He originated the role of Danny Zuko in “Grease” on Broadway in 1972, receiving a Tony nomination, and he later won a Tony for his role in “The Robber Bridegroom.” Among his many TV and film credits are George Washington and Mayor Randall Winston for six seasons of “Spin City.”
But he’s known by millions of people for a singular role – and Barry Bostwick is perfectly fine with being associated with his character of Brad Majors in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” nearly 50 years after the film’s release.
“’Rocky Horror Picture Show’ is such a phenomenon, such a one-off. It’s something that’s so peculiar to show business that I would be surprised if they didn’t include that in the first line of my obituary,” said Bostwick in a recent phone interview.
Bostwick will be in Augusta on Oct. 1 to celebrate the 49th anniversary of the movie’s release with a special showing at the Miller Theater. A shadow cast will perform along with the film, and audience participation, along with dressing in character, is more than encouraged, it’s expected. For ticket information, go here.
Bostwick admits he remembers little about the filming. This October marks 50 years since he joined Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and the rest of the cast at Bray Studios in England.
With his musical background, he saw the film as being a product of the glitter rock era and the trimmings on the horror parody.
“It wasn’t like we were trying to break ground, I don’t think, musically. I think everybody thought we were just doing a rock concert on film with a few lines in between with an interesting and provocative overlay of Richard O’Brien’s sense of humor. I was always much more interested in the music of it than the dialogue of it,” he said.
And he says he’s not salty that his big solo number was cut from the film.
The song is called “Once in A While,” and Brad sings it right after his encounter with Frank.
Bostwick calls it a sweet ballad, but the placement of it is all wrong. It still appears in stage versions of the play.
“Whenever I see it on stage, it slows the whole thing down,” he said.
By this point in the film, the action is ramping up, so on stage, they have to add dancers or something in it to keep the pace up.
While Bostwick continues filming television and movie projects and operates a pottery studio in Florida, he likes to stay close to “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” He attends conventions regularly and in late August appeared at one event that brought out stars such as Susan Sarandon and Peter Hinwood who played Rocky in the film.
Bostwick said it was the first time he’d seen Hinwood since they left the studio in December 1974.
“The fans of this movie – their stories are more interesting than my stories are about making it. Whether they are dramatic or heartfelt or just plain silly, everybody has a story of when they first saw ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’” he said.
People have been going to the film, dressing up and reenacting it for decades. Before the Internet existed, they found a community within the movie’s fandom at these live events. Some have even gone as far as to say that the film saved their life. Bostwick pointed to a 2016 documentary called “Rocky Horror Saved My Life” to attest to the significance the film gave to a community of marginalized people, trying to find their place in the world.
Bostwick said he likes being around the energy of the shadow cast performers and is grateful to them for keeping the film alive.
“It’s loved and adored by tens of millions of people. I’m blessed to have it as part of my history. Not often can an actor be associated with something that has these kinds of legs and still has relevance,” he said.
During the Oct. 1 event, Bostwick will participate in the meet and greet as well as a Q&A then he’ll go into the audience and insult people, he said.
For the safety of the performers, no outside props are allowed, but special prop bags will be available for purchase at the event, according to Katie Brooks at the Miller.
In recent years event ticket sales have picked up closer to the performance date for many shows, but Brooks said this show is selling quickly.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 36 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
