Scissor Sisters frontman, Jake Shears, has recently been astounding audiences as Frank-N-Furter in the current Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Show at Studio 54, New York. The production is directed by Tony Award-winning Sam Pinkleton, and the cast also includes RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Valentina as Columbia, Glee’s Kevin McHale as Brad and Lorna Courtney as Janet, among others. It is set to run until May 2027.

The Rocky Horror Show is a musical created by Richard O’Brien which parodies the campiness of early Hollywood horror and sci-fi films. The story centres around a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet, who take shelter in a spooky castle after their car breaks down one night. There, they meet a barrage of strange characters, including the seductive host Frank-N-Furter, who plans to create the perfect man for himself.

Although some critique Rocky Horror for its outdated queer representation, potentially reinforcing harmful narratives of trans people being sexual predators, the 1975 film starring Tim Curry remains a beloved cult classic in the LGBTQ+ community.

Recently, Tink Desk Concert posted a video of the current Broadway cast performing some of the most well-known songs from the musical. In response, Jake Shears said via social media that “It’s such a privilege to get to sing these songs at this capacity, and every time I sing this one, I sing it in Tim Curry’s memory, for Richard O’Brien and alllll the people out there that have been changed and affected by this strange and magical piece”.

Tim Curry passed away on August 25, 2026, and his magnetic performance as Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 classic will no doubt continue to inspire future actors who take on the role.

On reinventing Frank-N-Furter for the 2026-2027 production, makeup designer Sterling Tull commented online: “We decided to make this version of Frank extra dirty, and extra grungy to really emphasise Frank’s freakish proclivities.”

They continue, “Instead of high placed blush, we have now placed it under the eyes to give a more strung-out effect, mixed then with harsh grey goth contour, referencing 80’s British goth culture.”

Additionally, in an interview with The Broadway Show, Jake Shears shared what playing Frank-N-Furter meant to him, saying: “If you were to ask me what is the one thing you want to do in your life, it’s this… I’ve been a Rocky Horror nerd since I was 13, it’s my favourite piece of anything, it’s my favourite piece of art.”

He continued, “There would be no Scissor Sisters without Rocky Horror. I wouldn’t be a performer that I am without Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter. So, it’s just like a big full-circle moment.”

Actor Valentina also shared what playing the character Columbia meant to her as a trans woman, explaining, “Stepping into this world has been really affirming for my gender. Growing up as a trans person, studying performing arts but always in the boy clothes and in the boy roles.”

She continued, “I never had my moment for protagonism to shine, because I wasn’t in the right roles and the right element because masculinity was not my highest form of my true self.”

Prior to Shears taking on the role of Frank-N-Furter on Broadway, gay actor Luke Evans concluded his own run of the character in August and won a Theatre World Award for it, along with being nominated for Best Actor in a Musical at the Tony Awards. Evans is also known for playing Gaston in the Beauty and the Beast live-action remake and Bard the Bowman in the Hobbit films.

Like Shears, playing Frank had a tremendous impact on him, as he shared in an interview with Attitude that the experience was “like therapy”. He elaborated, “That feels such a strange thing to say when I’m talking about a character that wears fishnet stockings, heels, a thong, a jockstrap, a corset, a harness, a wig and drag makeup. But doing this in front of over a thousand people every night – so that’s a few hundred thousand people now – has been such a self-asserting, amazing thing for my sense of confidence.”

For more information on the current production of The Rocky Horror Show, you can check out the official website.