The original London production of The Rocky Horror Show premiered at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on 19 June 1973 and, since then, it has rarely been away. If it’s not on tour here in the UK, it is probably on, yet another, world tour – such is the incredible success of Richard O’Brien’s science fiction masterpiece.
The show is currently touring the UK until June 2022 and then, you guessed it, it’s off around the world again but, before he flies off with the show into the distance, I managed to have a chat with Dr Frank-N-Furter himself – the very lovely Stephen Webb – ahead of the tour heading to Theatre Royal Brighton from Monday 29th November.
I started by asking Stephen what it’s like to be back in the role that he started before the first lockdown…
It’s great to be back and I am really excited to be coming to Brighton because that was the “birthplace” for me as Frank-N-Furter and, for that, it will always be so special for me. We opened the tour there with a really long 5 week run, over Christmas, and then we headed out on the 2019 tour for the next 16 months! It is so great to be back out there and doing the Time Warp again, after such a long time away.
Tell me this Stephen, Rocky is rapidly heading for its 50th birthday – How does it stay so incredibly fresh and new every time we see it?
I think that what Richard O’Brien created was way ahead of its time. People keep coming back, again and again, not just for the brilliant songs and the iconic roles, but it’s also because the show allows the audience to be whoever they want to be. The way that we see things now in society with gender fluidity and people not being happy to be labelled as one thing or another, Frank’s been living that life all along. Society has finally caught up.
Well yes, because long before they invented words like Pansexual and Metrosexual, Frank was living that life!
Oh yes, and he still is. Frank-N-Furter is not one sex or the other. He is everyone, and I really try and play him like that. If you play him just as one sex, he’s not going to be attractive to about half the audience. So, I always try and play him as both because he can be whoever you want him to be in the bedroom darling!
When you are wandering around in those fabulous shoes of yours, they are iconic shoes that have had very famous feet in them. Do you try and emulate Tim Curry or are you, Stephen Webb?
The thing is, when I got cast in the role, before I started rehearsals, I went out for dinner with my Director, Christopher Luscombe and also with Richard O’Brien. The pair of them both said to me that they wanted to see me as Frank not me as Tim Curry as Frank because if I tried to copy Tim, people would then compare me directly to him. So I have gone into the show, taken on the role, and tried to put my own stamp on Frank – and it seems to have done the trick.
I must admit, when I first put on the wig and the corset, the suspenders and the heels I looked at myself in the mirror and I couldn’t see myself at all. It was like my alter-ego and that was my version of Frank. Don’t get me wrong, Tim Curry is so iconic in the role that you have to have a little flavour of him or the audience feel cheated, however, I have put my own stamp on it and that keeps the character fresh when people come back to see the show.
Do you have a “Favourite Frank Moment” in the show?
I do, yes. My favourite Frank moment is the obvious one. He doesn’t come on stage for the first 20 minutes or so and that creates this great sense of antici…… pation. Then the bass drum starts and, finally, those doors open and, every single time when I am waiting behind those doors, I get butterflies because the audience are starting to clap and cheer and they are desperate for Frank to appear. Then when Frank opens the cloak and reveals all the gear, there is just this massive scream and, at that moment, I just feel like Mick Jagger!
Well, you look like Mick Jagger, strutting backwards and forwards across the stage with that huge cape on and then, as you say, the big reveal.
Well yes, it’s a great outfit and a lot of the audience wear it too – and some of them look better than me! I am always amazed by the fans of the show. When I come out of the stage door there’s always like 20 or 30 people all dressed up in the gear..
Well, yes, I have been there myself!
You have indeed, I’ve seen you and I remember those crazy heels you had on! The thing is, it’s the people who dress up that let everyone else know that Rocky Horror is in town. They don’t bat an eyelid, they just think yeah, we have to go and see that. That’s what I love about it, there is no other show like it for audience participation not only with the dressing up, but with the callouts as well. The audience becomes like a character in the show.
Yes, there’s an awful lot of shouting out, some of it quite rude. When that happens can you go “off book” and ad lib?
I am not allowed to, no. Only the narrator is allowed to do that and the narrator we have on this tour, Phillip Franks, is just fantastic. I am allowed to acknowledge the comments, and sometimes I can’t help it because they really do make me laugh, so I get to engage with the audience that way. I would love to shout something back, I really would, but that would end up in chaos. It’s fun when they catch me off guard and I can’t help but laugh – but that’s it for me.
Well, on the subject of seeing you live on stage, I am going to be in Brighton on November 29th to see the show.
Will you be dressing up?
Oh please, of course I will, I’ve got the fishnets and those crazy heels ready! But, after Brighton, the tour goes on into next year, doesn’t it?
Oh yes, we don’t actually finish the UK leg of the tour until the end of June 2022 and then we’re doing the international dates. We should be heading all around Europe, we hope, and we’re going over to Israel as well. So, even though it’s not here in the UK, this tour of Rocky isn’t finishing, we’re just heading abroad for a while.
The thing is, there is only one official production of Rocky and everyone wants to see it. It’s not like we have another show to cover Europe, or the Middle East or wherever, there’s just us, and this one genuine official production – and we love bringing it to you!
The Rocky Horror Show, starring Stephen Webb as Dr Frank-N-Furter alongside Ore Oduba (Brad), Haley Flaherty (Janet), Kristian Lavercombe (Riff Raff), Lauren Ingram (Columbia), Suzie McAdam (Magenta), Joe Allen (Eddie/Dr Scott) and Ben Westhead (Rocky), appears at Theatre Royal Brighton from Monday 29th November to Saturday 4th December, with tour dates and venues into 2022 listed at rockyhorror.co.uk/tour.