The Rocky Horror Show is returning to Perth this August as the popular musical celebrates its 50th anniversary.
They’ve just announced who’ll be in the cast when it opens at the Crown Theatre on 6th August.
Joining the cast as Frank N Furter is three-time Olivier Award winning performer, David Bedella who returns to Australia for the first time since recreating his starring role in the critically acclaimed Jerry Springer: The Opera which played at Sydney Opera House in 2009.
Australian audiences may remember him as the lead in Oh, What A Night! where he performed alongside Marcia Hines and Gary Sweet. David comes to Perth with an impressive resume from both Broadway and London’s West End having performed roles in Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Jerry Springer the Opera, The Rocky Horror Show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Producers, Chicago, In the Heights and most recently & Juliet. He can also currently be seen playing the President of The United States in Amazon Prime’s third season of Jack Ryan.
Having worked with Hollywood greats such a Bruce Beresford and Quentin Tarantino, with over forty films, 250 TV shows, and countless plays performed all over the world including NYC and London under his belt, this performer’s passion remains the stage.
Bedella said he was thrilled to be returning to the role for the Perth season.
“I am thrilled to be returning to Australia after so many years and to return to a show that is forever linked to my heart! This Fiftieth Anniversary production promises to be the best yet and I’m gonna do my part to see that it is! I hope everyone will come along to help us celebrate a show that has undeniably become the greatest cult sensation musical theatre has ever seen and has meant so much to so many for fifty years!”
Presenting the story on stage as The Narrator will be showbusiness great, Nicholas Hammond. Nicholas is wonderful addition to the cast to present the mayhem that ensues on stage, when the inhabitants of far-off Galaxy Transylvania descend to earth with the insatiable desire to party!
They join principal cast Stellar Perry as Magenta (X Factor, The Voice, Bell Shakespeare’s The Lovers), Ellis Dolan as Eddie/Dr Scott, Darcey Eagle as Columbia, Ethan Jones as Brad, Deirdre Khoo as Janet, Loredo Malcolm as Rocky and Henry Rollo as Riff Raff.
The show is currently playing in Melbourne with Jason Donovan as Frank N Furter, and Myf Warhurst as The Narrator.
Written and created by Richard O’Brien, The Rocky Horror Show has become one of the world’s favourite musicals and is currently the only contemporary rock musical to celebrate 50 years on stage.
The Rocky Horror Show tells the story of Brad and his fiancée Janet, two squeaky clean college kids who meet Dr Frank’n’Furter an extra-terrestrial mad scientist from the galaxy of Transylvania where people really like to party! It’s an adventure they’ll never forget, with fun, frolics, frocks and frivolity, bursting with timeless songs and outrageous outfits.
Since it first opened in London in 1973 at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs, The Rocky Horror Show has been continuously on stage somewhere in the world and has paved its way into history as one of the classics of musical theatre.
The Rocky Horror Show first began life in 1973 before an audience of just 63 people in the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs. It was an immediate success and transferred to the Chelsea Classic Cinema, before going on to run at the Kings Road Theatre, 1973-79 and the Comedy Theatre in the West End, 1979-80.
In 1975 it was transformed into a film called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This film adaptation took over $135 million at the Box Office and is still shown in cinemas around the world nearly 50 years after its premiere, making it the longest running theatrical release in cinema history.
Many stars of the stage and screen including Russell Crowe, Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Meat Loaf, Jerry Springer, Adam Lambert, Emma Bunton, Stephen Fry, Reg Livermore, Bert Newton, Gretel Killeen, Derryn Hinch, and Shane Jacobsen have appeared in The Rocky Horror Show over the past 50 years. This iconic brand holds a unique place in theatre history, a show which has defied the decades and continued to grow in popularity.
OIP Staff
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