FOX just showed NBC how it’s done, with its live performance of ‘Grease’ which not only scored major ratings (topping the Peacock’s ‘The Wiz’ and ‘Peter Pan’) but rave reviews. Now the scrutiny on FOX’s next musical stage presentation is even higher. This fall, the network will bring to life camp classic ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ starring Laverne Cox, Victoria Justice and Adam Lambert. Now another actor has been added to the roster– Annaleigh Ashford as Columbia.
In the cult classic movie, Columbia was played by Little Nell (a.k.a. Nell Campbell, right).
In addition to Cox (Doctor Frank-N-Fürter), Justice (Janet) and Lambert (Eddie), the cast of this presentation of ‘Rocky Horror’ also boasts Ryan McCartan as Brad, Reeve Carney as Riff Raff, Staz Nair as Rocky Horror and the cinematic Frank-N-Fürter Tim Curry as the criminologist narrator.
‘High School Musical’ and ‘Footloose’ director, Kenny Ortega is executive producing, directing and choreographing this new production, which, unlike ‘Grease’ will not air live, but will be prerecorded.
Ashford is best recognized as Betty from the Showtime series ‘Masters of Sex’ and has also appeared on ‘Submissions Only’, ‘Nurse Jackie’, ‘Smash’ and ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’. But it’s her Broadway experience that should come in the handiest as she has depicted Glinda in ‘Wicked’ and Margot in the stage production of ‘Legally Blonde’. She reprised the latter role in the 2007 television broadcast of the show which aired on MTV.
In the story, Columbia is basically a hanger-on who assists Frank-N-Fürter and his other cohorts. She is also the lover of the doomed Eddie. (And… uh… spoiler alert… for a movie that’s been playing in theaters for over forty years…) She is ultimately killed by Riff Raff.
FOX has not announced an air date, beyond saying it will be sometime this fall, most likely around Halloween.
What do you think of the cast so far? After ‘Grease’, can FOX top itself with this risqué show?
Source: Deadline
