Richard O'Brien - Early Work

Early Work

After taking a few Method acting classes, O'Brien joined several stage productions as an actor. In 1970 he went into the touring production of Hair for nine months, and spent another nine months in the London production. He and actress Kimi Wong were married on 4 December 1971. May 1972 saw the birth of his son Linus by Kimi, and that summer he met director Jim Sharman who cast him as an Apostle and Leper in the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Sharman then cast O'Brien as Willie, the alien in his March 1973 production of Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, and would help make O'Brien's draft of a gothic-themed, schlock-horror comic-book fantasy romp into a reality. Sharman suggested changing the working title from They Came from Denton High, and The Rocky Horror Show opened at the Theatre Upstairs in June 1973. Within weeks it had become the cult show to see in London theatre, moving from the Royal Court to a nearby venue the Pheasantry in the King's Road, then to the Classic Cinema and eventually into the West End at the Comedy Theatre. After seeing the second night in the Theatre Upstairs, Jonathan King produced the original cast soundtrack over 48 hours during an off stage weekend and rushed it out on his UK Records label. He also became a 20% backer with producer Michael White who put up the remaining 80%. During this period, O'Brien and his wife recorded and released a number of pop singles under the name Kimi and Ritz.