1990 - betsyda.com - Anthony Head in Rocky Horror Picture Show

Stage musical. Antony Head played Frank N. Furter twice. 1990 West End revival, Picadilly Theatre. July and August 1995. Duke of York's Theatre.Cast (partial): Anthony Head (Frank N. Furter); Craig Ferguson (Brad); Peter Bayliss (Narrator); Kate O'Sullivan (Magenta). Press The Independent, "Base thoughts." October 28, 1990, by William Leith. "[...] On Friday, the Mirror ran a full-page colour photo of a man dressed as a woman. He wore: a pink shiny camisole, a black lacy slip, black fishnet tights, shiny high-heeled boots. Who was he, for his eccentricities to merit such coverage? A disgraced MP? A vicar? No - nothing so exciting. He was the man who appears in the Gold Blend coffee ads, a rising star in the tabloid world. A closer look underneath the headline 'Gold Blend Tony's In The Pink For A Taste Of Camp' revealed even more of a non-story. Tony wasn't even perverted. He was dressed like this for a play. 'After each performance,' the writer told us, 'he will go home to his girlfriend, Sarah Fisher, 26, and their two-year-old daughter, Emily Rose, in suburban Tooting Bec.' What a relief." City Limits, January 24, 1991, by Naseem Khan. A virtually new cast provides another transfusion for Richard O'Brien's famous invention: a show with the heart of a B movie, body of a musical and mind of 70s pre-AIDS hippy. Originally (yes, readers, I remember it well) this was an amazing invite to a sexual party that made you long to go to bed with someone, anyone. Now it's turned into a set text: audiences call obligatory responses and actors collude in a cosy spoof of a spoof. No-one takes any risks, from the director to an unglittering Frank (Anthony Head) and a Brad (Craig Ferguson) who looks like a middle-aged dentist. Time Out, January 25, 1991, by Jane Edwardes. Back at the beginning of the '80's, numerous West End managements blamed the closure of their shows on the so-called Falklands Factor. With the threat of terrorism, Londoners have even more reason to go underground, but it is hard to imagine that the time-warpers who flock to join the party at the Picadilly will be deterred easily. This Frankenstein, a hymn to sexual liberation in the '70s when it first appeared, is now transformed into a celebration of audience liberation in which no repartee is so awful that it can't be hurled at the actors (not much throwing of rice, however, on the night I went). The new cast, unlike, I'm told, the old, are fortunately more than capable of fighting back, from Peter Bayliss's oily, scathing narrator, to Anthony Head giving up restrained pre-coital cups of Nescafe for rampant decadence as Frank N. Furter, with an entrance that most actors can only dream about. Craig Ferguson hits the spot as Brad, the regular guy who discovers that sexual deviancy can be fun, as does Kate O'Sullivan as the awesome Magenta.According to the show's creator, Richard O'Brien, its success depends on the audience both fearing and desiring that Frank will at any moment leap into the stalls and give someone a blow-job. This unpredictability was well within the compass of the original Frank, Tim Curry, but it's harder for Head with fans so familiar with the material and well-rehearsed in the catcalls. And in the end, like "The Mysteries of Irma Vep," the evening suffers by trying to aim for tackiness when it should, like the 50's movies it celebrates, come naturally. Evening Standard. "The coffee lover helps himself to a second cup of horror." July 25, 1995, by Robin Stringer. (text) Evening Standard, "Rocky Robbie takes that acting in his stride." August 31, 1995, by Simon Perry. "Robbie [Williams], 21, was on stage with heroine Janet, played by Joanne Farrell, for a special performance of the musical which raised about £10,000 for the children's charity Rainbow. The idea for the one-off show came from Tony Head, who plays Frank N Furter." (complete text) Financial Times. "A fishnetted trip to the musical past." June 11, 1999. "The role of the Transylvanian doctor prompted interesting comment from various players. Anthony Head (he of the immortal Gold Blend ad saga), adopting a strange semi-Cockney accent that came and went, was adjudged one of the best because not too camp. Of gay and straight players, the straight ones were apparently more successful in the outrageous role, suggesting a dangerous ambivalence." Bath Chronicle. "5 years ago." August 15, 2001.  Actor Tony Head raised a few eyebrows in Bath as he spread out the word about his latest show. The Timsbury based star was continuing his charity work for terminally ill children by taking the role of Frank 'n' Furter in a benefit performance of theRocky Horror Show.Sound recording "Sweet Transvestite." Chrysalis label CHSD 3684 (International number 3236824). Also available as a 12" picture disk. There are lots of details about the recordings atSanity for Today. Sounds Lonejack Sounds (follow link to "A little song and dance"). Rocky Horror CD Recordings.Pictures Bentley's Bedlam: Untitled Gallery.  The London Show with Anthony Head, 1991. Rocky Horror CD Recordings.  WorstWitch's Fandom Home Page.  Anthony Stewart Head as Frank-n-FurterRelated Links Bentley's Bedlam: ASH: RHPS 25th Anniversary Convention (Las Vegas) Bentley's Bedlam: ASH: Rocky Horror Convention (NY) Bentley's Bedlam: ASH: Transylvania 1992 Bentley's Bedlam: ASH: Odds and Ends Sanity for TodaySources Anthony Head resume, 1997  Biography from ASH press kit, 1998  TimeWarp - 25th Anniversary of Rocky Horror Show  Transylvania 1992 Programme