First Rocky Horror Show, The

After two previews, The Rocky Horror Show premiered at the 63-seat Theatre Upstairs on June 19, 1973 and ran until July 20, 1973. The theatre was run by the Royal Court as a project space for new work. Veteran stage producer Michael White produced the play. The production was a critical and commercial success. Record producer Jonathan King saw it on the second night and signed the cast to make the Original Soundtrack Album over a long weekend which was rushed out on his UK Records label. King was heavily involved in the initial promotion for the show as well as being the other 20% backer of it financially with White. The production transferred to the Classic Cinema on Kings Road from August 14, 1973 to October 20, 1973, a run-down 270-seat venue scheduled for demolition. Transferring again to the Kings Road Theatre, a 350-seat converted cinema, the production ran from November 3, 1973 through March 31, 1979 with many cast changes, until plans for the theatre's demolition prompted another move. The Rocky Horror Show transferred to the 820-seat Comedy Theatre on Panton Street in the West End, the legitimate London theatre district, running from April 6, 1979 until September 13, 1980, closing the play's initial run of 2,960 performances. After occasional productions in the early eighties, the play was revived for the Theatre Royal Hanley tour in 1984, and is still performed regularly in the UK.