Frankie Grande Returns To Bucks County Playhouse In THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

Actor, producer and reality star Frankie Grande will revisit his role as Dr. Frank-n-Furter in “Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show” at Bucks County Playhouse beginning October 11 and running through November 3.  

Grande returns to the Playhouse production, where he performed the role to critical and audience acclaim — that broke Bucks County Playhouse's box office records for the show that has become an annual experience at the historic venue. 

The Playhouse's Executive Producer Robyn Goodman, Producing Director Alexander Fraser and Producer Josh Fiedler announced casting for the return of the production which features choreography by Shannon Lewis and direction by Playhouse Artistic Associate, Hunter Foster.  

“Last year, ‘The Rocky Horror Show' at Bucks County Playhouse with an extraordinary cast led by Frankie Grande became the biggest party in New Hope,” says Producer Josh Fiedler. “We are thrilled to welcome back this cast and showcase Hunter's devilish sense of humor with Shannon's knock-out choreography.” 

“The Rocky Horror Show was outrageously successful last year and ever since the final curtain fell, audiences have been asking us if Frankie and this cast will be returning,” says Producing Director Alexander Fraser. “We are beyond excited to remount Hunter and Shannon's gothic and glam production and look forward to audiences reveling in Frankie Grande's outrageous take on this iconic character.”  

"I am beyond thrilled to be slipping back into the fabulous heels of Frank-N-Furter at Bucks County Playhouse,” says Grande. “This role is pure magic, and I'm ready to bring every ounce of glam, sass, and rock 'n' roll to the stage. Get ready for a wild ride, darlings—let's do the Time Warp again!” 

A sensation on social media, as well as on stage, Frankie Grande is a presenter, actor, producer, reality TV personality and the host of Nickelodeon's “SpongeBob BingePants” podcast. Grande recently starred in the horror comedy film, “Summoning Sylvia”, alongside Michael Urie and Travis Coles. He also recently marked his return to the New York Theater in “Titanique: The Musical.” Grande became known to the world when he launched his successful YouTube channel in 2012 and more recently, as a stand-out finalist on the hit CBS series, “Big Brother.”

Grande was a judge on the 2015 season of MTV's “America's Best Dance Crew” and as a houseguest on Celebrity Big Brother in the U.K. From 2016-2017, he co-hosted “Style Code Live,” an interactive fashion and shopping show that streamed live on Amazon.com.  Grande has starred on Broadway as “Franz” in the closing cast of “Rock of Ages” and made his debut with the mega-hit, “Mamma Mia!.” He guest-starred on Nickelodeon's “Henry Danger,” its spinoff “Danger Force,” and Netflix's “Haters Back Off.” As a producer, he has worked with shows on Broadway including “Hamlet,” “La Bête” and “Born Yesterday,” as well as “Brooke Shields at Feinstein's,” and his own one-man show, “Livin' La Vida Grande.” His philanthropic work includes co-founding the non-profit arts organization "Broadway in South Africa" (now merged with the buildOn) for which he received the Global Impact Award for his work. Grande devotes much of his time and energy supporting the Los Angeles LGBT Center and is on the board of GLAAD. 

Most of the 2023 cast will also return. The production features Mike Bindeman (Playhouse Square's “The Lightning Thief”) as Rocky, Stephanie Prestage (BCP's “Grease”) as Janet, Tim Shea (National Tour of “School of Rock”) as Riff Raff, Alyssa Wray (BCP's “Grease!” and ‘American Idol' Top 9 finalist in 2021) as Magenta, Larkin Reilly (“A Chorus Line” Musical Theater Wichita) as Columbia, Benjamin Howes (Broadway's [title of show] and “Scandalous”) as Narrator/Dr. Scott. Stanley Martin (BCP's “Grease” and Broadway's “Aladdin”) is Eddie and Julia Joy (BCP's “Mamma Mia!”) and Natalie Welch are phantoms. The casting of Brad will be announced soon.  The creative team includes Jeffrey Perri (Scenic Design), Nicole V. Moody (Costume Design), J. Jared Janas (Hair and Wig Design), Travis McHale (Lighting Design), and Bart Fasbender (Sound Design). Musical Director is Evan Zavada. Kellian Frank is production stage manager. Casting by Paul Hardt.  

With book, music, and lyrics by Richard O'Brien, “The Rocky Horror Show” inspired the 1975 cult classic film. The musical follows innocent couple Brad and Janet on the adventure to beat all adventures. As they seek shelter at a mysterious old castle on a dark and stormy night, they encounter transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank ‘N' Furter, who is in the midst of a maniacal experiment to create his “perfect” man Rocky. With an infectious rock n' roll score, “The Rocky Horror Show” is the most fun you can have in fishnets! Given the nature of the subject matter, parental discretion is advised.

“The Rocky Horror Show” will run from October 11 through November 3. “The Rocky Horror Show” will play the following schedule:  Tuesday through Friday evenings at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 3 pm and 8 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm.

Tickets start at $75. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. No outside prop bags permitted will be permitted. As in the past, all patrons will be invited 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.