing a males part which is exactly what I had to do. Something she did the feminise the character is change the ways she sang the song ‘Sweet Transvestite’ and how she moved on stage. She gave the song a sassier feel and sang it up the octave, I would like to do the same when I play the role, as I feel that with the combination of this and the inspiration I have pulled from other performances it will give me an original take on the character. Further more, another thing I did to create a believable character was hot seating in my acting lessons. We sat down and were questioned as our characters, to try and build more depth and dimension into our characters personality. This was a great task for making a character, as it will help me with my reactions and improvised moments in songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc80tFJpTuo - Link to Tim Curry's performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykNoieU2IwQ&t=2659s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykNoieU2IwQ&t=2659s - Link to David Badella's performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2wiWyz0qxo - Link to Glee performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Guax8LI5_p8 - Link to Oliver Thornton performance
Makeup, costume and props
As my secondary role I have been allocated to design my own makeup and costume. I have taken on similar roles to this in other smaller productions throughout the year and been successful, and this was something I wanted to do again. To begin the process of designing I watched the film to see how Tim Curry was painted to become Frank and I looked at a YouTube tutorial of a more natural Frank look. I took inspiration from both looks and created my own version of Franks iconic look. I kept the style very similar with the bold red lip and dark eyes, however to make the look more comical and highlight the fact that I am supposed to be a man I drew on a fake moustache/ stubble/ shadow. This helped me become the character even more and also made it more obvious to the audience that I wasn't supposed to be a woman. I wanted to keep my hair down and in messy curls as this is how a lot of Franks have been styled in the past and I wanted to keep this true to the aesthetic. I designed my ideal makeup look and had a plan to block out my eyebrows however I changed my mind about this, just before as I wanted to make the look more unique and suited to me.
My costume was easy to put together, as I had a lot off the items myself at home. I chose to keep the costume similar to the costumes I had seen in stage productions and the film. I designed 2 costumes one for the whole show and one for the final few scenes which is more sexy and outrageous. I chose to wear all black to look dark yet sleek and then for my final costume I added accents of red to hint at: blood, death, sex and glamour. This also would make me stand out from the rest of the cast and highlight that I am Frank.
For the production, I wasn't planning on helping with set and props. However our technical director: Adam Billing realised he was going to need some assistance building the props and set. I helped paint the car, which would be featured in the first scene of the show and I also helped paint blocks which would later be constructed into the machine inside Franks Lab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kft-TAK7QeQ - Link to makeup tutorial
My costume was easy to put together, as I had a lot off the items myself at home. I chose to keep the costume similar to the costumes I had seen in stage productions and the film. I designed 2 costumes one for the whole show and one for the final few scenes which is more sexy and outrageous. I chose to wear all black to look dark yet sleek and then for my final costume I added accents of red to hint at: blood, death, sex and glamour. This also would make me stand out from the rest of the cast and highlight that I am Frank.
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| INITIAL DESIGNS |
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| INITIAL DESIGNS |
For the production, I wasn't planning on helping with set and props. However our technical director: Adam Billing realised he was going to need some assistance building the props and set. I helped paint the car, which would be featured in the first scene of the show and I also helped paint blocks which would later be constructed into the machine inside Franks Lab.
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| SPRAY PAINTING THE BLOCKS |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kft-TAK7QeQ - Link to makeup tutorial
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| MY DESIGN OF MY FRANK MAKEUP |
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| SUSAN SARANDON, PATRICIA QUINN AND MEATLOAF INTERVIEWS |
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| RICHARD O'BRIEN AND TIM CURRY INTERVIEW |
LGBT Rights and Rocky Horror
In the 1960s LGBT people had very few rights. Although in 1966 The Beaumont Society was set up to educate and inform the general public and medical professionals on 'Transvestitism'. The society had great success and is the UKs longest running support system for transgender people and their family unit. It is also the largest support group and helps thousands of people every year. The community gained this huge form of support at the time but just 3 years later an event took place that changed the LGBT community and their fight for equality ; The Stonewall Riots ( SEE FURTHER DOWN).
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| BEAUMONT CURRENT LOGO |
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| GLF AT THE FIRST PRIDE MARCH |
In 2001 in England The Age of Consent was equalised for both homosexual and heterosexual sex. Furthermore, in Scotland and Wales 16 also became the legal age of consent for both hetero and homosexual relationships. despite this advance, equality was still unjust. Many years prior to this (1988) Section 28 of 'The Local Government Act' banned authorities from promoting homosexuality and prohibited councils from funding resources for education that promoted homosexuality. The wedge between the public and government had been put in place and the general public, as well as LGBT people were now at risk of being uneducated and without help. Although this was reapealed in
2003 and current prime minister David Cameron apologised for the legislation in 2009. In 2004 Civil Partnerships were made legal and in 2013 Gay Marriage was made legal in England and Wales. It is year to be legalised in Northern Ireland but was made legal in Scotland in 2014. To support the transgender community further The Gender Recognition act gave trans people full legal recognition of their gender and allowed them to legally change their name and gender on birth certificates and passports. Since then the LGBT communities rights have only grown and pride parades continue all over the world. Although in some areas of the world it remains illegal to be LGBT.
The Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall Riots were also referred to as: The Stonewall Uprisings. They were a series of violent attacks involving the police and gay rights activists on June 28th 1969 at The Stonewall Inn (a gay bar) in Greenwich Village, NYC. From these riots in New York, the Gay Rights movement was born.
The Stonewall Inn was a well known hang out place for those of the LGBT community and in the early hours of Saturday June 28th, 9 police officers entered the Inn and carried out homophobic attacks on those in the bar area. However instead of giving into the hatred and violence the peopele inside Stonewall fought back. The started the legacy and fight fir LGBT rights around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9wdMJmuBlA - Link to Stonewall video
Glam Rock
2003 and current prime minister David Cameron apologised for the legislation in 2009. In 2004 Civil Partnerships were made legal and in 2013 Gay Marriage was made legal in England and Wales. It is year to be legalised in Northern Ireland but was made legal in Scotland in 2014. To support the transgender community further The Gender Recognition act gave trans people full legal recognition of their gender and allowed them to legally change their name and gender on birth certificates and passports. Since then the LGBT communities rights have only grown and pride parades continue all over the world. Although in some areas of the world it remains illegal to be LGBT.
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| LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT SECTION 28 |
The Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall Riots were also referred to as: The Stonewall Uprisings. They were a series of violent attacks involving the police and gay rights activists on June 28th 1969 at The Stonewall Inn (a gay bar) in Greenwich Village, NYC. From these riots in New York, the Gay Rights movement was born.
The Stonewall Inn was a well known hang out place for those of the LGBT community and in the early hours of Saturday June 28th, 9 police officers entered the Inn and carried out homophobic attacks on those in the bar area. However instead of giving into the hatred and violence the peopele inside Stonewall fought back. The started the legacy and fight fir LGBT rights around the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9wdMJmuBlA - Link to Stonewall video
Glam Rock
Glam Rock, also known as ‘Glitter Rock’, was a movement that began in Britain during the 70s. The movement was a celebration of free will and celebrated rock stars and rock concerts, it involved male rock stars wearing typically feminine clothing or makeup on stage whilst performing or on album covers. The movement was heavily inspired by punk rock and the exaggerated makeup and style of this genre. Glam Rock was fighting against main stream rock, almost as a rival to the original style of traditional rock.
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| TYPICAL 70'S GLAM ROCK FASHION |
David Bowie
David Bowie, iconic English rock star, known as Ziggy Stardust (his glam rock alter ego), was a huge part of the Glam Rock movement. Born in 1947 and died in 2016, David Bowie often performed as Ziggy Stardust, wearing outrageous clothing and covered from head to toe in glitter. As his alter ego came into light, Bowie also revealed that he was gay and in 1972 he released ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars’. The album sky rocketed his career and a new age of rock was born, with wild costumes which reflected an extraterrestrial/ futuristic vision. The album explored themes of secular exploration and taboos in society at the time. The iconic lighting bolt makeup look is the most recognisable Glam Rock look to a lot of people, this was shown on Bowie’s album: ‘Aladdin Sane’.
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| BOWIE'S 1972 ALBUM: 'THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS' |
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| BOWIE'S ICONIC LOOK ON THE COVER OD HIS ALBUM: 'ALADDIN SANE' |
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| DAVID BOWIE AS HIS GLAM ROCK ALTER EGO: ZIGGY STARDUST |
Rocky Horror and Glam Rock
It is obvious that Rocky Horror has a lot of Glam Rock influence, from the music to the characters to the story line. Frank wears female clothing and heavy drag style makeup, as well as being sexually experimental and outrageous. The musical as a whole was iconic for promoting sexual freedom and liberation, this correlates with the fluidity and promotion of sexuality and sex in Glam Rock performers and music. Rocky Horror is a rock musical with tricky vocal lines and story telling throughout the songs. This style is seen in Glam Rock, especially in David Bowie’s 1972 album ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ which includes songs telling stories of an alien future. Aliens are a theme projected into both Rocky Horror and Glam Rock, with the residents at Frankenstein place turn out to be aliens and the futuristic fashion shown in Rock.
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| TIM CURRY, PATRICIA QUINN AND NELL CAMPBELL POSING LIKE A GLAM ROCK BAND |
https://www.biography.com/musician/david-bowie - Link to Glam Rock research
https://www.vam.ac.uk/
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALL RESEARCH AND VIDEO LINKS 
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