Patricia Quinn, the original Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is set to host a live shadow-cast screening of the cult classic at Boston's Emerson Colonial Theatre on Tuesday night. The 82-year-old actress will bring a new 4K restoration of the film, audience participation and a costume contest to the Boylston Street venue, with the show kicking off at 7:30 p.m.
The Boston stop is part of a touring tradition Quinn has kept alive for three consecutive years, according to official event listings. VIP ticket holders can expect a meet-and-greet with Quinn herself, a personal photo opportunity and an autograph, per those listings. The Emerson Colonial Theatre stop is one of dozens in a broader run; a BroadwayWorld report describes a 40-city tour across the United States and Canada featuring rotating appearances by original cast members Barry Bostwick, Nell Campbell and Quinn.
From a Few Seats Left to Sold-Out Arenas
Quinn told the Boston Herald that only a few seats remained for the Emerson Colonial Theatre stop, a notable claim given how her past tour screenings have fared. She told the Herald those earlier events repeatedly sold out, and she once performed for a crowd of 4,000 people in St. Louis. In a separate interview, Quinn said the touring screenings have filled theaters seating between 2,000 and 3,000 people — and that those theaters sold out, too, per the same account.
Quinn admitted she initially thought touring with full film showings would be too much, after years of doing question-and-answer sessions ahead of screenings a few years back, the Herald reported. The emotional weight of the fan encounters has stuck with her. She has said 70-year-old women have wept at meet-and-greets, telling her that Rocky Horror changed their lives, and that gay couples have shared similar sentiments with her directly, according to the Herald's report.
A Role Born in a 60-Seat London Room
Quinn began performing in Rocky Horror in 1973, when the stage show opened at London's Royal Court in an upstairs room with just 60 wooden seats, no stage and no curtain, the Herald reported. Within a week, the show had become the talk of London, drawing attendees including Mick Jagger and Bianca Jagger, as well as David Bowie, per the same account. Quinn reprised her role as Magenta two years later when the film version was released in 1975, according to her official biography.
The film struggled initially before midnight screenings transformed its fortunes, according to an interview Quinn gave to BroadwayWorld. Audiences began dressing up, talking back to the screen and interacting with the movie during a regular midnight run at New York's Waverly Theater starting in 1976, the outlet reported — and the Boston Herald noted Quinn and fellow cast member Richard O'Brien eventually visited a New York screening themselves after being persuaded to attend. By the late 1970s, the film had become a staple of midnight screenings in cities across the country, per the Herald's account. In 2005, the Library of Congress's National Film Registry selected the film for preservation, according to the American Film Institute.
The Rise of Shadow Casts
Shadow casts — local performers who sing, dance and dress as the film's characters in front of the screen — grew out of that same interactive culture, after regulars at weekly midnight screenings began dressing in costume and acting out scenes below the movie screen, according to NPR. The tradition has spread well beyond Boston; New Haven's Rosetint Community Theatre recently staged its own shadow-cast production, complete with a live band, prop bags and Rocky Horror-themed trivia, according to the New Haven Independent.
Quinn has said shadow cast performers receive cheers and audience attention comparable to those on screen, and admitted she is jealous of their experience performing live in front of the crowd, per the Herald's report. People from multiple generations still dress as Magenta at these events, Quinn said, and she has credited the joy the shows bring her as what keeps her going. The film continues to play at midnight in more than 200 theaters across the country, according to NPR, and fans nationwide are marking the film's 50th anniversary with special events alongside a new documentary titled Strange Journey.
A Massachusetts Tradition With Deep Roots
Massachusetts theaters have long kept the Rocky Horror flame burning with one-off and annual screenings, according to MassLive. The outlet also noted that Tim Curry's last known appearance in the state came at Boston Comic Con in 2017, when he reunited with Quinn, Meat Loaf and Nell Campbell. Tuesday's event at the Emerson Colonial Theatre adds another chapter to that local history, with Quinn once again stepping into Magenta's platform heels for a Boston crowd ready to throw rice, toast and dance the Time Warp all over again.
