Events Calendar
|
Latest Issue
|
Membership
|
Log In Sign Up
  • Play

    Play

    • A Beginner’s Guide to Soccer
    • You Spin Me Right Round: D.C. Roller Skating 101 in 2021
    • Leading the League: The WNBA’s Natasha Cloud on Breaking Barriers + Inspiring D.C.
    • Spring Has Sprung: 10 Ways To Get Outside in the DMV
    • Play Week Combines Games + Social Impact
    • High and Go Seek Illustration
    • O Captain, My Captain: Washington Spirit’s Andi Sullivan
  • Life

    Life

    • Local Entrepreneurs Infuse CBD into Wellness
    • 19 Entrepreneurs Shaping D.C.’s Cannabis + CBD Industries
    • Upcycling in D.C.: Transforming a Culture of Consumption
    • The Green Issue: Experts + Advocates Make Case for Cannabis Legalization + Decriminalization
    • The District Derp Story
    • Grassfed Media Champions Cannabis Clients
    • Nat Geo Explorer Gabrielle Corradino on Plankton, the Anacostia + Conservation
  • Eat

    Eat

    • The State of Takeout in the District
    • A New Twist on Food Delivery: MisenBox
    • Next-Level Home Dining Experiences in D.C.
    • Foxtrot Market Is Officially Open for Business in Georgetown
    • Food Rescue + Assistance Programs Fill the Gaps in a Pandemic Food System
    • Hungry Harvest Helps to End Food Insecurity
    • Notable Summer Bar + Restaurant Reopenings to Try this Spring
  • Drink

    Drink

    • Pandemic Drinking: Derek Brown Leads the Way to Low-ABV Future
    • D.C.’s St. Vincent Wine Creates Covid-Conscious Experience
    • A New Way to Binge: Sobriety Anchors Business + Being for Gigi Arandid
    • King’s Ransom + The Handover in Alexandria Celebrate a First Year Like No Other
    • Wines of the World Are Just Around the Corner
    • Open-Air Drinking + Cocktail Delivery Changes in the DMV
    • Denizens Brewing Co.’s Emily Bruno: Brewing Change for Community + Industry
  • Culture

    Culture

    • The Artistry Behind D.C.’s Cannabis Culture
    • The Best Movies of 2021…So Far
    • The Survival of the Brutalist: D.C.’s Complicated Concrete Legacy
    • Plain Sight: A Street-Front Revolution in Radical Arts Accessibility
    • A Touch of Danger in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Romeo & Juliet”
    • Artgence + Homme: Where There’s Art, There’s a Story to Share
    • 21 D.C. Makers + Curators to Follow
  • Music

    Music

    • Emma G Talks Wammie Nominations and the D.C. Music Community
    • J’Nai Bridges: A Modern Mezzo-Soprano in a Changing Opera Landscape
    • Punk Legends The Go-Go’s Talk Four Decades of Sisterhood, Resilience + Zero Fucks Given
    • Ellen Reid “Soundwalk:” Exploring the Sonic Landscape at Wolf Trap
    • SHAED Releases First Full-Length Album in a “High Dive” of Faith
    • Obama + Springsteen Present “Renegades”
    • Christian Douglas Uses His “Inside Voice” on Pandemic-Inspired Debut Album
  • Events

    Events

    • Play Week 4.17-4.25
    • Midnight at The Never Get 4.30-6.21
    • Cannabis City Panel Presented by BĀkT DC + District Fray
    • Browse Events
    • DC Polo Society Summer Sundays 5.9
    • National Cannabis Festival’s Dazed & Amused Drive-In Party
    • Vinyl + Vinyasa 4.30
  • Log In
    Sign Up

Log In Sign Up
The Sound of Women: 7 DMV Artists to Follow
Feel Like a Star: VXN Workout Takes Over the DMV
A distant view of the Washington Monument.
I Will Follow: April 2023
At Angelika: “What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears?”
A Family Affair: Drew and Ellie Holcomb at the Birchmere
A man in a purple shirt stands in front of a bar.
Off the Clock: Joseph Oddo
Home » Articles » Culture » Bostwick Bares All: Get Spooky with Rocky Horror’s Brad Majors

Culture

Rocky Horror Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter in Rock Horror Picture Show. Photo from timeout.com.

Bostwick Bares All: Get Spooky with Rocky Horror’s Brad Majors

Share:

October 14, 2021 @ 5:00pm | Colleen Kennedy

On Halloween night, the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southeast D.C. will screen “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” as part of the film’s 45th Anniversary Spectacular Tour. Barry Bostwick, who played Brad Majors in the original production, will host the event.   

When Bostwick was recruited to play Brad, he had already received a Tony nomination for originating the role of bad boy heartthrob Danny Zuko in the Broadway musical “Grease.” Bostwick also nabbed a Tony Award in 1977 for his performance in “The Robber Bridegroom,” and has enjoyed a successful career as a television actor, most famously for New York mayor Randall Winston in the political sitcom “Spin City,” with recurring roles on shows from “Cougar Town” to the “Law & Order” franchise. 

We sat down with Bostwick to learn more about his life as an actor and icon – and what to expect at the Rocky Horror screening event in D.C. this Halloween. 

District Fray: What was your first encounter with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show?” What did you think when you first came across this script?
Barry Bostwick: I first came across it on stage with Tim [Curry playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter] in Los Angeles. It was like a happening. It was so exciting. It was the Tim Curry show. He fills wherever he is with such charisma and energy. After that, I saw it several times. I had several friends playing different roles. I was so attracted to the piece because it was just pure rock and roll — wild, colorful, energetic.

How were you cast? You were already a hit on Broadway and the play already had a full cast before the film.
I was quite aware of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” when the casting director Joel Thurm, a good friend of my manager’s, proposed it to me. He thought Susan Sarandon and I would be a good combination. So, we met them at the theater one afternoon. Joel, in the back of his mind, had this whole thing cast with us in it already. I don’t know how long it took after that for us to actually get presented with contracts.

What is it about this movie that endears itself to generation after generation?
It’s fun and audiences have absconded the whole event and turned it into a party. Thematically, I think it’s about accepting who you are, who you’d like to be, who your friends are, and accepting their uniqueness. It’s about the loss of innocence: Everybody in the movie loses their innocence in some way. Also, it’s just rude and naughty enough that a younger audience thinks they’re getting away with something by watching it privately in their bedroom, dancing around and singing “Sweet Transvestite.” They’re declaring: “This is my life. This is how I’m going to live my life in a bustier and fishnet stockings.”

The movie is also pretty one-of-a-kind. What makes it relatable to audiences?
The characters are archetypal. People always relate to one character or another. The movie doesn’t challenge you beyond that, and entertains you with its naughtiness. The songs are easy to sing. It’s catchy and colorful and it’s a well put together film. Basically, it’s about the audience. We are there as fodder for their creativity. If there was a party going on in the house next door, we’re the musical soundtrack on in the background – but all the fun is going on in the party itself

Name something that sets “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” apart, which people don’t typically consider.
Years ago somebody asked, “Did you make the film so slow so we can talk in between the lines?” But that was just the style of moviemaking in 1975; the pace was different back then in movies. Now, there’s probably twice as many edits and the attention span is so much shorter. It’s worked out great for the audience, though, because they’re able to yell nasty things at us between our lines. And there’s a certain structure to the lines. Over the years, people want to engage in that kind of predictable fun. 

Rocky Horror fans formed a tradition called “shadow cast,” where ensembles act out the movie while it’s playing. What makes the Rocky Horror shadow cast important?
The shadow cast is like a weird club in college. It has a leader or a director and they make their own props. Once you join the shadow cast community, it’s worldwide. If you’re in a cast in New Jersey and you go to Germany, you know you’ll be sleeping on the couch of a Riff Raff. It is such a mutually loved, adored, obsessive experience for these people. I’ve met people who’ve been playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter for over 25 years, and it’s a linchpin of their social life. It’s also like a community theater. A lot of kids who are in these casts go on to be actors. This is their first attempt getting over their shyness or stage fright. It’s a forum for self-discovery.

What do you think Richard O’Brien, who wrote Rocky Horror, envisioned for the movie?
I think O’Brien was just speaking from his own sense of obsession with old movies and cross dressing. I think he wrote something that amused him. I’ve never talked to him about whether or not he thought it was going to go anywhere – other than a little theater in London. It started out as fluke, a whim, and grew to bigger theatre, then the movie, and now it’s around the world. I’m hoping the shadow casts will reassemble around the world with fresh energy. 

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is progressive in its views on sexuality and gender: very gender fluid, pansexual, nobody’s judging. How do you think this continues to impact our culture?
After watching it, I think you’ll walk away being a little more tolerant of people’s differences, and accepting differences in humanity. I love hearing the stories, so many wonderful stories of how fans got involved, what it means to them, and how it changed their lives. When I hear those stories, I know it was all for good. The movie was put together out of a sense of fun and kitsch – but not something which would be socially [subversive] and influence a whole subculture. I’m looking forward to this tour. It’s time for people to get back together, isn’t it? And what a wonderful way to do it. 

The screening of the original unedited movie is October 31 at 8 p.m. at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southeast D.C. The event will include a live shadow cast, a costume contest and full audience participation. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. $25.00-$45.00. Visit eventsdc.com/events/rocky-horror-picture-show for more.

Entertainment & Sports Arena: 1100 Oak Dr. SE, DC; eventsdc.com // @eventsdc

Enjoy this piece? Consider becoming a member for access to our premium digital content. Support local journalism and start your membership today.

Share:

Related Articles

No Articles

DISTRICT FRAY MEMBERSHIPS

District Fray members receive unlimited access to our digital content, including new articles published daily. We also have membership options available for locals interested in our print magazine, member events, or first-access tickets and giveaways.

Join Today
COMPANY
About United Fray Team Hiring: Join Our Team!
GET INVOLVED
Become A Member 2023 Media Kit 2023 Editorial Calendar Corporate Wellness Contact: Media Pitches + Advertising Inquiries
EXPLORE
Eat Drink Music Culture Life Play Events Calendar
OUR CITIES
Washington D.C. Jacksonville Phoenix
Subscribe

By clicking submit, you agree to receive emails from District Fray and accept our web terms of use and privacy and cookie policy.

© 2023 District Fray.