Directed by Jim Sharman / Screenplay by Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman

Question: besides featuring elsewhere in this exhibition, what connects The Day the Earth Stood Still, Flash Gordon and Forbidden Planet? Answer: they are three of the classic films referenced in the lyrics of ‘Science Fiction Double Feature’, the opening number of Richard O’Brien’s uproarious love letter to the movies of yesteryear. The Rocky Horror Show began life as a stage musical which premiered at London’s Royal Court in 1973, riding the wave of glam rock which, O’Brien later remarked, “allowed me to be myself more.” With its bracingly camp humour, its transgressive explorations of gender fluidity, and above all its terrific songs, Rocky Horror tapped into the beating heart of the glam era, playing to packed houses and winning the Evening Standard award for Best Musical. The 1975 film adaptation - appropriately renamed The Rocky Horror Picture Show - remained in the hands of stage director Jim Sharman, and the roles of Frank-N-Furter and his sidekicks Magenta and Riff Raff were reprised by the stars of the Royal Court production: Tim Curry, Patricia Quinn, and O’Brien himself. New arrivals for the screen version included American actors Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon as college sweethearts Brad and Janet, and rising star Meat Loaf as rock’n’rolling biker Eddie. Reviews were mixed, but if film critics didn’t initially grasp Rocky Horror, audiences around the world began to embrace it with open arms. A lively cult sprang up of audience participation, cosplay, singalong screenings and fan conventions: popular re-releases mean that fifty years on, Rocky Horror is now the third highest-grossing film of 1975, beaten only by Jaws and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Tim Curry’s career-defining performance as Frank-N-Furter has become a totem of sexual liberation, a subject of academic study, and an icon of popular culture.

Framed Dimensions: 320mm x 400mm

Acrylic on 220gsm Daler Rowney smooth paper
Glazed, mounted and framed

Supplied with signed letter of authenticity from Barnaby.