“The Rocky Horror Show” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” have become generational touchstones. Attending their performances are a way for stage and cinema fans to indeed “do a time warp again” and again and feel young, free, joyful and maybe even a bit naughty.
This time each year, venues around the country mount the stage production and/or screen the classic film to attract Halloween-month audiences. In 2026, the phenomenon has even more resonance with the passing of actor Tim Curry on Aug. 25 at age 80. His portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the original stage production of “The Rocky Horror Show” and the subsequent motion picture in 1975 made him an enduring part of theatrical and cinematic history.
We spoke with several INTIX members and other arts and performance professionals with ties to “Rocky Horror” to get their thoughts on what makes “Rocky Horror” such an endearing piece of pop culture entertainment and what it has meant in their own personal lives. The responses were as varied and entertaining as the show’s ensemble casts over the decades:
The Appeal From the Venue Side
For ticketing professionals, the productions offer an opportunity to not only examine how theaters sustain annual audience traditions, but also build community through interactive entertainment and respond when the passing of a beloved performer gives established programming new significance.
We asked each of our interviewees: “What, in their opinion, makes ‘Rocky Horror’ such a durable annual programming opportunity for performing arts venues?” Among the first to respond was Jennifer “Jen” Flynn, Client Services Director for Shubert Ticketing, a division of The Shubert Organization.
“It’s one of those rare shows that audiences know they can attend and simply have a great time,” she states. “It's also a perfect fit for the Halloween season and all things spooky, giving people an excuse to dress up, let loose, and fully embrace the experience. What makes ‘Rocky Horror’ really special is that it's more than just a show. It's an event and a shared experience. Audiences participate, interact, and make it their own in a way that few other productions can match.”
Roundabout Theatre Company’s Studio 54 in New York City is currently running the stage production to rave reviews, packed houses and run extensions. Krystin MacRitchie is Head Treasurer for the Tony-eligible Broadway house. She marvels that the “The Rocky Horror Show,” now running through February 2027, has been “bringing in one of the most diverse audiences I’ve seen at Studio 54. On any given night, we’ve had bachelorette parties, senior groups, college kids and ‘Rocky Horror’ shadow casts that have traveled across the country to come to the show. ‘Rocky Horror’ provides a space where everyone is accepted and people are coming to feel free and just have fun.”
Greg Holland, President and CEO of Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida, says, “Venues like Straz Center consistently fill seats every October because ‘Rocky Horror’ sells an interactive experience rather than just a performance. It is a reliable, multi-generational rite of passage every autumn.”
Michelle Rose, Director of Ticketing at Playhouse Square in Cleveland, confesses to having seen the movie, but not the stage version. “The horror, I know!” she laughed. “We haven’t hosted it at our complex either. But obviously the show has a huge importance and the following it has is amazing.”
The face of Timothy E. Locklear, recently retired Managing Artistic Director of North Raleigh Arts & Creative Theatre (NRACT) in North Carolina, still lights up when he talks about the stage version his venue produced in late October and early November of 2023. He remarks, “‘Rocky Horror’ is referred to as a ‘cult’ classic. The movie has a following that has lasted for five generations. It's the following of the movie, and the admiration from these generations which makes it a great choice for theatres to choose to produce the stage show year after year. It is a selection patrons know and appreciate watching time and time again. For theatres planning seasons, this show is one which will allow theatres to entertain their patron base and bring in the revenue needed to meet their budget requirements.”
Holland concurs, adding, “It's no wonder that venues lean into this phenomenon year after year — especially given the retrospective appreciation for Tim Curry's foundational, magnetic legacy.”
The Curry Factor This Year
Any discussion currently regarding “Rocky Horror” must include Tim Curry. Other than maybe Barry Bostwick, no other cast member over the years has been more identified with the show than he. So, for many this time around, attending either the movie or the stage show is a way of paying tribute to an actor, character and performance that has meant so much to them over the years.
MacRitchie remarks, “After Tim Curry passed, we had a tribute to him in our lobby with a photo and candles. People began leaving boas, glitter, toilet paper, playing card and personal notes and it grew to be a huge memorial. In the following weeks, so many audience members told us how they had to come and pay their respects to Tim. He helped create this world that has such a devoted following.”
Bostwick has been on quite a whirlwind tour this month, appearing at various cinemas and other exhibition halls to introduce “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to moviegoers at special screenings. He then sticks around after to host a Tim Curry tribute and answer questions. Future performance dates featuring Bostwick and the Curry tribute segment are scheduled for the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on Oct. 11; the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Conn., on Oct. 16; and at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans on Oct. 29.
Curry’s spirit will definitely be felt in other productions around the country in the next few weeks. For instance, Unexpected Pleasures’ RHPS Troupe will present a live shadow-cast screening on Oct. 17 at The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage Company in Asheville, N.C. Audience members are encouraged to dress as their favorite Tim Curry character in tribute. Meanwhile. the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country in Boone, N.C., is mounting a production of “Rocky Horror” that is presented by the theatrical honor society Alpha Psi Omega.
Interviewees’ Personal Ties to the Show
And, of course, even our theatre and film professionals have had their own personal experiences with “Rocky Horror” over the years. Some have sold tickets for the show, some have actually been in the cast or worked behind the scenes, and others have just admired the phenomenon from their own seats in the audience. Most of those interviewed have recognized “Rocky Horror” as a change agent in our society.
Flynn, for example, attended a very small Southern Baptist college in western North Carolina. “So, when I learned that the school was planning a screening of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ I could hardly believe it. I think it was my sophomore year, and I was finally going to see the film I had been anticipating for so long. The screening was everything I hoped it would be. People dressed up, danced, shouted responses and threw the traditional props at the screen. Looking back, I also see it as one of the first signs that the college was beginning to evolve and become more open and liberal in its outlook.”
NRACT’s Locklear recalls once being given the opportunity to stage manage a production of ‘Rocky Horror.’ He states, “Stage managing the production gave me an opportunity to watch the creative process for the director and actors. This production was fun and entertaining, not only for the audiences, but for the actors and production teams each night. The backstage crew would dance the ‘Time Warp’ along with the actors. There was dancing in the production booths, and the production brought joy to everyone involved.”
Brianna Peña, Director of Guest Services for the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, actually experienced “Rocky Horror” for the very first time at her own venue when the Celebrity hosted a screening of the ’75 film with an original cast member. “We were surrounded by generations of fans in fishnets and corsets,” she recalls with delight. “As an avid Sabrina Carpenter listener, I was thrilled when she drew direct inspiration from it for her ‘Tears’ music video shortly after, proving just how massive, fresh and relevant its cultural influence still is today.”
Her colleague in Tampa, Holland, shows just how generational the appeal of this phenomenon is. He concludes, “I first saw the film in the 1980s as a freshman at the University of Texas. It was thrilling, titillating and over-the-top fun. In the 1990s, I was involved in the launch of a North American tour of ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ produced by Howard Panter, PACE Theatrical Group and Columbia Artists Theatricals. In fact, we spent a week with Richard O'Brien doing advance press across North America, including MTV in New York City. It was quite the experience for a young theatrical marketing executive. I speak for many when I say that I love ‘Rocky Horror’ . . . in all of its forms!”
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