Bucks County Playhouse Will Do the Time Warp Again This Fall; Randy Harrison Joins THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

Continuing a Halloween-season tradition that resumed in 2013, shortly after the opening of the historic New Hope venue, Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) will once again present its popular production of Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show" for an extended run beginning Friday, October 13 through Sunday, October 29. Bucks County Playhouse's Executive Producer Robyn Goodman, Producing Director Alexander Fraser and Producers Stephen Kocis and Joshua Fiedler announced final casting for the production, which features direction by Hunter Foster (BCP's "Clue: On Stage" and "Guys and Dolls") with choreography by Lorin Latarro (BCP's "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" and Broadway's "Waitress").

With such a strong reception in 2016, the Playhouse is offering more "Rocky" - adding an extra week of performances, increasing the number of shows, and adjusting the curtain times to make the late-night performances more convenient for patrons.

"We are excited with the response 'The Rocky Horror Show' received in its return last year and thrilled to be able to expand the performance schedule for 2017," says producer Stephen Kocis. "The Rocky Horror Show' has always been a great party show and has tremendous appeal to the Boomer Generation. The revised late-night schedule on weekends provides diehard 'Rocky Horror' fans a more convenient time to enjoy this wickedly fun musical at the Playhouse."

Randy Harrison, best known for the iconic role of Justin on Showtime's Queer as Folk, will make his Playhouse debut in the role of as Dr. Frank-n-Furter. The cast also includes several actors returning to "The Rocky Horror Show" from past Playhouse productions including Nick Adams as Rocky (Broadway's "Priscilla Queen of the Dessert," "La Cage aux Folles"), Nick Cearley as Brad (BCP's "Buyer and Cellar" and "The Skivvies"), Katie Anderson as Columbia (Northshore's "Beauty and the Beast") and Danielle Diniz as a Phantom (National Tour of "Dirty Dancing"). They are joined by Playhouse "Rocky" first-timers Catherine Ricafort as Janet (Broadway's "Honeymoon in Vegas" and "Holiday Inn"), Van Hughes as Riff Raff (Broadway's "American Idiot" and "Spring Awakening"), Olivia Griffin as Magenta, Jeff Hiller as Narrator/Dr. Scott/Eddy (Shakespeare in the Park's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Broadway's "Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson") and Julian Ramos as a Phantom ("Freaky Friday").

The creative team includes David L. Arsnault (Scenic Design), Nicole V. Moody (Costume Design), Travis McHale (Lighting Design), Bart Fasbender (Sound Design). Musical Director is Will Shuler.

"The Rocky Horror Show," with book, music, and lyrics by Richard O'Brien, is a musical that inspired the 1975 classic cult film, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." It follows innocent couple Brad and Janet as they seek shelter at a mysterious old castle on a dark and stormy night, where they encounter transvestite Dr. Frank N Furter, his "perfect" creation Rocky, and an assortment of other crazy creatures.

"The Rocky Horror Show" will run from October 13 through October 29 with select special late night showings. "The Rocky Horror Show" will play the following schedule: October 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28 at 7:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.; October 15, 22 and 29 at 3:00 p.m., and October 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets range from $40 - $70. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Special Time Warp seats are available and give 'Rocky' fans the ultimate experience, including front orchestra seating, a BCP prop bag and an invitation to come up on stage and dance the Time Warp with the cast.

For full details, and to purchase tickets, please visit buckscountyplayhouse.org, call 215-862-2121, or visit the box office at 70 South Main Street, New Hope, PA.

Bucks County Playhouse, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is the oldest and largest professional Equity performing arts center in Bucks County. Under the direction of Tony Award-winning producers, Alexander Fraser and Robyn Goodman, the Playhouse provides first class professional theatrical entertainment as well as community events, partnerships and arts education programming for visitors and residents of New Hope, Doylestown, Lambertville and the Delaware Valley.

Located between Philadelphia and New York, Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 in a converted 1790 gristmill after a group of community activists, led by Broadway orchestrator Don Walker and playwright Moss Hart, rallied to save the building. The Playhouse quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, featuring a roster of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, George S. Kaufman, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Liza Minnelli and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010. In 2012, the Playhouse re-opened thanks to the efforts of the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, and Broadway producer Jed Bernstein.

Since its renovation, significant productions include Terrence McNally's "Mothers and Sons" starring Tyne Daly, which moved to Broadway and was nominated for two Tony Awards, and "Misery" by William Goldman based on the Stephen King novel which also went on to a Broadway run in the 2015-16 season. Two of the Playhouse's recent productions -- "Company" starring Justin Guarini, and William Finn's "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" -- were named by Wall Street Journal to its "Best of Theatre" list for 2015. The Playhouse's productions of "Steel Magnolias" and "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" broke box office records in 2016. "Buddy" returned in 2017 and transferred to the Kimmel Center, where it became the first regional theatre invited to perform at the prestigious venue. Thanks to the Bridge Street Foundation and their vision for the New Hope waterfront, the Playhouse is currently in construction mode - as it adds 4,000 square foot riverfront cafe and bar that is expected to open in 2018.

Photo Credit: Daniel T. Gramkee