Oh, the wacky casting over at Rocky Horror Show. With "Saturday Night Live"'s Ana Gasteyer safely in place as Columbia and "Beverly Hills, 90210"'s Luke Perry allegedly on his way to Brad, comedian Kate Clinton will step into Dick Cavett's shoes July 2-8 as the Narrator.
Oft-lauded for her political and lesbian humor, Clinton has made quite a few stops Off-Broadway, recently bringing her one woman shows Y2K8 and Correct Me If I'm Right to the Public Theatre and Westbeth Theatre Center. She's worked with Cavett before, appearing at a panel discussion with him, President Clinton's speechwriter Mark Katz and Ted Koppel at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. In 1999, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. She is working on her second book "Kate Clinton: Collected Speeches (I Never Gave)."
Tickets are $20-$85. Circle in the Square is located at 1633 Broadway, on W. 50 St. For tickets call Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200.
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June 12, "Saturday Night Live"'s Ana Gasteyer took over the role of The Rocky Horror Show's supergroupie after Joan Jett's controversial exit. The May 22 announcement that Jett was leaving the role she created in the revival reportedly so enraged the rocker that she walked out on the musical that evening, never to return. (Jett also does not appear on the Rocky Horror revival cast recording because she "could not come to terms" with the producers over the album). Playing Columbia since has been Jett's understudy, Kristen Lee Kelly, who also recorded the role. Gasteyer is recognizable by her various comic creations on NBC's long running world-famous late night sketch show. Among her characters are middle school teacher Bobbi Moughan-Cup, "Delicious Dish" hostess Margaret Jo, Jonette of the fictional pop group Gemini's Twin, and impressions of Martha Stewart and Celine Dion. Her theatre background includes The Real Live Brady Bunch, The Vagina Monologues and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.
Jordan Roth's revival of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show opened Nov. 15 at Circle in the Square. The show started previews Oct. 20.
The cult musical features an eclectic cast, including Dick Cavett (Into the Woods, Otherwise Engaged, television's "The Dick Cavett Show"), Lea DeLaria (On the Town, Chicago, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, "The First Wives Club"), Jarrod Emick (Damn Yankees, Miss Saigon), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent, Two Sisters and a Piano, Flawless ), Alice Ripley (Side Show, James Joyce's The Dead, King David, Les Miz, Sunset Boulevard) and Tom Hewitt (Disney's The Lion King, Art School for Scandal, The Sisters Rosensweig, Jeffrey).
O'Brien's 1975 musical stars comedienne-actress-singer DeLaria as Eddie/Dr. Scott, rocker Jett as Columbia, author-actor-talk show host Cavett as the narrator, Hewitt as Frank 'n' Furter, Rubin-Vega as Magenta, Ripley as Janet, Emick as Brad and Esparza as Riff Raff. Director Christopher Ashley (Drama Dept.'s As Thousands Cheer and Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life at the New York Theatre Workshop) helms the show.
