Orlando's New Wave Cabaret is opening its second season with a burlesque tribute to Tim Curry, the actor associated with roles including Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Pennywise. “Spicy Curry: A Tim Curry Burlesque Tribute” is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, at ME Theatre, where drag and burlesque performers will reinterpret characters from Curry's career. The queer-focused production was conceived in late 2024 and became a posthumous tribute after Curry's death this year.
According to Orlando Weekly, the show was initially planned as a celebration of Curry's work before his death gave it an additional memorial dimension. The production draws from his horror, fantasy, comedy, animation and video game roles, the outlet reported.
Curry died on August 25, according to the BBC, which reported the English actor was best known for playing Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He also played the fearsome clown Pennywise in the 1990 television version of Stephen King's It, and he was nominated for three Tony Awards during his Broadway career, per the BBC's reporting. His longtime manager and friend, Marcia Hurwitz, said he passed away peacefully at his home in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles.
Curry's Stage Roots and Orlando's Cabaret Scene
For career context, HISTORY.com reports that Curry originated Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the first production of “The Rocky Horror Show” at London's Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1973. TIME reported that his three Tony Award nominations were for “Amadeus,” “My Favorite Year” and “Monty Python's Spamalot,” underscoring the importance of stage work alongside the film and television roles cited above. New Wave Cabaret is part of a longer-running Central Florida cabaret and burlesque scene. According to Big Bang BOOM! Collective, that group has presented performances in the region since 2015, with programming inspired by nerd fandom and sultry tales.
A Celebration, Not a Funeral
New Wave Cabaret has described the production as a celebration rather than a funeral, according to Orlando Weekly. The outlet reported that the company's organizers want the show to acknowledge grief without making it the entire focus, while keeping the presentation campy, theatrical, strange, sexy, funny and joyful.
The organizers also told Orlando Weekly that drag and burlesque allow performers to heighten familiar characters rather than simply reproduce them. Kimbolicious described the company's broader mission in terms of queer joy as “an act of resistance,” according to the outlet.
Who's Performing and Where to Go
The lineup for Spicy Curry includes performers Daya Darling, Velvet Thing, Aurora Fable, Feisty Fringe and Buttercup Sunset, according to Orlando Weekly. The show is scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, at the Marshall Ellis Performing Arts Center, located at 1300 La Quinta Drive in Orlando, the outlet reported. Tickets range from $30 to $47, per the same report.
Separately, New Wave Cabaret's own announcement identifies the venue as ME Theatre at 1300 La Quinta Dr. and says doors open at 8 p.m., with the show beginning at 8:30 p.m. The event is restricted to attendees 18 and older, and free parking is available. The newsletter also says three of the company's last four shows sold out, including Queers for Fears, which sold out five days before its performance.
Building a Following Since Bowie
New Wave Cabaret was founded in 2025 by local artists Leggy Strangelove, Hans Von Strangelove and Kimbolicious, according to OrlandoShine. The company produces four themed shows a year and debuted with “Let's Dance: A David Bowie Burlesque Tribute,” which premiered to a sold-out audience in November 2025. It has since staged Happy HoliGays and The G@G Ball, according to Orlando Weekly.
With three of its first four shows reported as sold out, Spicy Curry continues the troupe's pattern of building productions around recognizable cultural figures and themes. Its focus on Curry's theatrical characters places the event within New Wave Cabaret's broader combination of camp performance and burlesque.
