Rosie O'Donnell Sets Broadway Return in The Rocky Horror Show

Rosie O’Donnell will return to Broadway for a two-week stint as the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show at Studio 54. O’Donnell will perform October 6-18 while Rachel Dratch takes a leave of absence. Dratch will return on October 20.

O’Donnell has appeared on Broadway in Grease, Seussical, and Fiddler on the Roof, and she produced the 2003 Boy George musical, Taboo. She has hosted the Tony Awards ceremony three times, received the 2014 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, and earned an Emmy Award for hosting the 52nd Tony Awards ceremony, in 1998. A longtime champion of the theater, she is best known (and still beloved) for her long-running talk show, which gave the spotlight to Broadway on a near daily basis. She recently performed her solo play Common Knowledge off-Broadway.

Richard O’Brien’s cult classic musical about a white-bread couple whose car breaks down in a storm, forcing them to seek refuge in a dark castle occupied by a horny mad scientist and his alien servants, The Rocky Horror Show exemplifies the unbridled sexuality of the 1970s.

The cast currently includes Lorna Courtney as Janet, Dratch as Narrator, Amber Gray as Riff Raff, Kevin McHale as Brad, Jimin Moon as Rocky, George Salazar as Eddie/Dr. Scott, Sherie Rene Scott as Magenta, Jake Shears as Frank-N-Furter, Valentina as Columbia, as well as Renée Albulario, Anania, Boy Radio, Tassy Kirbas, Preston Perez, Caleb Quezon, Andres Quintero, Larkin Reilly, Paul Soileau, and John Yi.

TheaterMania’s review describes this revival production from Roundabout Theatre Company and director Sam Pinkleton as “delightfully low-tech.”