1 of 2 | Stephen Fry arrives at the 68th Tony Awards in New York City on June 8, 2014. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The actor, writer and comedian will appear in BBC America's upcoming broadcast of "The Rocky Horror Show." |
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LONDON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- BBC America is marking the 40th anniversary of the global tour of the original The Rocky Horror Show by broadcasting a new, 2-hour gala performance of the cult classic.
To air Oct. 18, the program at London's Playhouse Theatre features original show creator Richard O'Brien as The Narrator, as well as Guest Narrators Stephen Fry, Anthony Head, Adrian Edmondson, Emma Bunton and Mel Giedroyc. An encore midnight screening of the show also will follow a full day of Doctor Who-lloween programming on Oct. 31.
"The Rocky Horror Show is a piece of our collective, pop-culture consciousness," Sarah Barnett, the network's president and general manager, said in a statement. "Daring, fun and funny, unabashed and wildly entertaining, we think this brilliant, new version of Rocky Horror will be embraced by our fans in the lead up to Halloween."
"I'm still in awe at the popularity of the show," added O'Brien. "I wrote something I thought I might like to go see and it's now lived successfully for more than 40 years in theaters around the world. Jumping on stage to bring the original show back to life has been an amazing experience. I hope audiences continue to have as much fun with it as I am."
The science-fiction-tinged, rock 'n' roll musical was adapted as a 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring O'Brien in the role of Riff Raff, Susan Sarandon as Janet, Barry Bostwick as Brad and Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The soundtrack featured the fan-favorite songs "The Time Warp," "Sweet Transvestite" and "Dammit, Janet."
Midnight screenings of the movie -- for which audience members dress as Rocky Horror characters and recite well-known lines of dialogue -- remain popular decades after its release.
