I’m another one who saw RHPS in theaters in its heyday and drank in the audience participation experience like cheap wine. Wonderful memories. Frank’s grand entrance is, IMO, THE best entrance in the history of cinema. We had a thread about this a while ago.
My daughters met Tim Curry in Psych and Home Alone II. Their perception of him was completely different from mine and their dad’s. This led to a discussion -“You think you know Tim Curry? Not till you’ve seen this..”. and we streamed RHSP on the spot.
They were dumbfounded. Impressed, somewhat horrified (“my parents did what?”) and came away with a what-did-I-just-see vibe. But also an enhanced appreciation for the magnificent performer that he was.
The first movie I saw Curry in was…Times Square! I still love that movie. I got to see it again at a late night showing in a local indie theater a few years ago, they showed I Do the Rock as a pre-show warm up. I also remember him being on SNL but I had no idea who was at the time.
I probably saw it in that theater around the same time as Dewey_Finn. I also saw it in a few other random venues but the Full Body Cast was a great show. TIL they moved to a AMC Boston Common in 2012 and continued their run.
Check out Fearless. Fantastic songs on that album that he pours his voice over.
My Tim Curry experience: Shortly after he released Fearless, he went on tour.
I saw him early 80s at the Agora Ballroom in Dallas. After the show I headed towards the backstage area. I half jokingly told the security guard that I was with Pace Security and I was meeting Tim in Houston next week and had to talk to him.
Shockingly, he waved me in. The backstage area was a crazy place. Great eats and lots of booze. I chatted with them all, especially the bass player who had smuggled a magnificent bottle of tequila from Mexico recently. We had a few shots. There was an after-party at a private residence following that. We all headed over and continued to party. Tim left soon enough but the rest of us partied on. I don’t remember much after that but it was a wild night.
I went to many midnight shows of RHPS when I was in college. Then I took a 30 year break from it before watching it again a few times in the last year.
Without any irony or camp necessary, Sweet Transvestite and Curry’s entrance is easily one of the greatest numbers in musical cinema history.
The correct ending is the way it’s commonly seen now: with all three endings (the one you mentioned being the last, “real” one). I believe that Clue would have been more successful originally if it had been shown that way in theaters, instead of with the gimmick of only showing one. It makes for a far more satisfying viewing experience that way.
My first film with Tim Curry was Legend, although I had no idea at the time who he was – I never saw Rocky Horror. His ability to generate sympathy for the character through all those prosthetics was, I thought, an acting tour-de-force. His scenes were what rescued the film from its gooey center.
Before today I had never noticed the “pinkie finger to corner of mouth” thing Tim Curry did as Dr Frank’n’furter and realised it may be the origin of Dr Evil’s similar gesture.
I went to many showings of RHPS back in the day. Pretty much weekly, actually. And that was how I knew Tim Curry.
Which made it so delightful when I saw him show up in other movies in roles that were as far away from Dr. Frank N. Furter as it was possible to get. Great in Home Alone 2 (“Your cheese pizza, sir”), and in Clue.
The meme I’ve seen: Michael Caine was successful acting with the Muppets because he treated the Muppets as fellow actors. Tim Curry was successful at it because he treated himself as a fellow Muppet.
