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Home , Dale Ferguson (designer), Neil Armfield, Simon Gleeson, Tamsin Carroll, The Rocky Horror Show, Todd McKenney

A BRAND SPANKING NEW PRODUCTION iOTA PAUL CAPSIS STARRING IN

MEDIA KIT www.rockyhorror.com.au PRESSMEDIA RELEASE RELEASE

RICHARD O’BRIEN’S

THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK’N’ROLL MUSICAL

DON’T DREAM IT … SEE IT THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK‘N’ROLL MUSICAL OPENS IN FEBRUARY WITH A BRAND SPANKING NEW PRODUCTION.

It’s astounding, time is fleeting and is back. We’re starting another sensation and we’re definitely not under sedation!

A new Australian production of the much-loved Rocky Horror Show will open ’s brand new Star Theatre in February 2008 and tickets go on sale on Monday 27 August.

Co-Producer Paul Dainty, Chairman of Dainty Consolidated Entertainment says: “It’s a thrill to be bringing The Rocky Horror Show to the Australian stage. It is a timeless piece of theatre that has spanned decades. I know Australian audiences – both new and old fans – will love this show which stars some of our finest talents.”

“This fresh production is an exciting new take on the world’s favourite rock ‘n’ roll musical. It brings together the hottest cast I have seen for a long time” commented co-producer , Joint Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director of the UK’s .

The Rocky Horror Show is an institution and one of theatre’s most endearing and outrageously fun shows.

Its well-known and much-loved storyline goes something like this: Squeaky-clean sweethearts Brad and Janet knock on the door of an eerie house to use the phone after their car breaks down in the rain on a dark and stormy night. Little do they know but they’ve just walked into a convention of beings from the planet Transsexual, led by the irrepressible leather-clad Frank N Furter. What ensues is a night of music, mayhem and naughtiness where fantasy becomes reality.

The Rocky Horror Show made its debut at ’s internationally famous Upstairs in 1973. While it’s essentially a rock’n’roll show it has also become an iconic brand and an entity unto itself which has defied the decades and continued to grow in popularity.

Millions of people all over the world have seen a production of The Rocky Horror Show and sung along to classics like I’m Just a Sweet Transvestite, Damn It Janet, I Can Make You A Man, Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me, Over At The Place and of course The Time Warp. MEDIA RELEASE CONTINUED

Rocky Horror writer Richard O’Brien wrote the musical stage show in three months and almost three and a half decades later it is still being produced around the globe.

“When you do something like Rocky, which is undefinable somehow, it always becomes difficult to lose that,” says the now 64-year-old writer, creator, actor and performer. “Not that I have any interest in saying goodbye to Rocky. I absolutely adore being involved and a part of something that is really a phenomenon. And I have no problems with that at all. If it overshadows anything else, I can understand completely why and again it doesn’t worry me.”

Why do people go and see this show? The answer is simple according to O’Brien: “It’s a guaranteed party”.

Next year’s Australian production opening in Sydney will star 2007 Helpmann Award winning Actor, ARIA-nominated singer/songwriter iOTA as the outrageous Frank N Furter and the much- loved Paul Capsis pulls out his best to play Riff Raff the butler. Tamsin Carroll, recently seen in Dusty, plays the maid Magenta and is joined by award-winning singer, dancer and actress Sharon Millerchip as Columbia. Mamma Mia! star Kellie Rode plays Janet and internationally accomplished singer and actor Michael Cormick will be Eddie, with more cast announcements expected soon.

The new production will be directed by award-winning director whose credits include working in theatre, opera and television. She’s worked on projects as far ranging as the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, singer Delta Goodrem’s arena tour, The Boy From Oz, Sweeney Todd, Festen and .

Multi-disciplined choreographer John O’Connell brings a wealth of experience to the production having worked with everyone from on Moulin Rouge and PJ Hogan on Muriel’s Wedding to the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix).

The Rocky Horror Show has not been seen in Sydney for a decade and will be the debut production for the soon-to-be-opened Star Theatre, Star City.

“I cannot think of a better way to showcase the Star Theatre than by opening with The Rocky Horror Show which appeals to theatregoers of all ages,” says a delighted Walter Bugno, Chief Executive of Tabcorp’s Casinos Division. “The Star Theatre gives Sydney the new venue it needs for productions like the Rocky Horror where the audience want atmosphere, comfort and great views of the stage.”

While the original fans of The Rocky Horror Show are closer in age to the show’s creator, the show can proudly boast that it indeed now entertains three generations of fans. From the UK, across , Africa, the US, Canada, and , from local community productions to full-blown theatre shows, The Rocky Horror Show is always on stage somewhere in the world playing to teens through to those in their 60s. MEDIA RELEASE CONTINUED

The show has always attracted notable cast members and those who have put their hands on their hips and done plenty of pelvis-thrusting include: , Craig McLachlan, Jason Donovan, Kate Fitzpatrick, Daniel Aberneri, , , RuPaul, Jerry Springer, David Arquette, rockers and Sebastian Bach, and Luke Perry.

Thirty four years later, Rocky Horror fans and audiences are still going strong. Websites, fan clubs and annual conventions all over the world continue to foster an obsessive love for the show, its music and unusual characters.

Those fans still turn up to productions dressed in every version of an authentic to a home-made costume eager to laugh, sing along and add their two cents when requested.

The Sydney season promises a rollicking night and the boldest bash of them all. So fish out the fishnets and sharpen those stilettos for the rockiest ride of your life and buy a ticket before madness takes its toll.

The Sydney season goes on sale on Monday 27 August so if you have voyeuristic intentions, you know what to do.

CALL TICKETMASTER 1300 795 267 or www.ticketmaster.com.au

PRESENTED BY

ALL MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

SYDNEY: DIANNA O’NEILL PUBLICITY (02) 9337 2288 or [email protected] NATIONAL: KERRY O’BRIEN PUBLICITY (03) 9596 9792 or [email protected] CAST BIOS

RICHARD O’BRIEN’S

THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK’N’ROLL MUSICAL

iOTA – FRANK N FURTER iOTA, one of Australia’s most enigmatic, talented and original singer/songwriters, always wanted to be a rock star. Then the moment he became one, he freaked out. In hindsight he admits that it was a pivotal moment in a career that embraces six ARIA Award nominations, four albums, seven singles. Then another freak-out loomed when presented itself and iOTA was cast as the lead in Hedwig & the Angry Inch. He needn’t worry as he took to the stage with gusto making a stunning theatrical debut which in the past 13 months has earned him a Helpmann Award for Best Male in a Musical as well a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Musical and a Green Room Award for Best Performance in a Musical. And then the fun really began ... August 2007 and we proudly announce iOTA’s involvement in two very different musical pieces. First up in the later half of 2007 iOTA performs alongside Graeme Murphy in Sydney Dance Company’s Berlin. Then in 2008 iOTA embraces the role of Dr. Frank N Furter in Richard O’Briens worlds favourite rock‘n’roll musical, The Rocky Horror Show. His 1999 debut album, The Hip Bone Connection, earned iOTA the first of his six ARIA Award nominations. His current album Beauty Queen Of The Sea embraces the warmth and melody from his third album La Caravana, but really is the sum of all its predecessors. And that leaves iOTA in an interesting place. “Anything is possible” he says. “This music theatre thing is really getting me yet at the same time if I can keep making music and releasing it I’ll be happy” www.myspace.com/iotamyspace

PAUL CAPSIS – RIFF RAFF Paul Capsis is one of Australia’s best cabaret artists with an incredibly versatile, powerful voice that’s been described as ‘an act of God’. He has been performing nationally and internationally for more than 10 years, most recently in ’s gigantic production The Lost Echo for the (for which he has received a 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting role) and Absinthe, a New York debut for Spiegelworld. Paul has recorded two albums, the second one Everybody Wants To Touch Me being released later this year. He has won two including Best Performance in an Australian Contemporary Concert in 2006 and Best Live Music Presentation in 2002. He also won a Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Artist in 2004 and a Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor in a lead role for Head On, which also won him an AFI Nomination. CAST BIOS CONTINUED

TAMSIN CARROLL – MAGENTA Tamsin’s theatre credits include , , Long Gone Lonesome Cowboys, Shout – The Musical (her performance as Marianne Ranate gave her a nomination Green Room Award and two Mo Awards). She went on to win a Green Room Award, a Helpmann Award and a Mo Award for her leading role performance of Nancy in Oliver. Tamsin went on to appear in , Bye Bye Birdie, High Society and the lead role of Dusty Springfield in Dusty – The Original Pop Diva. Before starting with The Rocky Horror Show, Tamsin co-starred in Company. Television appearances include Heartbreak High, A Difficult Woman, The Three Stooges and All Saints. Tamsin also played the role of Jodie in the feature film Holy Smoke directed by Jane Campion and starring Kate Winslett.

MICHAEL CORMICK – EDDIE Michael Cormick has an international reputation as an accomplished singer and actor. Since winning New Faces in 1978 he has had a diverse career throughout Australia, UK and Europe. In Australia he has played lead roles in musicals including Cats, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Grease, Eureka, Tivoli, Sunset Boulevard and End of the Rainbow. He won his first MO Award for his role of the Beast in Disney’s Beauty And The Beast. His UK stage credits include Raoul in The Phantom Of The Opera, Rockstar in Time and Wild Bill Hickok in Calamity Jane. Michael has appeared extensively throughout Europe. He toured as The Arbiter in and played Che Guevara in Evita in Beirut.

SHARON MILLERCHIP – COLUMBIA Having played the starry-eyed ingénue, cold-blooded killer and just about everything in between, Sharon Millerchip has earned her reputation for versatility in Australian stage musicals. At the age of 18 Sharon joined the original cast of Cats and played the role of Demeter for the first Australian tour. She was then cast as Meg Giry in the original Australian production of The Phantom of the Opera receiving a Mo Award nomination for her performance. Sharon went on to play Cordelia in Falsettos (Green Room Award Nomination) and Little Red Riding Hood in Into The Woods for which she was nominated for a Critics Choice Award and two Mo Awards (winning the latter). She won another Mo Award in her starring role of Belle in the lavish production of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast in Sydney and Melbourne. Most recently Sharon co-starred in the 2006 production of Pippin. CAST BIOS CONTINUED

KELLIE RODE – JANET Kellie finished performing the lead role of Sophie in the Australian return season of Mamma Mia! in 2005. She had been with the show since its premiere in Melbourne in 2001, firstly as an understudy and swing performer in Melbourne and seasons and then as the character of Sophie. She took that role to Sydney, , , New Zealand, and and finally back to where it all started four years earlier, in Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre. This was her first professional engagement after completing her Musical Theatre degree at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Kellie has also appeared in the critically acclaimed Virgins and was invited to take place in the New York Musical Theatre Festival performances of the show which played off-Broadway in September 2006. THE PRODUCERS

RICHARD O’BRIEN’S

THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK’N’ROLL MUSICAL

DAINTY CONSOLIDATED ENTERTAINMENT

Paul Dainty’s business, Dainty Consolidated Entertainment (DCE), is the promoter and producer of a vast array of live entertainment events from theatrical productions, major concerts and special events.

DCE is recognised as one of the most significant players in the local entertainment industry. Established in 1996, DCE represents a powerful joint venture partnership between PD Entertainment: one of Australia’s leading event managers and Consolidated Press Holdings: Australia’s largest media company.

Paul Dainty has been a cornerstone of the Australasian entertainment industry since 1972. He has been responsible for some of the largest and most successful tours to visit Australia and New Zealand including Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, U2, David Bowie, Prince, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Neil Diamond, Bee Gees, George Michael and ABBA.

DCE’s tours include The Rolling Stones, Snoop Dogg, Nickelback, k.d. lang, Neil Diamond, Delta Goodrem and Michael Bublé. Most recently DCE toured the operatic sensation IL Divo nationally and the 2005 Tony Award-winning and 2007 Helpmann Award Broadway blockbuster Billy Crystal 700 Sundays in Sydney and Melbourne.

DCE also has commendable credentials with theatrical productions such as Mamma Mia!, Happy Days: The Arena Mega-Musical, Saturday Night Fever, Joffrey Ballet, Riverdance and A Tribute To The Blues Brothers with Russell Crowe. DCE’s most recent theatrical production was Mum’s The Word 2: Teenagers!, which had its Australian premiere at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre and received rave reviews.

A short time ago Paul Dainty expanded his business operation into the Asia-Pacific region partnering with LIVE NATION ASIA. DCE also promotes the phenomenally successful World Wrestling Entertainment live events throughout Australasia.

In 2005 Paul Dainty was successfully appointed by the Victorian Government to event produce the Australian Film Institute Awards. DC Special Events Pty Ltd, a division of Dainty Consolidated Entertainment, holds the contract to produce the L’Oréal AFI Awards until 2011.

In 2007 DCE will tour Il Divo, Guns n’ Roses, Patrizio Buanne and Josh Groban. We will also stage the inaugural Professional Bull Riders World Cup, in conjunction with the USA’s Professional Bull Riders Inc (PBR), the world’s premiere – and richest – bull riding body.

Further information can be found at www.dcegroup.com THE PRODUCERS CONTINUED

THE AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP

Howard Panter: Producer Peter Kavanagh: Business Affairs Director Meryl Faiers: Head Of Production Gerry Blair: Head Of Production Finance

The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is the largest theatre owner/operator in London’s West End and the second largest in the UK regions, with 24 venues in total. In addition ATG is currently the most prolific producer in the UK, as well as producing in New York and Australia.

Recent productions include Ewan McGreggor in Guys and Dolls, Trevor Nunn’s new version of Porgy and Bess, Kristin Scott Thomas in Three Sisters and Jude Law in Dr Faustus (all in London); and Tony Award Winning productions of Company and Sweeny Todd on Broadway. ATG also operates cinemas in the UK and has a TV company, which is a joint venture with ITV. In addition ATG has a major joint family entertainment company with Live Nation, called First Family Entertainment, producing 10 major new pantomimes this year. CREATIVES

RICHARD O’BRIEN’S

THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK’N’ROLL MUSICAL

GALE EDWARDS – DIRECTOR Gale Edward is one of Australia’s leading theatre directors and has worked to great acclaim around the world. Most current theatre credits include Edward II and Titus Andronicus for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, USA and Company, which played in Sydney. With a long list of directing credits over the years including Delta Goodrem for the Live in Australia DVD, stage productions including Eureka, Jesus Christ Superstar (Broadway and London) The Boy From Oz, Aspects of Love (London, Sydney, Melbourne) and opera including Sweeny Todd and The Magic Flute. Gale has also directed for movies including Lorenzo’s Oil and The Real Thing. Gale has been awarded The Sydney Theatre Critic’s Circle Award three times, two Helpmann Awards, three Melbourne and a Mo Award for Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre twice. Gale also directed Hitchcock Blonde and Festen, for which she won Best Director in the annual Australian Theatre Awards.

JOHN O’CONNELL – CHOREOGRAPHER Internationally acclaimed choreographer John ‘Cha Cha’ O’Connell has a long list of credits covering film, theatre, television and events. Currently working with Baz Luhrmann on the Nicole Kidman/ film Australia, John’s other film credits include Shall We Dance (starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez) The Matrix Revolutions, Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, Muriel’s Wedding and . His theatre credits include the critically acclaimed Keating! (Helpmann Award Best Musical 2007), El Divo, Threepenny Opera, Barry Humphries Show – Remember You’re Out, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Beach Blanket Tempest. On television his choreography credits include for Brides of Christ, Come In Spinner, and Dancing Daze. CREATIVES CONTINUED

LUKE HUNTER – MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Luke completed a Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree from Monash University in 1997, and began his career onstage. He appeared as Schlomo Metzenbaum in Fame the Musical, both in Australia and overseas, and in the casts of the original Australian productions of Shout! and Oh! What a Night.

Luke has also musically directed productions of both Shout! (regional tent tour) and Oh! What a Night. He was musical director for both the Sydney and Melbourne productions of Leader of the Pack, the latter winning him a Green Room Award for Best Musical Direction. Other Musical Direction credits include Falsettos (Blackbird productions), Up (written by Eddie Perfect for the Victorian College of the Arts), Todd McKenney Live at the 2006 Adelaide Cabaret Fetival, Floorplay in Atlantic City and Burn the Floor in Las Vegas. In 2003, he performed and co-wrote the cabaret Get Here for the York Theatre Company in New York with fellow Australians , Natalie O’Donnell and Deone Zanotto.

Luke is also a composer, his original collection of songs The Book of Luke premiered at The New Capers in Melbourne in March, 2007.

DALE FERGUSON – SCENIC DESIGNER

Dale graduated from NIDA in 1989 and became Resident Designer at the Company 1990–94, then Resident Designer at the Melbourne Theatre Company 1995–98. Opera credits include Ariadne Auf Naxos for the , Fresh Ghosts and Motherland for Chamber Made Opera and Eugene Onégin for . In 2001 he designed the Marriage of Figaro for WNO and Opera Australia. Recent engagements include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Don’s Party for the STC and MTC, The Glass Soldier, The Female Of The Species and History Boys for the Melbourne Theatre Company, Peribanez, The Chairs, The Sapphires and The Dreamers for Company B, Great Expectations and Summer Rain for Sydney Theatre Company. Other theatre productions include The Seagull, The Chairs, Dealer’s Choice and the award winning production of (MTC and STC), the Neil Armfield/ adaptation of Beaumarchais’ play The Marriage of Figaro for Company B/QTC and Ionesco’s Exit the King for Company B/Malthouse.

Television work includes Temptation for the Nine Network Australia and Fremantle Television. CREATIVES CONTINUED

JULIE LYNCH – COSTUME DESIGNER

Julie has worked extensively as a costume and set designer in Australian theatre, having worked many times with respected directors such as Neil Armfield and Gale Edwards. Her credits include: Chasing the Dragon, Del Del, What is the Matter with Mary Jane, Death and the Maiden, The Herbal Bed, The Byzantine Flowers, The Ham Funeral (co-designer) (The Sydney Theatre Company); Buried Child, Wasp & Trouble in Tahiti (Belvoir Street Theatre); Love Burns (Victoria State Opera); The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (Opera Australia).

Julia was Head of Costume at NIDA between 2000 and 2005. In 2003 she won the Helpmann Award for Best Costume Design for her work on The Way of the World with the Sydney Theatre Company and she designed costumes for the critically acclaimed Sydney Theatre Company show Festen, for which she won Best Costume Design, Sydney Theatre Awards 2005. In 2006 she designed costumes for the STC production of Molière’s The Bourgeois Gentleman, again winning the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Costume Design, and earlier this year she was costume design consultant for Kaidan, directed by Meryl Tankard (Sydney Festival/). Julie most recently designed costumes for Kookaburra National Music Theatre’s production of Company. 35 YEAR TIMELINE

RICHARD O’BRIEN’S

THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE ROCK’N’ROLL MUSICAL

1973 Rocky opens to rave reviews and packed houses. Moves to a larger theatre and wins the Evening Standard Best Musical of the Year Award. 1974 Opens at the Roxy Theatre in for 1 year. Premieres in Australia. 1975 The film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show opens. Los Angeles production moves to New York. 1976 Tours go out in Israel, and Mexico. 1977 Film opens as a Midnight show in New York. 1978 Tours go out in , Hamilton, Montreal and Vancouver. 1979 Stage show opens in . Film hits cult status. 1980-89 Film opens in , creates scandal – cinema torched! Stock productions in the USA playing over 300 performances via Samuel French. Rocky Horror Company formed. 1990 New production opens in London’s West End. 1991-93 UK tour for over 70 weeks. 1991-96 50 European productions mounted. 1992 Iron curtain lifted – production opens in Hungary. 1992-94 Tours South Africa – takes over 10 million Rand at box office. Best Musical of the Year. 1992-98 The New Rocky Horror Show tours Australia. 1994 21st Anniversary – UK production for 60 weeks. 1994-95 Tours Rio de Janiero and Buenos Aires. 1994-96 Production tours Finland. Japanese language tour sells out to 250,000 fans. 1995 Production opens in Zimbabwe, Reykjavic, Aarhus, Denmark and New Zealand. 35 YEAR TIMELINE CONTINUED

1996 Production opens in . 1996-99 A full European tour, in English, opens and plays to 600,000 people. 1997-98 Tours Graz, Salzburg and the whole of Poland. 1998 25th Anniversary Tour – The Silver Jubilee Tour. Rocky Horror has been playing to capacity audiences for 25 years. 1999 USA 25th Anniversary Tour. 2000 The second Broadway run of The Rocky Horror Show starts its previews at Circle in the Square Theatre, New York, NY. The show goes on for 2 years, has 437 performances, and is nominated for 4 . 2003 Rocky Horror performs in . 30th Anniversary Celebrations in The West End at the Queens Theatre. 2004 A charity performance by the cast of at the The Regent Theatre, Melbourne in November, meanwhile The Barnyard Theatre Company begin a tour of South Africa with the show, to close in 2005. Back in the UK, a production takes place at the Gaiety Theatre on the Isle of Man. 2005 Productions all over Europe, including Hungary, , Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, Austria and then across the Atlantic in Canada and the USA. To belatedly celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Show, the Hamilton Operatic Society of Hamilton, New Zealand, stages a production to coincide with the company’s centenary. 2006 The Rocky Horror Show starts its new tour in the UK, which plays over 50 dates. Productions in Germany, Iceland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Greece, Russia, Korea, Canada, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Cyprus, Sweden. To celebrate the Royal Court Theatre’s 50th birthday, the Rocky Horror Tribute Show is performed at the Royal Court. Richard O’Brien, , Little Nell, Anthony Stewart Head, , Perry Bedden, and , Sue Blane and Kimi Wong are there. The Rocky Horror Show plays at the in the West End in July. At the closing performance, Richard O’Brien makes a guest appearance for the Time Warp. The show returns to the West End at Christmas, running into the new year. 2007 JULY – The Rocky Horror Show UK Tour closes with a fantastic final performance at the in . 2008 The Rocky Horror Show set to open the new Star Theatre at Star City in Sydney, Australia.