Comedian Dom Joly, actress Beverley Callard, TV presenter Alison Hammond, comedian Steve Punt and actor Philip Franks will star as The Narrator in the 2018/9 UK tour of The Rocky Horror Show. The five stars will take to the stage to perform the iconic role at various moments during the new national tour of the show, which opens at Theatre Royal Brighton this December and then travels across the country until November 2019. More celebrity narrators will be announced over the coming months.
Trigger Happy TV star Dom Joly said: “I’m soooo excited to play the part of the narrator in The Rocky Horror Show. I’ve been entranced by the show since I stumbled upon it, one late night, in a cinema in Notting Hill Gate in 1990. More importantly, I haven’t had the opportunity to wear fishnets since I was a Goth back in the late Eighties…any excuse…”
Coronation Street legend Beverley Callard said: “Wow! I’m really looking forward to joining the Rocky Horror family, I’ve been Time Warping for years as you all know. And I can’t wait to be back on stage at my favourite theatre, the Manchester Opera House. Get ready all you Rocky Horror fans, let’s make this strange journey together. See you all there!”
This Morning presenter Alison Hammond said: “I cannot wait to join the Rocky Horror team in May. It’s in my hometown of Birmingham which is obviously the best place! So make sure you come along and enjoy the show!!”
Returning as The Narrator, Steve Punt of Punt and Dennis said: “I first saw Rocky when I was 15, so it’s a show that I’ve known for a long time and always loved. It was just a lovely thing to be asked to do it. The director said to me, ‘don’t worry if you don’t remember every line because the audience know them and will shout them out anyway’ - some of the shout-outs are really funny and it’s great to join in the fun!”
Also reprising the role, beloved actor Philip Franks said: “I can absolutely guarantee you will come out of The Rocky Horror Show feeling 100 times better than when you went in. The dancing and singing is fabulous and there is such a goodwill about the show. It’s a lot of fun to perform.”
The legendary musical extravaganza will also star Blue singer and Hollyoaks actor Duncan James and West End star Stephen Webb as Frank, Strictly Come Dancing Champion Joanne Clifton as Janet, a1’s Ben Adams as Brad and Kristian Lavercombe will be reprising his role as Riff Raff, following more than 1300 performances around the world. Directed by Christopher Luscombe, the smash hit show features all of the famous musical numbers which have made The Rocky Horror Show such a huge hit for over four decades, including “Sweet Transvestite”, “Science Fiction/Double Feature”, “Dammit Janet” and, of course, the timeless floor-filler, “The Time-Warp”.
Since it first opened in London in June 1973 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show has become the world’s favourite Rock ‘N’ Roll musical, having been performed worldwide for 45 years in more than 30 countries and translated into over 20 languages. This critically-acclaimed stunning new production is now back by public demand and returns for a 12 month UK tour starting at Theatre Royal Brighton on 13 December 2018.
The Rocky Horror Show tells the story of Brad and his fiancée Janet, two squeaky clean college kids who meet Dr Frank’n’Furter by chance when their car breaks down outside his house whilst on their way to visit their favourite college professor. It’s an adventure they’ll never forget, with fun, frolics, frocks and frivolity, bursting with timeless songs and outrageous outfits. The Rocky Horror Show is a guaranteed party, which famously combines science-fiction, horror, comedy and music while encouraging audience participation meaning, of course, getting dressed in the most outrageous fancy dress.
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 more than 40 years after its premiere, making it the longest running theatrical release in cinema history. Many stars including Russell Crowe, Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Jerry Springer, Jason Donovan and Meatloaf have appeared in The Rocky Horror Show over the past 45 years.
In 2015, as part of a sold-out season at London’s Playhouse Theatre, a special star-studded Gala charity performance in aid of Amnesty International was broadcast to over 600 cinemas across the UK and Europe. The live screening - featuring a host of celebrities playing The Narrator including Stephen Fry, Mel Giedroyc, Emma Bunton, Ade Edmondson, Anthony Head and Richard O’Brien - smashed box office records and was the biggest grossing film in cinemas across the UK. The performance was subsequently screened on the Sky Arts channel.
Ready to thrill you with fun and naughty moments, The Rocky Horror Show is the boldest bash of them all. But be warned, this show has rude parts!
The Rocky Horror Show 2018 / 2019 UK Tour Dates – Narrator Schedule
| Theatre | Date | Narrator |
| Theatre Royal Brighton | 13 December 2018 – 5 January 2019 | Dom Joly |
| Opera House Manchester | 9 January – 26 January 2019 | Beverley Callard |
| Sunderland Empire | 28 January – 2 February 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Milton Keynes Theatre | 4 February – 9 February 2019 | Dom Joly |
| New Wimbledon Theatre | 11 February – 16 February 2019 | Dom Joly |
| Sheffield Lyceum | 18 February – 23 February 2019 | Philip Franks |
| Princess Theatre Torquay | 25 February – 2 March 2019 | Philip Franks |
| New Victoria Theatre Woking | 4 March – 9 March 2019 | Dom Joly |
| Grand Opera House Belfast | 18 March – 23 March 2019 | Philip Franks |
| New Theatre Oxford | 25 March – 30 March 2019 | Philip Franks |
| Mayflower Theatre Southampton | 8 April – 13 April 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Churchill Theatre Bromley | 15 April – 20 April 2019 | Philip Franks |
| Liverpool Empire Liverpool | 29 April – 4 May 2019 | To Be Announced |
| New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham | 13 May – 25 May 2019 | Alison Hammond |
| Regent Theatre Stoke-On-Trent | 3 June – 8 June 2019 | Steve Punt |
| Grand Opera House York | 10 June – 15 June 2019 | Steve Punt |
| Bristol Hippodrome Theatre | 17 June – 22 June 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Winter Gardens Blackpool | 24 June – 29 June 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Bord Gais Theatre Dublin | 1 July – 6 July 2019 | To Be Announced |
| King’s Theatre Glasgow | 12 August – 17 August 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Leeds Grand Theatre | 19 August – 24 August 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Royal Concert Hall Nottingham | 28 August – 1 September 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Orchard Theatre Dartford | 23 September – 28 September 2019 | To Be Announced |
| Edinburgh Playhouse | 28 October – 2 November 2019 | To Be Announced |
What the press have said about The Rocky Horror Show:
“Panto for grown-ups – colourful, in your face, relentlessly energetic and high on audience participation” – The Times
“Hard to think of another musical quite as unique as this. Christopher Luscombe’s affectionate production feels like a genuine blast from the past” – Mail on Sunday
“As delightfully naughty as ever!” – Daily Telegraph
“So fast, so funny, so sexy” – Daily Mail
“Still the sexiest and funniest show in town” – Evening Standard
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Ticket prices: From £10
Website: www.rockyhorror.co.uk
Twitter: @rockyhorroruk
Facebook: /rockyhorrorshow
Philip Franks
Recent theatre work includes: Witness for the Prosecution, Art, Noises Off, Journey’s End (West End); Murder in the Cathedral(London); Flare Path, Breaking the Code, The Winslow Boy, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Secret of Sherlock Holmes and the The Rocky Horror Show, in which he spent a year in fishnets and toured the UK and Italy. He spent ten years with the RSC, in London and Stratford, on tour and in New York, where many roles included Lysander, Florizel, Bertram and the title role in Hamlet.
Television includes: The Darling Buds of May, Heartbeat, Bleak House, Martin Chuzzlewit, Absolutely Fabulous, Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders.
Film includes: Finding Neverland and The Phantom Thread.
Concert performances include: The Soldier’s Tale, Silverlake, Journey to the Centre of the Earth and King Arthur.
Philip is also a regular voice on BBC radio, in drama and reading books and poetry. He has recorded many audiobooks, including the complete Campion novels by Margery Allingham. He is also an award winning director. Over 40 productions include shows at the National Theatre (Private Lives, The Heiress); West End (Nicholas Nickleby Parts One and Two, Taking Sides, Collaboration, The Duchess of Malfi, Dear Lupin); Chichester Festival, where he was associate director for six years (Twelfth Night, The Deep Blue Sea, The Master Builder, Separate Tables etc); Regents Park (The Comedy of Errors); the Bush Theatre (four of the Sixty-Six Books); The Habit of Art (National Tour); as well as Greenwich, Salisbury, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Leeds. He has also directed many plays for BBC Radios 3 and 4.
For further information please contact:
Flora Donald / Neil Reading
Neil Reading PR
020 7839 2277
