The Rocky Horror Picture Show FAQ by Dave Thompson

Author:Dave Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: film, theater
Publisher: Applause
Published: 2016-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

20

Rocky-ing the Curtain Down

One might have expected the release of The Rocky Horror Picture Show to have dampened demand for the stage show. It was not to happen. In London, the King’s Road Theatre continued to groan beneath the demand for tickets, and elsewhere around the world, too, Rocky still stirred.

El Show de Terror de Rocky opened in Mexico City early in 1976, the work of the singularly named Julissa—an indefatigable one-woman force of nature who dominated the Mexican theater scene of the age. Not only did she direct and produce El Show de Terror de Rocky, she also translated it into Spanish, and played the role of Chelo, as her text renamed Janet (Brad was now known as Carlos, and Dr. Scott became Dr. Carillo).

The erstwhile Julia Isabel de Llano Macedo was undertaking her first-ever directorial role, although she was scarcely a theatrical novice. The Mexican translations and productions of Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesucristo Superestrella), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Grease (Vaselina) were her work, while she had experience on the other side of the spotlight too, as teenage vocalist for the late 1950s rock band the Spitfires and a solo performer throughout the early 1960s.

Her acting credits ran to some forty movies between 1962 and 1973, and she could even point to her own crop of Rocky-esque B-movies, with roles in Fear Chamber and House of Evil (both 1968), Mexican productions directed by Jack Hill and costarring Boris Karloff. She also appeared as Mary in the original Mexican cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Her vision of The Rocky Horror Show was not without controversy, primarily for its sexual content, but also for the suggestions of blasphemy that even the removal of the phrase “dammit” had not completely assuaged.

There were international grumblings, too. Although Julissa blithely co-opted the original play’s costumes and set designs, and even borrowed the notion of Doctor Frank-N-Furter making his entrance from behind the crowd, El Show de Terror de Rocky was again an unauthorized production. But this time, despite having overlooked such intrusions in the past, Richard O’Brien did move against it, issuing legal threats that would ultimately lead to the production’s closure.

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