Known for its colourful characters, wild costumes, and catchy songs, The Rocky Horror Show has been a stalwart favourite of even some of the most musical-hating audiences since its inception. Now in its 50th year, the revered stage production continues to enjoy enduring success.

Touching on controversial topics and extravagant costume design, The Rocky Horror Show was highly subversive for its time and paved the way for many other future progressive-leaning media. Part of the reason this stage show, and then movie, became so popular—in spite of its highly progressive content for the time—was the upbeat, catchy soundtrack.

Greta Marabis, 63, remembers listening to the Rocky Horror soundtrack as a young teen growing up in Zimbabwe in the 70s.

“My friend Janey had the album and we played the record all the time. We knew most of the songs off by heart and I loved the music,” she says.

“I had heard about the movie, but only managed to see it about five years later when I was 20 years old. It was screened one night at teachers' college, and I can remember the experience well. Almost the entire student body living in residence packed the auditorium that night!

“Everything made sense when I watched the movie—the songs and where they all fitted. The combination of the characters, the music, and the whacky storyline left a lasting impression. 

“I love the elements of burlesque and melodrama. The movie was colourful, risqué, and the music and lyrics were revolutionary for that time.”

Since seeing the movie as a young woman in what was then Rhodesia, Greta has gone on to see multiple community and professional theatre versions of the stage show, with the most recent in 2015 when the national production visited Brisbane’s QPAC Theatre.

“I’ve always found the production refreshing and felt a lack of inhibition as I sang the songs aloud. I was a young woman the first time I saw the movie, but that initial enthusiasm has never waned,” Greta says.

Greta’s experience was one shared by many. Around the world, Richard O’Brien’s wild and camp creation found an audience through the accessibility of the music. 

I remember listening to the soundtrack as a child, far too young to understand what the lyrics meant or that there might be anything subversive in their content.

My parents had loved the songs when the movie came out, and they passed this love on to me and my brother.

By the time we were ‘old’ enough to watch the film, we understood vaguely why we needed to close our eyes during the 'naughty' parts, but we were largely unfazed by this. My

brother and I were simply excited to watch the songs we loved come to life in the form of a story. This was an experience that Greta also shared when she was first able to see the

film in the early 80s.

“The themes of the story did not enhance my enjoyment of the movie but they did not detract from it either,” Greta says.

“At the age of 15, I was too wrapped up in the music. I loved singing along and confess that I didn’t really pay much attention to the underlying meaning of the lyrics.”

At its core, the main message of The Rocky Horror Show is one of unabashedly being exactly who you are, regardless of what that looks like. 

“For me…the overwhelming message is that we should have the freedom to be who and what we want to be," Greta says.

“Another important message is that of acceptance—we need to accept people for who and what they are."

These are themes that still resonate with people to this day, which is why the 50th anniversary shows taking place around the country this year have been enormously popular with audiences, with hundreds of people turning up night after night. 

In fact, many people attend wearing impressive, handmade replicas of the characters’ costumes to share in the production of one of the world’s most popular musicals.

Greta says, “I don’t believe it will ever fade into obscurity, especially when people like myself pass that love onto their children by watching the movie together and singing along.”

The Australian production currently touring is the first globally to celebrate the 50th Anniversary milestone of the iconic show. 

Although the Sydney and Adelaide seasons have finished, tickets are still available for shows in Melbourne, Perth, the Gold Coast, and Canberra.

For more information or to purchase tickets, head to rockyhorror.com.au

This article is featured in National Seniors Australia’s quarterly member magazine, Our Generation. 

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