I swear to all the gods, the Grim Reaper is really fucking up. It’s like he caught Mitch McConnell and decided to take the summer off, leaving some intern in charge who just does not understand the assignment.
While we were reeling from the loss of Dolly Parton, we found out that Tim Curry had passed away. Late last night, I heard that he passed on the same day as Dolly, but his estate kept the news private, so as not to step on her memory. That’s such a wonderful thing to do, and it doesn’t surprise me; as far as I can tell, listening to people who knew him, that’s exactly what he would have wanted.
Like a lot of Gen X theater kids, my introduction to Tim Curry’s existence was in a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. I have never talked about it, ever, but one of the things I took away from my first viewing (my first experience, really) is that drag is more fun than you could ever imagine. I always wanted to do a full-on face and stuff, when I went to a show, but I never had the courage to risk my dad seeing me. So I’d borrow black lipstick and eyeliner from on of my friends, and put it on in the car.
My friend and I are going to a screening soon, and we are both going in full costume. She’s thinking Magenta, and I’m thinking Frank. We’ll see how it goes, and there will be pictures if it does.
Speaking of Gen X theater kids (we never really stop being those kids, do we?), Rocky Horror reassured me that there were lots and lots of weirdoes just like me, and they weren’t the scary deviants the news and my parents told me they were. They were lovely people who welcomed everyone with open arms into a safe place where we could all just … be.
(Don’t dream it, be it, right?)
Way back in 2008, when I was a baby writer, finding my voice and figuring out how I could tell stories like the storytellers I admired, I wrote a couple of blogs that helped me level up. One of them was about the first time I ever saw Rocky Horror Picture Show, when I was a weird teenager who desperately need to belong somewhere.
Today, as we remember and celebrate Tim Curry, I wanted to repost it as a tribute to a man who meant so much to so many.
A few days after my sixteenth birthday, I lost my Rocky Horror virginity with my best friend, in a shitty little duplex theater in Van Nuys.
I’d wanted to see Rocky since I was ten or eleven on my way to an audition and my mom drove us past a marquee advertising a midnight showing every Saturday. My parents couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me what it was about (my memory is hazy on that specific detail) but anything that happened at midnight on a Saturday sounded great to me. The creepy lettering and word “horror” in the title only increased my antici . . . pation.
Darin and I were at a place on Van Nuys Boulevard called Cafe 50s. These fifties cafes were everywhere in the eighties (some blame Stand By Me and Back to the Future for their popularity) but this particular one was my favorite. Though I’ve never actually been in a diner in the fifties, this one felt the most authentic, which means it copied what I’d seen in movies better than anything else, and had Del Shannon’s Runaway on the jukebox.
We gorged ourselves on patty melts and chocolate shakes and vanilla Cokes while we talked about all the things that seemed important after you discovered girls, like how to actually, you know, talk to one and convince her to take an unforgettable trip with you to second base for sixteen seconds of passion. We argued about the time travel paradoxes in Back to the Future, confirmed that quoting Monty Python to the 24 year-old waitress is not the best way to get a stand up double when you’re sixteen (or ever) and admitted that Michael Keaton was a vastly superior Batman than we’d been prepared to give him credit for. In other words, it was a Saturday night like any other, and as midnight (and the restaurant’s closing) drew near, our attention turned toward that most important of teenage activities: doing anything but going home.
“Have you ever seen Rocky?” Darin asked.
“God, I hate that stupid movie,” I said. “And the sequels are even worse. It’s like, we know he’s going to win, so why waste our time wi –“
“I mean Rocky Horror.” He said.
“Oh.” I said. “No, but I’ve always wanted to.”
“It’s playing across the street at midnight. We should go.”
As quickly as I’d gotten excited to see it, I lost my nerve. Through the pre-internet grapevine that gave teens of my generation the truth about Mikey from Life cereal (“Ohmygod he died by eating pop rocks and drinking coke”) I’d heard about Rocky virgins being deflowered in horrifying ways (“Ohmygod this guy I know went to see it in Santa Monica and they made him take off his clothes and wrote VIRGIN on his chest in lipstick!”)
“Don’t they do horrible things to people who haven’t seen it?” I said in my most nonchalant voice, grateful that it didn’t crack.
“Not really,” he said, “but if you’re worried about it, we won’t say anything.”
“Okay,” I said, my excitement returning.
The waitress came back by our table. “Can I get you guys anything else?”
Before I could demand a shrubbery, Darin said, “Could we get some slightly burnt white toast?”
The waitress and I gave him the same curious look. He smiled enigmatically.
Twenty minutes later, we bought our tickets, burnt toast in my pocket, butterflies rising in my stomach. We stood in a line that grew to about two dozen people and waited for the theater to open. I made nervous smalltalk with Darin, talking a little too loudly about the great cast they had in . . . I think I chose Huntington Beach.
The doors opened a few minutes before midnight, and we walked into a theater that, Tardis-like, seemed bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outsider: dirty blue and orange curtains hung on the walls. Two aisles separated three groups of squeaky blue seats. The floor was painted a dark navy blue — blue seemed to be a recurring theme in this particular theater — and was appropriately sticky. We chose seats on the aisle near the back. I should have been freaked out when a guy sat down a few aisles in front of us and lit a cigarette, but being rebel-adjacent excited me.
The theater quickly got as full as it was going to get. It seemed that most of the audience knew each other, especially the four people who huddled together at the front of the house, next to the screen.
A dude with long black hair and bright red lipstick emerged from the group, and spoke to the audience. I can’t remember what he said, because when he began, a hand tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and saw the most phenomenally beautiful girl in the world standing in the aisle. She had short black hair in a Bettie Page cut, bright green eyes, full red lips. She wore a red corset that fit her . . . perfectly.
She bent over and said, “are you a virgin?”
I was, in every way that mattered, and in that moment I would have pushed my mother in front of a train on its way into a lake of fire if it meant that this girl would remove from me this . . . condition.
If I’d been standing, I’m certain I would have fainted. “W-what?” I stammered.
She extended one hand and caressed my face. She repeated herself, even more seductively than the first time.
My voice cracked as I said “YES!” a little too loudly.
Her eyes flashed and she squeaked – squeaked! – a little. “This is going to be fun.”
She stood up abruptly and hollered, “I have a virgin!”
“A VIRGIN!” Replied much of the audience.
Before I knew what was happening, she stood me up, had me repeat some oath that I’ve sinceforgotten, and spanked me. I remained fully clothed, but by the time I was done, I was soaked through after everyone in the theater sprayed me with their squirt guns and spray bottles. As quickly as it started, it was over, and she disappeared before I could get her number.
My deflowering was, like most people’s, nothing like I’d hoped for or expected, but it was still magical. I loved every second of it.
While other regulars repeated similar rituals with a few other virgins in the audience I looked at Darin. He looked back, mirroring my disbelief.
“That was awesome!” I said. Not only had a girl practically showed me her boobs, she’d touched my face! Seductively! And talked to me! And squirted me with a squirt gun! I was beside myself, and the movie hadn’t even started yet.
The lights went down, and the show began. I didn’t know any of the lines, but I quickly figured out what to yell at Brad and Janet. I threw my toast. I did the Time Warp. I watched the girl who’d taken my Rocky virginity play Magenta, which is probably why Magenta is still my favorite character in the whole show to this very day, twenty years later.
When it was over, we drove back to La Crescenta in my slightly-better-than-Patrick-Stewart’s Honda Prelude, blasting New Order the whole way with the sunroof open and the windows down. I dropped Darin off at his house, and though I got back to mine around 3, I didn’t fall asleep until the sun came up, I was so loaded with caffeine, sugar, adrenaline.
The movie, of course, was campy and not especially good, but that wasn’t the point. It was a shared experience, a place for misfits of all stripes to gather once a week, and fly our Transylvanian freak flags. For the next two years, Darin and I lead an ever-growing group of our friends to Rocky at least once a month, usually more, at the Rialto theater in South Pasadena. I haven’t been since 1991 or 1992, but those years — and the film itself — hold a very special place in my memory. Maybe, just once, I’ll go back to a midnight showing, just so I can do the Timewarp again.
I never did go to a midnight showing. I would be brutal on my middle-aged body to even try to stay awake that late … but caffeine exists, and there’s an energy that can infect and propel you all that way into the gloaming dawn, if you allow it. So … maybe. Maybe.
This story was fun to write back then, even though I can see all the incredibly rough edges now, that my experience and I want to sand off and rewrite. I suppose that’s part of its charm? Sure, we’re gonna go with that.
If you have a Tim Curry, or Dolly Parton, or Rocky Horror story you care to share, I’d love to hear it; I think all of us theater kids could use a big hug today, you know?
Hi, I’m Wil. I write this blog, and I’m glad you’re here. If you want to get my updates in your email, here’s the thingy:
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Wil, I’m sorry to break it to you but that damn intern took somebody else today.
Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime died today at 85 years old. “Roll out”
Heavy sigh. I know.
I agree with you ❤️🩹
My very first Rocky showing was a midnight show when I was in my late teens like you were, though I’m a bit younger than you so it was the early 2000s. I got dragged along by my friend Heather who didn’t tell me anything about it in advance, I think on purpose so I’d get the full experience. They took all of us virgins and told us to strip to whatever level we were comfortable. I took my top off so I was just in my bra and jeans, which looking back is maybe not great for a minor to be asked to do but it was genuinely the most wholesome stripping experience I’ve ever had and it didn’t feel predatory or weird to me at all. Then we were herded around the theater while the audience shouted and clapped at us, then the movie started and the rest of the experience was much like yours! I quickly learned the audience response to movie cues, and had the time of my life, and PROMISED I’d go back to do it every single month at least, but never did! Now a parent of a toddler, I think I’m gonna need to get a babysitter soon and go to a midnight show, for Tim and for Dolly.
What a great story/tribute. My first job in the tv biz was as a PA on Home Improvement. But my second job was working for a writer who had a deal. She was asked to co-showrun a show starring Tim Curry and Annie Potts. I was beside myself. As a 5-year-old in 1978, I entertained my sister’s college friends by strutting around singing Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me and Sweet Transvestite. I knew every word. I wouldn’t see the actual movie until I was in Jr High. Also, Clue was and is one of my all time favorite movies, and probably the movie I have seen the most. I once went to a midnight showing they did at the Nuart, and they did it with a cast, a la RHPS. (And not for nothing – Iona from Pretty in Pink!!) I’m pleased to say that Tim Curry was just as warm and wonderful as I’d hoped. I have a photo of me where it looks like he’s squeezing the life out of me, and I absolutely cherish it. (Annie Potts was wonderful, as well) (apologies if this comment posted twice)
My story starts in Finland in 1992. I was an exchange student in Northern Finland, and it was going nothing like how I expected. I was lonely and completely unsure what I was supposed to be doing there, and it was very, very weird. That’s a whole other story. However, I did have one friend. Rotary International, in all their wisdom, placed another girl with me in our tiny little Northern Finland town. She was from Canada and although we thought at first we were completely different from each other, by this point we were lonely and desperate enough to start making steps towards being real friends. It was Halloween night, and Finland didn’t really celebrate Halloween, so we were feeling sad and displaced. There was, however, a showing of Rocky Horror at midnight at a neighboring larger city. I’d seen the movie before on video, and had a shitty recording of the soundtrack taped from my local college radio station, but I’d never been to a theater showing. She’d never even heard of it, being a good little Canadian, fairly mainstream person. So we decided to go. We got a host relative to drive us, and I dressed up in my crappy makeshift Goth best, and they dropped us off. We filed in with the Finnish weirdos and settled in. I knew a little of what to expect, but D’Arcy didn’t. When Frank came down the elevator and threw off his cloak, she audibly gasped. From that moment on, she was completely riveted. After the movie, we hung around in a park waiting for a bus or our ride or… I don’t remember how we got home. We talked about all kinds of things, mostly the movie and how much we loved it. She said, “When Frank started strutting around in his drag, I realized that maybe I wasn’t quite as straight as I thought I was.” She loved the movie and completely got it, even though she had no idea this side of herself existed. And I knew we were going to be OK. And then our friendship began for real, and we would not have survived that cold winter without each other. For the past 35+ years, we have gotten together every other year or so, and we always, ALWAYS watch the movie and scream the lines and sing along and do the Time Warp. It is our connecting thread. When the news of Tim Curry’s passing broke, she immediately texted me. Nobody gets why that movie is so important to us, except us. Nobody loves Tim quite like we loved Tim, because he brought us, two weirdos (one secret and one not-so-secret), together in a very weird year, and showed us more of who we were. RIP, Tim — Frank will live forever.
Living in a small city in Central Illinois, the closest that “Rocky Horror” got to us was an X-rated theater about 50 miles away…and over two years after it came out. My good friends (4 gay guys and 1 straight female – like me) decided this was our best shot at seeing the movie, so off we went!
So here’s the thing, we REALLY didn’t give much thought that it was an X-rated theater – all of us around 20 and stoned, why would we? We get to the theater, and find out that it’s a double-feature theater with “Rocky Horror” playing second. And the first movie…well, it was the first really popular X-rated film “Debbie Does Dallas”. Honestly, I don’t know what was more fun, watching my gay friends watch Debbie…or, Rocky Horror itself! What a great memory!
We probably crossed paths at the Rialto! My deflowering was at a similarly tiny theater in West Covina. The understudy playing Rocky had a crush on the gal playing Janet, and he got a full erection at the toucha toucha touch me scene. Of course we all applauded and hollered. My parents never knew what went on in there, which is still perfect.
I didn’t go see Rocky Horror until college (the joys of the rural life). I went with a friend, not entirely sure what to expect. 2 of the usual cast (audience members who go up and re-enact the movie in front of the screen, along with the movie) didn’t show, so I said, ‘sure, I’ll be Columbia.’ I remember my fringed wool skirt and how the audience line when Columbia is frozen in stone had me straightening (I was not gifted in the mammary department, it was just surprise) from my bent at the hip pose, with every syllable.
Interesting story about seeing it the first time, Wil. I was gayer than gay but was having difficulty dealing with it at that age. I was also studying for a test at Mansfield State College in Pennsylvania. A dear woman friend of mine came into my room, forced me to leave it to see a film I had no interest in seeing. I was kind of pissed at the moment. We ended up in the College Theater (that I actually performed in a few times) and Rocky Horror Picture Show started. I loved it! I got on stage and sang with a crowd of people to the audience. The place was packed. Everyone there dressed up threw water and other things to emulate the movie. I was shocked at how much it made me laugh and feel like the friend of so many people. Same way you make me and so many others feel. Love to you, my friend.
Shortly before he died, my husband developed a huge Dolly Parton obsession after watching a marathon of her films on TV one night (we lived in Ireland, where Dolly wasn’t really well known, at least not AFAICT when I lived there) — and as a devout lover of camp and former drag queen, for him it was like receiving a divine revelation — and so as part of Christmas gifts, I wanted to get him what DVDs of hers I could. But our mall store only had one in stock: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas… and I just happen to be from Texas. I ran into the shop to get it before closing, while he was elsewhere. There was almost no one else in the store except two teenage girls at the checkout counter, and I was/am autistic and painfully shy in person — and of course I knew exactly how they were going to react, and forced myself to face it anyway. They took their sweet time processing my purchase with huge smiles (this was 20 years ago, and even then they were young enough almost to be my daughters), then practically choked on their smiles when they saw Texas on my ID, me blushing furiously through the longest checkout of my life, & exploded in loud laughter the moment I turned my back left the store. But the DVD made him deliriously happy, for the only Christmas we had together, & all the more so when he heard the story. I’ve never worn deeper embarrassment with deeper pride. And I hope the women still have a fond laugh over that memory, too, wherever they are now.
And then Tim. As much as he loved Dolly, Rocky Horror was his life if anything was. I’d be here all day trying to describe that in full. He lived and breathed that movie, performing as part of a drag group that did performances to it in theaters (until his multiple sclerosis made that impossible), collected everything he could get his hands on, and went by Franknfurter as his handle online as a mod on Ireland’s largest forum. We even had “I’m Going Home” played at his funeral. [sigh] I’m not normally one to get too sad for celebrity deaths (my sadness is great with [waves hands at everything] but my spoons are very limited, so I have to pick my battles), but to lose these two beautiful souls that meant the world to so many, and to my husband so very dearly, right back to back… I haven’t been hit this hard since Robin Williams.
I can’t help hoping my Barry is being surrounded by their smiles and songs right now.
What’s top of my mind is that Dolly Parton and Tim Curry were born in 1946, just like my dad. My dad who died a few months ago, a few weeks before his 80th birthday (which became the date of his celebration of life). All of them are now 1946-2026.
Oh my… I’m a bit older than you, so my first Rocky Horror Picture Show was in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I honestly don’t remember being hassled (or perhaps celebrated would be a better term) in any way because I was a virgin. I think we (the group I went with) were all RHPS virgins.
I do remember discovering that the audience participation lines differed by geography; what audiences yelled in Philadelphia was different than what folks yelled in New Jersey, though many lines were the same.
Last year a group of us, all in our sixties and seventies, went to a 50th anniversary showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (which, thankfully, started before midnight). We had a great time, but we’re all out of practice at staying up late… The best part was when one of the regulars asked me if I was a virgin, I got to say, “No, I’ve seen it many times… probably all before you were born!”
Tim Curry (and Dolly Parton) will be missed… sigh.
I love this! It really gets to the feeling that Tim Curry and RHPS has for people of our generation. I am so glad for what this show provided me and to all the other theatre, queer, misfit, etc. kids just trying to figure life out and find their place in it. Thanks for this great reminiscence!
What a wonderful anecdote, Wil!
It’s honestly such a fun story to look back on, I wish they did things like that over here, it would be awesome!
It hit me really hard when Robin Williams died. Even though I only knew him through his acting and didn’t know much about his personal life, I absolutely loved his movies and watched every single one, in fact, I still watch them today.
Sending you a hug straight from the bottom of my heart! To you and to everyone who’s feeling so heartbroken over losing their loved ones. 💜
📽️₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧🎭
My first viewing of RHPS was in ’87 as a UW freshman at the Neptune Theater in Seattle with a buddy I met in the dorms (The Neptune was a great place to see some weird shit. A few years later my best friend and I went to a porno exhibition they were showing; 3D porn is not for the faint of heart!)
I ended up going a to RHPS a LOT. The most fun one was going in make-up and fishnets, and parading from my apartment through Frat Row on the way to the theater.
As a more functioning adult, I’ve seen it in a double-feature with Repo! The Genetic Opera, and last year my wife and I dressed up as Transylvanians to see it at The Paramount Theater (where we might have seen Stand By Me a few months ago).
I lost my RH virginity at the old Roxy theater on Reseda Blvd, probably 1979. I ended up with an eyeliner V on my forehead and the adorable Frank gave me lipstick kisses on my cheeks that I left on for days. The whole experience was so freeing! Time Warp is still on my spotify list, (and as a MP fan so is Always Look on the Bright Side). I’ve been crying for the past couple of days but am grateful we had Dolly and Tim in this world.
Rocky Horror was never really my thing. To me, Tim Curry was Wadsworth in Clue, Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, and Arl Rendon Howe in Dragon Age Origins.
My personal favorite Tim Curry story is what set him apart from Michael Caine in Muppet Christmas Carol. “Michael Caine treated the Muppets like other actors. Tim Curry treated himself like a Muppet.”
Great story!
Cindy
Ah, Rocky Horror memories. That movie was the reason I had a 2 am curfew when I was in High School when all my other friends had midnight curfews (I had a very cool mother), and Tim Curry made me feel all the things you don’t talk to your mother about, no matter how cool she is.
OMG. I was just telling my husband how seeing a clip from the movie brought me back to 1978 when I was 15 or 16 and my friends decided they wanted to go to a midnight showing on a Sunday night after ice skating. I let my mom know we were going to a movie, but I didn’t tell her WHAT movie.
We got home so late she was furious, and just said , “you’re not going out again until I SAY so.” I wasn’t worried about that because I was still trying to make sense of what I’d just SEEN. I was most certainly still a virgin in the physical sense of the word, but I somehow knew that I’d never be a child again!
Unlike you Wil, I have never seen the movie again, but it has remained part of me in spite of that. Maybe it’s time for another viewing. RIP Tim and Dolly.
I saw RHPS for the first time in college, and did not admit I was a virgin 😂 it was so unlike anything I’d ever experienced, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. RIP Tim and Dolly, and hugs all around 🫂
I told my friends that if they outed me as a virgin, not only would I make their lives hell, (i knew too much), but I’d cut them off their free chocolate supply (my mother had a part time job stocking Hershey products at that point in time). As at least half the group were ALSO virgins, we made a pact to only out ourselves and nobody else. It mostly worked.
My mother knew I was going, and used to go herself. It wasn’t until after I’d been a few times that I learned she never actually saw the movie. She spent that time in Smokers Alley getting high, fucking with scared virgins about all the things that would happen to them, and being a card shark when people came out for smoke breaks. Ugh.
I had the baby internet at hand and resourceful friends who printed out EVERYTHING viewers tend to yell at the screen and studied it harder than any script I was given in theatre class. I was DETERMINED to not look like a n00b.
My bitchy friend/wingman admitted she was a Virgin in line waiting for the doors to open, to a guy that was 6’2″ and on a leash. He bit her neck. She pointed out that I was one, too, but don’t tell anyone. I punched her in the boob. She got mad. I told him if anybody bruised my neck I’d be beaten within an inch of my life (probably true). He said he could either lick me or pull me onstage. He laughed at my disgust and horror and said in my ear, “kiss for luck, then, Virgin, because if you don’t loosen up they WILL prey on you.” I laughed and said OK. He kissed me thoroughly, better than my boyfriend ever had, licked my earlobe, nibbled my neck softly, and said “don’t let the boys ruin you, honey, you’re better than you know” and walked off with Magenta, who’d been holding the leash and talking with someone else while they put on the most ridiculous false lashes I had ever seen until then.
We weren’t allowed to throw anything but toilet paper because the theater was not about to clean up rice and toast and threatened to close to Rocky if we kept trashing the joint.
Everybody cleaned up the TP, the beach balls, bike horns, and fake toast props. What wasn’t trashed was packed in a box the castmembers took with them.
I went 6 or 7 more times until my work schedule made late nights hard, and then moved away for college. I could never bring myself to dress inappropriately. It’s just not my style. My friends wore half as much as I did and were happy. I just screamed and danced with them, but made sure our group was sober before they walked into their homes. We were misfits but mostly not looking for war with our parents. Lol
I’ve never seen Rocky Horror in a cinema, but I’ve seen the live show in a theatre numerous times (professional tours). The first time I was only able to get tickets for the last show of the week, on that last day they had 2 shows, one at 6pm and the second at 9pm and I had the 9pm show. The atmosphere for the 9pm show was electric and that became my preference from then on. It didn’t take long to join in with the rest of the audience, which was amazing. In the seat next to me was a man in a full Frank costume, with 5 inch heels, makeup etc, he knew every single line and was going out to a club after the show in full costume. By the end of the night I’d lost my voice and realised very quickly that the actors on stage didn’t have to comply with any restrictions in certain scenes…😁🤣.
I was lucky enough to see a production with the actress who played Magenta in the film, and also found out that Jason Donovan was a revelation as Frank (damn he looked so good in that costume!)
I still can’t believe that we’ve lost Dolly Parton and Tim Curry in the same week. This weekend I’m going to rummage through my dvd collection, settle down on the sofa and watch 9 to 5, Steel Magnolias and Rocky Horror Show (and I’ll be shouting at Brad and Janet and doing the Time Warp).
We were still reeling from Dolly Parton’s parting when we heard about Tim Curry. He was one of my partner’s earliest crushes (as the Grand Wizard in the TV movie adaptation of The Worst Witch, a performance which, in the UK at least, rivals David Bowie’s Goblin King for transformative teenage revelations,) as well as a true gentleman by all accounts, and a master of his craft. That was it for her, while for me the real knockout blow was Peter Cullen a day later.
It’s been a hell of a week.
What a lovely tribute to Tim Curry. I loved the movie and I also loved him in Muppet Treasure Island , a proper professional pirate! I agreed to do a flash mob song in front all the school staff. The brief was a musical song, there was no hesitation choosing Sweet Transvestite. Just singing it brought back so many memories watching it with friends. RIP Tim.
I first saw it in the late 70s …. maybe 1978? In Kansas City, MO. I was in high school, of course; midnight show, of course; theater just maybe half full so could actually hear the movie. AWESOME! we went back a bunch of times. But – I think I was the only teenager I knew whose PARENTS also went to see it. I had cool parents. I don’t think they went back, but they did go once. I revisit it every few years. Quote from it now and again too….
I like Wesley if you want to make things fit maybe he and LUKE can be friends I know you meet at a big bang wedding. maybe that’s why Spock’s puppet dream is more muppet then checky. Yoda helps you use the dream to make Picard not see back to making Kepler belt.And you honer Princess Leia by making shore her plant is in washer records forever
I’ll put mine here, since it’s probably the only place it’ll ever be all seen and saved. This will be long, my apologies for those who have to scroll forever to find the next comment.
As a Gen X theater techie kid, I fell into a smaller subset. Most of my closest friends in high school were some flavor of theater kid: techie, orchie and a few actual actors, but mostly the first two. Us backstage in all black types had to stick together. My group was also the first time I’d encountered LGBT+, and at the time in my community, you were lucky if L and G were even noticed. That my friend group had some B and what I’d best guess is protoT (hadn’t quite figured it out themselves, let alone had a term to explain it to us and never did before we’d graduated and broke up as high school friend groups do), was incredibly rare in my world.
So much that I was the 10% in the group, I didn’t have a letter in the Rainbow, I was just friends with the entire rainbow staring and wishing I could get a girlfriend like they had. They were just my friends. Several even passed ‘The Parent Test’ of which friends were acceptable to them and which weren’t. I’m pretty sure they all knew the assignment when meeting my parents. Any of our parents really.
Once the summer theater season was over, we’d split to our 5 or so different high schools and only get together on some weekends when time allowed us. We were at 3 different grade levels too, so priorities wildly varied and time availabilities were worse. We tended to gather at J’s house. He was openly gay and supported by his parents. He also had run of the entire basement and his parent did not mind our noises. Or lack there of. We humg out as teens did then, on couches and floor and on each other, however you could find a spot, be comfortable and exist (with the lights off!).
There was a TV and VCR, if he had any game system I don’t recall ever playing it. He had movies, all of us had rental privileges at, at least, two different rental store chains. So we’d watch movies in the basement, in the dark, all curled up in piles. We generally always watched one of three movies, sometimes something we rented, but really it was just three. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you can sense the theme here, you can have a Pepsi Clear. Priscilla I never quite got. TWFTFEJN was fun, but I was always amused at see Swayze (ROADHOUSE!) and Snipes in drag. I didn’t get it as much either, but enough I wasn’t completely lost.
Then there was Rocky. Probably our most watched. Easily the one I understood the most. As noted in many other place, it’s not subtle. That worked for my early teen, underexposed to anything not mainstream culture, brain. Yes, I like Magenta too. But Frank, was appealing. It didn’t really register then, but does now, that the twinges in my brain then were trying to tell me something. I finally am realizing what they were, 30 odd years later.
I knew Tim Curry from Clue. I’d rented it so much, so continuously from the video store that one time, the store manager called my parents to ask me to return it and not immediately rerent it out so others could see it. Seeing him go from Wadsworth telling people he “butled, sir”, to Frank in huge heels, fishnets and a corset told me, back then, that it was OK. Even if the world I lived in did not see it as OK, 2 movies I’d seen dozens of times with the same actor, did. It was just, normal? He wore what he wore. He liked who he liked. He tried to get with who he wanted. As I saw earlier today, some parts of that last one aged like milk, but if we look at a high level here, Frank was who Frank was and he made it OK to be who you were.
I never met him. I only knew him from his filmography. But as many Gen Xers will probably attest to, if you had a video store rental card or knew your home phone number, you could see just about anything in video. And probably did. Whenever I ran across Tim in a movie, I saw Wadsworth and/or Frank. Try picturing Frank as Dr. Petrov in a rewatch of The Hunt for Red October. Same lines, just dress Petrov as Frank in every scene that’s just how it’d go. Randomly watching Tim Curry in any movie means my brain could swap that character out and shove Frank, visually in, in place. And it just worked as it was. Because he let me know in a movie made before I was born, that I encountered in a small, dimly light basement piled on couches with friends, that it was OK.
I love your story. 🙂 The 80s were truly the generation to grow up in. My first encounter with Tim Curry was in the movie Clue. I was obsessed with that movie lol. I had such a crush on him. I’ve seen bits and pieces of Rocky Horror but I don’t think I’ve seen the entire movie in one sitting. Shhh. 🙂
I can’t decide which I love more: the story itself, or all the 80s centric details like blasting New Order on the car radio. ❤️❤️❤️ Thanks for the Time Warp back to a better decade, Wil. 💕
Re the ’50s nostalgia happening in the ’80s, and I know I don’t have to tell you this, but people able to make TV and movies frequently set stuff 20-30 years earlier, when they were kids, teens, 20-somethings. Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Wonder Years, That 70s Show, The Goldbergs, Stranger Things. And the kids these days seem obsessed with the ’90s. Now that I’m about to hit 50, I do reflect a lot on my younger days, so it makes a lot of sense to me that others my age are thinking about the past, too. Plus you (hopefully) get a product that appeals to multiple generations. I’m still wondering if nostalgia for 2000s and 2010s will happen like this.
Oh! Dirty Dancing! I was trying to come up with a movie other than BTTF and Stand By Me, and Dirty Dancing was such a big one for me, and very much tied in to my abortion rights stance.
Someone at Grim Reaper Centre keeps thinking Trump is a beloved 80 year old entertainer, and franky all us carbon based warm bodies look alike to them.
So wrong.
Yup…
I can’t remember exactly which role I first saw Tim Curry in, and it was not RHPS. Kid Me didn’t understand RH at the time; I was learning how to escape into fantasy. I saw Clue, which I adored, Annie, and Legend (Tom Cruise who? There are unicorns, fairies, and Mia Sara!).
I didn’t see RHPS until I was an adult and wanted to see “what the big deal was all about”. I watched it on TV, not in the theatre (unfortunately), and I understood what The Big Deal was. My Gram may also not have allowed me to watch it when I was younger either.
I’ve adored so many of Tim Curry’s acting performances – from Wadsworth to Hook (Peter Pan and the Pirates) to Home Alone 2 and many more.
The first time I heard about Dolly Parton was in 9 to 5; I had no idea she was a country singer at that point. I loved 9 to 5, along with Steel Magnolias. Then with Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” (what do you mean it was Dolly’s song?!) taking over MTV and the radio airwaves, and later I saw The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Today…Peter Cullen…this is already a difficult day for me, since it’s the day my Gram passed and my mom’s birthday (who has also passed). Lots of Feels today. My Gram was the one who introduced me to musical theatre – starting with Top Hat and Singing in the Rain. She had the cassettes of Les Mis, Phantom, and Camelot (Broadway soundtrack – so sad the Broadway cast wasn’t used for the movie) that we would listen to on road trips. She was also my confidant and knew what I was going through. Hugs for all of the theatre kids. <3
Wil, Thank you from the bottom of my late-Boomer heart for sharing your Rocky Horror story, and for inviting us to share. I’m no country music fan (2 hours a day on a school bus listening to various K-Tel-equivalent “best of YEAR” albums will do that to a person), but I have always admired Dolly Parton for being herself and being true to herself, as well as for daring to take risks, like acting. I have only one IRL encounter, probably 15 years ago, when she spoke to the Rotary International Conference in Montreal, PQ. Of course she was talking about literacy, a topic dear to my heart, and what came through loud and clear is that it was really, truly, honestly, as dear to her heart. She kept it simple and sincere. I think she sang something before she left the stage, but what sticks with me still was the way, when she was speaking about literacy and books and kids, it was clearly not a performance. She used her gifts and her good fortune not to stoke her own ego, but to make a difference for people who weren’t old enough to make that difference for themselves.
I was 25 when I went to my first Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showing by myself. I was nervous. I, too, had heard all the stories of what went on during the movie, but I wanted the whole virgin experience. It was a blast! I had so much fun, I went back the following week. I was a painfully shy and closeted person, but I managed to gain the balls to talk to the Floor Show cast members after the show and asked how I could become part of it. They directed me to “Janet”, who was the leader of the troupe. She told me they had just lost their “Brad” and I seemed to fit the character. She let me know I had to learn the lines and asked me to sing a few bars. I started belting out “Sweet Transvestite.” Her eyes went wide. Then she screamed out to the rest of the cast, “Oh my God! He can really sing!” (Years of choruses, musicals, talents shows, etc.) I was immediately welcomed into the cast. Being part of the Floor Show challenged many beliefs and self-limitations that been forced upon me while growing up. However, this wonderful group helped me work through them and get in touch with my inner freaky deviant and be the best “Brad” I could be. Eventually, I took over the role of “Frank” and I had great fun with it. “Frank” allowed me to have interactions with the audience that I didn’t have as “Brad”. (Everyone wanted to get “Frank’s” attention! LOL!) My gimmick was that I would apply a good amount of red lipstick with a border of black on my lips, and I would kiss the back of every virgin’s hand, giving them the Frank-N-Furter Seal of Approval. It gave them something to remember the night by. I did that for about a year before I had to move on with my life. But it was the best time ever and gave me so many wonderful memories!
I first went to a showing of Rocky Horror as a freshman in college. A fellow who was new to our D&D group got some of us to go. He was a bit of an ass and didn’t last long in the group, but he graciously refused to out me as Rocky virgin and coached me on lines, to be ready for the Time Warp, etc. I best friend at the time and I attended multiple showings but the theater eventually stopped showing it after a few months. Wonderful time.
As to a Tim Curry story…this is probably not new or obscure, but I remember seeing an interview he did c15-20 years ago. He told a story of meeting Princess Di and (then) Prince Charles at some charity event they we sponsoring. This is how (I remember) Curry told it.
Di: “So Mr. Curry, you’re a film actor…”
Curry: “Yes, but I’m sure that I haven’t been in anything you’ve seen.”
Di: “On the contrary, Mr. Curry. You quite completed my education.”
Also IIRC, Curry mentioned that Charles was just standing there not following the implications of the conversation at all.
West Hartford, Connecticut. 1985 (can’t remember the month). My then girlfriend was shocked that I had never been to a midnight RHPC, so we decided to go with her friend, both of whom had been many times before. Needless to say, when my girlfriend and her female friend informed me that they were both going to take my virginity, I was a bit confused (and, well, I was 17, so you know where my mind went!) Anyway, we ended up going together one more time, so I think I’ve only seen it twice, but it was memorable, and I could probably still pull off a Time Warp, likely with numerous injuries afterwards, if I had to.
I have good news.
This monster was claimed by the Grim Reaper: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/s/Z0e2lCWDQI
I’m the John Burns from Calgary who cosplayed Mr. Canoehead! 🙂
Pretty much at the exact same time, a couple of weeks before 16, I was watching Rocky Horror on the other side of your beautiful country with my cousin in my auntie and uncle’s basement. To her it was amazing that it was my third or fourth time seeing it, because my first exposure had been just before the summer holidays in sixth grade biology. Much as it wasn’t part of the curriculum, it probably taught us more about human sexuality and gender representation than any actual textbook approved for 11- or 12-year-olds in 1984 ever could have. That age and place difference probably also says a lot about how differently we look at sex and related matters between Germany and the US.
Other very fond Rocky Horror memory – when our local municipal theatre staged it a couple of years later, I was sitting in the second row and Frank-N-Furter was in the habit of dancing across the seats down there. He ended up standing on my two arm rests right above me and I got to see WAY more of him that I had anticipated or was ready for. It was… impressive. eek
Ah yeah, Rocky Horror. Something tells me our generation would have turned out rather different if it hadn’t been for that and reading Stephen King at a rather younger age than would have ideally been the case.
I needed this.
Awesome story, Wil! My Rocky Horror “virgin” story was nowhere near as exciting as yours. But I still look on it fondly. Fellow Gen Xer here, so I was also an adolescent when it was making the midnight rounds. I had a couple of cool friends who introduced me to a lot of cool stuff, and Rocky Horror was one of them (although I already knew Tim Curry from “The Worst Witch”, haha). My parents had heard us on the phone talking about maybe going to a midnight show, and I was informed I would NOT be going to see “that trash”. One guess what kind of household I grew up in… Anyway, with that proclamation, we of course made plans to go next sleepover. It was fun, not a lot of people and the ticket taker was forbidding the props (apparently it was getting to be too much of a hassle for the cleaning crew, I get it). I had a great time, as I already knew a lot of the lines from the audience partici….pation album. One of those friends is gone now, and one has not had a great life, I don’t really see her anymore. But it’s one of my few happy teenage memories.
Tim Curry himself though, I think of him as a whole mesh of characters that make me love him. Wadsworth, Frank, the aforementioned Worst Witch when I was a kid, Home Alone 2’s snooty desk manager, etc. Even the voice of Ben Ravencroft in Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost (watched that SO many times with my little girl). I have his book on hold, I’ll definitely be reading it soon.
I adored Tim, he was just perfect in every role. Reading this I swear you’re the American twin brother I never knew I had. The last showing I went to I dressed as Frank. I have zero body confidence, never have, but stick me in a RHPS costume, and I’m strutting like a …something that struts. I didn’t know that about the timing of his passing, but strangely I did wonder if that had happened, he was a gentleman to the end, and beyond. I watched Steel Magnolias and Legend yesterday, how lucky we are to live when they did (even if it’s the same time as the tangerine tinted buffoon, he’s next…right? Right‽)
I lived a pretty sheltered childhood. Neither me nor my friends had ever seen RHPS. When I transferred to a much larger school in my junior year of college, I moved into the dorm with the help of my parents. With my parents standing right behind me, I introduced myself to my RA. She immediately came back with “Damn it, Janet! Go get laid!” Yeah, that was memorable. Now I’ve seen the movie several times and completely understand the appeal.
The first time I recall seeing Tim Curry in anything was in Clue in the mid-1980s. Believe it or not, I saw it in school, when I was in fifth grade. I have no idea why the teacher was showing it to us, but it definitely made for a welcome break in the usual school routine. It’s easy to forget that Clue was based on a board game, because it’s such a witty, funny comedy. Curry was absolutely dynamic.
I didn’t get to see Rocky Horror until a decade or so later, when it was finally released on home video. Watched it with some friends one afternoon during summer break from college. It’s definitely a crazy, entertaining movie, and of course Curry is great in it. I’ve watched it a number of times since. One of these days hopefully I’ll get a chance to actually see it in the theater.
Curry was an incredible actor, and I feel that he did a good job in everything he appeared in.