“I get tweets from people, ‘Please don’t f— up ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’!’ ” exclaimed Laverne Cox, who is playing Doctor Frank-N-Furter in FOX’s musical reenactment of the midnight matinee cult classic.
FOX has released the first images from the production so let the judging begin!
Here is Cox in full dominatrix mode, in the role that Tim Curry made famous in the 1975 movie that has never left theaters since its original release. Cox is pictured with the great Ben Vereen who is playing Dr. Everett von Scott.
Said Cox of her look:
“I showed my brother pictures of me in character and he was like, ‘You were preparing your whole life for this.’… We were on set and a reporter saw me and said I looked like the love child of Grace Jones and David Bowie. I said ‘That’s exactly right.’ I think we mix up the look more than they did in the original. It’s inspired by the original but it’s really our own take. It’s way more elaborate and couture. [Director] Kenny Ortega had this vision that Frank was at this old theater and found these old burlesque costumes and is, like, using them and wearing them now but has altered them a bit.”
Speaking of the costumes, they are designed by Tony Award-winner William Ivey Long.
Frank-N-Furter may be the story’s focus, but this is also an ensemble piece. Check out the rest of the new cast:
Ryan McCartan and Victoria Justice play hapless newlywed couple Brad and Janet who find themselves swept up in the craziness of Frank-N-Furter and his cohorts.
Justice discussed Janet’s journey, saying:
“There’s definitely a major sexual awakening and one that I haven’t explored on screen yet. I’m excited about it!”
And speaking of Frank-N-Furter’s cohorts, check out Reeve Carney as Riff-Raff, Annaleigh Ashford as Columbia, Justice, McCartan and Christina Milian as Magenta.
Staz Nair plays Frank-N-Furter’s artificial slab of man meat, the titular Rocky Horror. In the original movie, Rocky, played by Peter Hinwood, paraded around in a pair of gold briefs.
Nair hints to expect something a little different:
“I’m wearing these nice, sexy knee-high platform boots and a gold latex bathing suit. I felt very sassy and I owned it.”
Let’s do the Time Warp again! Milian, Carney and Ashford perform the show’s signature tune.
Giving the show his blessing, Tim Curry appears as The Crminologist, the narrator. Cox expressed that she was quite intimidated by his presence on the set:
“The first day of rehearsals in Los Angeles, Tim listened to me sing every song from the show. That was really intimidating. I had to sing in front of the man who made all these songs iconic. It’s just a gift he’s involved in our production.”
Also part of this cast is Adam Lambert as Eddie.
The air date has yet to be scheduled, but it will air sometime in the fall in time for Halloween. Are you ready to do the Time Warp with this new production?
Source: Entertainment Weekly
