Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears, & Juliet‘s Lorna Courtney and Glee‘s Kevin McHale will soon join the Broadway cast of The Rocky Horror Show taking over roles originally played by the departing Luke Evans, Stephanie Hsu and Andrew Durand.
Shears will begin playing Frank-N-Furter, the “sweet transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania,” on Friday, September 11. Courtney will start her performance as Janet on Tuesday, August 25, the same day McHale, in his Broadway debut, takes over from Durand (who will next be seen in Off Broadway’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) in the role of Brad.
Evans, Hsu (both Tony nominated for their Rocky Horror performances) and Durand will play their final performances in the show on Sunday, August 23. (Paul Soileau, who plays the role of Phantom in the musical, will portray Frank-N-Furter in Sunday and select Tuesday performances prior to Shears’ arrival).
Shears has appeared on Broadway in Kinky Boots (he co-wrote, with Elton John and James Graham, the songs for Tammy Faye). In London, he appeared in Cabaret as the Emcee. He rose to fame in the 2000s as the singer with pop-glam band Scissor Sisters prior to launching a solo career.
Courtney earned a Tony nomination for her performance in & Juliet, and more recently starred in the U.K. world premiere of Disney’s The Greatest Showman musical. Other Broadway credits include Dear Evan Hansen and West Side Story, and on TV she’s appeared in The Equalizer and 9-1-1 Nashville.
McHale is best known for his role as Artie Abrams on Glee, with other TV credits including The Office, When We Rise, American Horror Stories and The Hunting Party. Stage credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Stephen Sondheim’s The Frogs.
Written by Richard O’Brien and directed by Sam Pinkleton, The Rocky Horror Show currently features Rachel Dratch, Amber Gray, Harvey Guillén, Josh Rivera, and Sherie Rene Scott in addition to Evans, Hsu and Durand. The revival began previews at Studio 54 on March 26 and opened April 23. The production received nine Tony Award nominations and, for the week ending June 28, broke the Studio 54 house record with a weekly gross of $1,215,225.
Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.
Comments On Deadline Hollywood are monitored. So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong.
Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );