Artists, rock stars, critics, even Mother Nature herself applauded The Rocky Horror Show when it opened in a tiny attic theatre in London 50 years ago, in June 1973.
“Opening night was very The Tempest,” its then wunderkind Aussie director Jim Sharman recalls. “A massive storm broke over London. In a pause in the thunder came the downbeat.” A flash of lightning illuminated the gaunt features of Hollywood horror movie icon Vincent Price making his way to a seat in the audience. “And we were up and away,” Jim adds. “You rarely know whether the opening night is going to fly. We knew that one would, but we didn’t realise how high.”
Jim had arrived in London just months earlier, following a giddy ascent that had begun when promoter Harry M. Miller called upon him to direct the Australian production of rock musical Hair. The 23-year-old had grown up on his father’s tent boxing circuit, surrounded by carnivals and country vaudeville, then studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).
Delighted by the success of , Harry snapped up the Australian rights to . Again he enlisted the young director and his friend, stage designer Brian Thomson, who created the mechanical dodecahedron, elevated stages and minimalist take on Judea which were
