‘Give yourself over to absolute pleasure’: Kick off the spooky season with ‘Rocky Horror’ at Palace
This year's screening, scheduled Sept. 17, takes on more significance after the death 80-year-old Tim Curry, who played the movie's main character Dr. Frank N. Furter; his death was especially poignant for Aloha Theatre in Kealakekua that will present in October the stage version of the film, in which Curry also originated the role.
Give yourself over to “absolute pleasure” and do “The Time Warp” again at the historic Palace Theater in downtown Hilo to officially kick off the spooky season.
The theater invites all ghouls and goblins to take a trip into Dr. Frank N. Furter’s otherworldly lab for what 20th Century Fox calls a “screamingly funny, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, horror, B-movies and rock music.”
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” warps onto the Palace screen at 8 p.m. Sept. 17.
“Sing a long to this iconic cult classic, dress to impress with a film inspired costume and spin the prize wheel in the lobby to win sweet Palace merch, stickers and free tickets the annual Haunted Palace on Halloween night,” the theater’s promotional material for the upcoming presentation of the cult classic.
Show details
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
- Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meat Loaf
- Synopsis: A rain-soaked couple take refuge in the castle of a transvestite mad scientist from outer space who is about to unveil his greatest creation.
- Rated: R
- Movie length: 100 minutes
- Where: Palace Theater, 38 Haili St., Hilo
- Date: Sept. 17
- Doors open: 7 p.m.
- Lobby bar and live music with The Sazerac Bros.: 7 to 7:45 p.m.
- Pre-show cartoons on screen: 7 to 8 p.m.
- Feature presentation: 8 p.m.
“Rocky Horror” No-No’s from Palace management
- No rice
- No real toast
- No hot dogs
- No water guns
- No air horns
- No open flames
- Nothing that could damage the 100-year-old theater
This year’s screening takes on more significance after the death of one of the film’s stars.
“We are incredibly saddened by the passing of Tim Curry,” the Palace posted Aug. 31 on Facebook.
Curry played the iconic main character alien mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in “Rocky Horror,” which premiered Aug. 14, 1975.
He died Aug. 25 at the age of 80.
“He will forever live on via the iconic performances he delivered throughout his storied career, including the incomparable Dr. Frank N. Furter,” the Palace post says.
Curry also originated the role in the 1973 London West End production of “The Rocky Horror Show,” the stage musical from which the movie was adapted, and then performed it again in a 1974 production in Los Angeles.
His death came 51 years after “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” made its silver screen debut and 53 years after his performance in the original stage version, both of which have since became cult classics.
“Whenever we’ve done it on the stage, the set has turned the theatre into an abandoned cinema. The movie will be rather different, with a full Gothic house and typical B-picture sets,” Curry told “After Dark Magazine” in 1975. “My performance isn’t changed. The energy behind Frank is the same. I hope it works on film, but if it doesn’t, it will at least be a very glamorous mistake.”
Tickets for the Palace screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” are available now. Cost is $10 general admission in advance, $12 at the door without a costume and $10 at the door for those in costume.
Advance tickets can be purchased at the Palace Theater website. They also are available in-person at the theater box office or over the phone from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The box office opens 30 minutes prior to showtime for tickets the day of the show.
Participation kits also are available.
The kit can include items such as newspaper pages, flashlights, rubber gloves, noise makers, confetti, toilet paper, a party hat, cards and other small novelty items audience members use to interact with specific movie moments.
Curry’s death was especially poignant for Aloha Theatre in Kealakekua, as the West Hawai‘i theatre was in the middle of auditions and callbacks for its biennial stage production of “The Rocky Horror Show.”
“Tim Curry’s [Frank N. Furter] is one of those performances that changed theatre, film and pop culture forever,” the Aloha Theatre shared on Facebook from a tribute to the actor by @rockyhorrorbway. “His audacity, charisma, wit and sheer presence made the role unforgettable.”
The enormous legacy of the original made scientist is on the minds of those involved with this year’s production as they prepare to bring the “wonderfully strange, outrageous show back to the Aloha Theatre stage.”
Its cast and crew as well as the theatre are “hoping to do justice to the character and the spirit [Curry] helped create.”
“The Rocky Horror Show” is scheduled for Oct. 23-24, 29-31 and Nov. 1 on the Kealakekua theatre stage.
Tickets and additional information are available now at the Aloha Theatre website.
