Quinn wasn’t happy, but she did get a small consolation: The iconic lips that sing the song in the opening credits are hers. “Science Fiction/Double Feature” had a different singer for the film.Īs previously mentioned, Patricia Quinn took the Magenta role just so she could sing “Science Fiction/Double Feature” on the stage, but when it came time to film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it was decided that O’Brien should sing the song instead. Then, one day, he heard a woman on a bus speaking with a particularly posh accent and decided, “Yes, he should sound like the Queen.” 6. Taking a cue from the character’s name, Tim Curry began the stage production of The Rocky Horror Show by playing Frank N. Tim Curry, Richard O'Brien, and Patricia Quinn in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Jim Sharman heard that she would perform tap dances while serving ice cream, and took some collaborators to see her.

At the time the stage production was getting underway, she was working as a soda jerk in London. “Little Nell” Campbell had a rather interesting audition for the role of Columbia. Little Nell was cast in The Rocky Horror Picture Show for her tap dancing skills alone. Quinn took the role, despite having almost no lines, just so she could sing the lead song: “Science Fiction/Double Feature,” which she called “the best song I’ve ever heard.” 4. When the time came to cast Magenta, Faithfull was already off on a tour of India, so Patricia Quinn was cast. So Sharman and O’Brien reworked the role into two parts: Magenta and Columbia. Furter’s female counterpart, but Little Nell had already been cast in the production. Columbia and Magenta were originally one character in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.Īs the stage play began casting, Sharman was hoping his friend, pop star Marianne Faithfull, would play Frank N. Sharman, though, saw O’Brien in the role of the mysterious handyman, Riff Raff, and O’Brien respected and trusted his director enough that he agreed. 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentĪs the production took shape, O’Brien knew he wanted to co-star as the motorcycle-riding Eddie, a role that ultimately went to Meat Loaf. Meat Loaf in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Richard O’brien originally wanted to play the role of Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not bad for something that started as the equivalent “doing the crossword puzzle” for O’Brien. It played for only a few dozen people a night, but eventually grew a following. Sharman took a liking to it, and convinced London’s Royal Court theater to give him a few weeks in the venue’s tiny Upstairs theater to stage a production. O’Brien poured his love of science fiction and horror films into the initial Rocky Horror songs, and eventually he showed the material to director Jim Sharman while they were working on a play together. What would eventually become The Rocky Horror Show, and later The Rocky Horror Picture Show, began as a way for Richard O’Brien “to spend winter evenings” when he wasn’t working as an actor. The Rocky Horror Picture Show began as a way to keep an unemployed actor busy. So, to celebrate more than four decades of Absolute Pleasure, here are some facts about the film.

Since its release in 1975, it has remained the quintessential cult classic. People don’t just watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show, they live it-complete with costumes, props, and very vulgar audience participation. Then, as midnight showings continued, its following grew, and grew, and grew.

First written as a small stage production by an out-of-work actor who wanted to pay homage to the B movies he loved, the film version flopped at the box office when it premiered in 1975. Many movies can claim the title “ cult classic,” but few have ever embodied that term quite like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Eddie rocky horror picture show song