Barry Bostwick, the original Brad Majors from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is bringing a new 4K restoration of the cult classic to San Francisco's Curran Theatre on October 11, complete with a live shadow cast and full audience participation. The event folds in a costume contest, a memorabilia display featuring artifacts and an actual costume from the film, and VIP meet-and-greet tickets that include a personal photo opportunity and autograph with Bostwick himself.
The screening was announced via BroadwaySF, which confirmed Bostwick's return to the role that launched his career and detailed the 4K restoration and shadow cast elements of the show. Handling the shadow cast duties will be Barely Legal, also known as BL Rocky, a Bay Area troupe that has performed interactive Rocky Horror screenings across Northern California for more than three decades, according to Barely Legal.
A Song Fans Won't Find on the DVD
One of the tour's signature draws is a performance most fans have never seen: during Bostwick's stops, audiences get a live rendition of “Once in a While,” Brad Majors' solo ballad from the original 1973 stage musical that never made it into the 1975 film. As BroadwayWorld reports, director Jim Sharman cut the recorded song from the final film to keep the story moving after Brad's encounter with Frank-N-Furter. It's a detail that gives the Curran date something beyond a standard midnight-movie screening — a piece of the show's stage history that even longtime fans of the movie have likely never heard performed live.
The tour's cast configuration varies by city. While the nationwide Spooktacular Tour brings co-stars Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta, and Nell Campbell, who played Columbia, to select multi-star stops, Bostwick is the sole original cast member scheduled for the San Francisco date, according to The Stander Group. Fans in other cities have seen different lineups; Hoodline previously reported that Bostwick, Quinn, and Campbell all appeared together for the tour's stop at Minneapolis's State Theatre.
A Landmark Venue Under New Ownership
The Curran Theatre itself carries its own recent news. The 1,600-seat venue on Geary Street, which first opened in 1922, was acquired in December 2025 by the San Francisco Giants organization from longtime owner Carole Shorenstein Hays, per Giants Enterprises. The theater underwent a comprehensive, multi-million-dollar restoration before reopening in 2017, and it has continued to draw high-profile bookings since the ownership change, including Hoodline's prior report on Darren Criss's Curran homecoming.
At the Minneapolis stop, patrons were barred from bringing their own prop bags; the venue instead handed out approved prop kits at the door.
Fifty Years of a Midnight Phenomenon
The film being screened in San Francisco has a historical pedigree that few movies can match. Originally released in North American theaters in September 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show holds the record for the longest continuous theatrical release in cinema history, according to Men's Journal. The film initially bombed and has remained in theaters.
The film was directed by Jim Sharman and adapted from Richard O'Brien's 1973 West End stage production The Rocky Horror Show, with O'Brien also composing the music and co-starring as Riff Raff, according to Wikipedia. The low-budget production was an intentional parody of B-grade science fiction and horror films from the 1930s through the 1960s.
This year's tour arrives with added weight for longtime fans following the death of Tim Curry, who originated the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter on stage in 1973 and starred in the 1975 film.
San Francisco's Own Shadow Cast Tradition
The Curran date also taps into a shadow cast culture that runs deep in San Francisco. Beyond Barely Legal's involvement in the Bostwick event, the city maintains a year-round interactive Rocky Horror scene through groups like The Bawdy Caste, which performs monthly screenings at the Balboa Theatre in the Richmond District, according to SF Funcheap. The Curran's October 11 show adds to San Francisco's shadow-cast scene.
