The Rocky Horror Show is Dr. Frank-N-Furter. When you go to the infamous dress-up sing-a-long cinema events on Halloween, it’s the pansexual, cross-dressing mad scientist sashaying around in pearls and hold-ups that you’re really screaming at the screen for. So it’s hard to imagine anyone replacing Tim Curry as the bodacious, awful, fucking brilliant “sweet transvestite from Transylvania”.
But if anyone in all the world of acting could grab that sequinned corset with both hands and do it justice, surely it’d be Laverne Cox. Fox has just announced that she will play Frank-N-Furter in the new TV remake of the original 1975 film. According to reports, the two-hour event will be a reimagining of the cult classic and will be directed, choreographed and executive produced by Kenny Ortega (as in Dirty Dancing Kenny Ortega), with other producers including Lou Adler and Gail Berman.
The musical is bigger than big. It’s a queer masterpiece. Last month marked 40 years of its theatrical distribution – longer than any other film in history. Always with these things, there’ll be some die-hard members of the fandom that aren’t into the idea. Some things are better left alone. But with Cox stepping into Frank’s stilettos, I’ve got serious faith.
