memoryresearchreport

Save StorySave this storySave StorySave this story

There’s a lucid rebellion bubbling within the walls of Broadway’s Studio 54 theater, the kind that transcends space, time, and earthly norms. It’s a revolt against societal bounds, a nostalgic renaissance honoring then and now, and a revelation of beauty for the “others” of this planet and the ones beyond our realm.

Dammit, Janet, it’s Rocky Horror!

Helmed by Tony Award-winning director Sam Pinkleton, the 2026 revival of The Rocky Horror Show is a true masterclass in delicious deviancy, a glitter-bombed portrait of humanity at its most free and fearless. The story follows newly engaged couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss who, confronted with car issues on a treacherous and stormy night out, stumble across a mansion of misfits led by Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a gender-bending scientist with a thirst for depravity. The cosmic creatures they encounter inside lead them on a journey of self-discovery, seduction, and sexual liberation, leaving audiences to wonder what planet these otherworldly characters may have come from.

Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show first premiered onstage in 1973, inspired by the decades of science-fiction and gothic horror films that preceded it, before being turned into a film two years later that has developed a massive cult following. This is largely due to the movie’s midnight showings, where fans come dressed in the film’s iconic costumes, shouting lines and call-backs from their seats as they revel in Rocky’s unapologetic nature. The show’s roots are centrally grounded in queer and drag culture—the characters come from the planet “Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania,” after all—with its themes of liberation, freedom, and passion serving as safe “come as you are” or “come as you wish to be” messaging for those who have entered the fan base over the years.

Concerns from legacy fans that the revival may not reach expectations are squashed roughly 20 minutes into the 2026 production when Luke Evans—standing at 6’8” in stiletto heels, equipped with Frank-N-Furter’s iconic cherry red lip, green-glitter eye shadow swept across his lids, and a shoulder-grazing rock-star shag—makes his glorious entrance with a rendition of “Sweet Transvestite," that permeates your soul. In that moment, Evans’s stature and presence are so enrapturing, he could make the Mona Lisa quake in antici…pation.

Luke Evans as Frank-N-Furter.

Evans’ full Frank-N-Furter hair and makeup.

But the colorful parade of excellence that takes the stage at Studio 54 eight times a week is a true testament to collaboration. Each detail of the production has been handled with care, not a single eyelash left unnoticed by the show’s hair and makeup team led by hair and wig designer Alberto “Albee” Alvarado and makeup designer Sterling Tull.

In bringing Rocky to life, both designers drew inspiration from the Club Kids, those exuberant, fashion-obsessed personalities who ruled and fueled New York City’s nightlife in the 1980s and ’90s. They also wanted to pay tribute to the show’s influence from and in drag culture, not solely acknowledging how the role of Frank-N-Furter defies gender norms, but also how Rocky has introduced liberation to countless young people over the past 50 years.

“Drag is so dependent on your self-expression that I wanted that to be communicated through [each performer’s] makeup looks, so I wanted to give the actors the freedom to find those characters,” Tull explains of the time they took with each performer to carefully uncover how these modern interpretations of famed characters would come to life. “[Throughout the process], some looks were psychotic, some were pretty, some were total Club Kid clowncore, until we settled and found something that they really vibed with and wanted to apply on their face eight shows a week.”

Evans in the makeup chair.

That is abundantly clear in Evans’s Frank-N-Furter, whose electrifying aesthetic is both reminiscent of the character’s famous roots while also a complete departure from the famed source material. Gone are Tim Curry’s colorless face palette and short curls, and in their place: bold, painted-on brows, seafoam green-glitter eyelids, and a wig so fabulous, Evans can’t help but twirl its ends numerous times throughout the show (when he’s feeling flirty, you know?).

“The first day I put Luke in Frank-N-Furter makeup, Sam told us to ‘go really small,’ and I said, ‘Great!’ And then I did not go very small; I went very Siouxsie Sioux, Club Kid drag…and Luke loved it,” says Tull. According to Evans, it’s his exaggerated brows and the “sharp, smoky intensity around the eyes” that are key to his transformation, allowing him as Frank to “control the room, seduce everyone, and destroy people a little bit at the same time,” he says. “There’s something almost cinematic about this version of [Frank-N-Furter]—beautiful, dangerous, and sexy.”

In selecting his wig, Alvarado explains, “[With Frank], there’s some sort of Christ-like Jesus complex where people are so drawn to him and revere him, and so the long hair, for me, was a nod to that.” With a lived-in texture, “this version feels more rock star than cabaret…like Frank has been awake for three days hosting some beautiful, chaotic party in another dimension,” Evans says, adding that the longer, looser shape “gives him a more sensual masculinity, which I think makes him feel both more dangerous and more vulnerable. I wanted audiences to feel like they couldn’t quite place him in a specific era or category. He’s glamorous, but untamed.” Ultimately, for Evans, the wig is a "huge part of unlocking my Frank…The second it goes on, my posture changes, my energy changes, and Frank arrives.”

Evans in final hair and makeup checks backstage.

The choice to give Frank-N-Furter a wig with visible green roots was not only intentional, Alvarado says, but a throughline that echoes the show’s core theme of acceptance. “I always hoped that [the roots] would be green to show that [Frank] was trying to cover up what he really was, and now he's starting to embrace it, and he's starting to see his true self with his real green hair coming in.” That “true self” pointing to Frank-N-Furter’s comfort within his own skin, liberated of any societal norms that could keep him from tasting his earthly desires.

This root-ful message even trickles down to the show’s Phantoms—four members of the ensemble that serve as Rocky’s Greek chorus, who Tull describes as each possessing unique, flavorful notes of “Club Kid clowncore.” Though traditionally made to blend in, Tull and Alvarado wanted to breathe life into each Phantom, styling them based on specific icons of queer culture like Amanda Lepore. Their wigs range in color, including soft pinks and blondes, with highlights of tinsel throughout—a nod to the full tinsel wigs that didn’t make the cut (in this instance, there is such a thing as too much sparkle). “[The Phantoms] are such a heartbeat of this show,” Alvarado says.

Amber Gray as Riff Raff.

As Columbia, Golden Globe winner Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is the ultimate showgirl. To craft Rodriguez’s take on the character, while paying homage to Nell Campbell’s famed portrayal of the flirtatious tap dancer who is the most theatrical in Frank-N-Furter’s troupe of misfits, Tull pulled inspiration from vaudevillian icons and starlets like Sharon Tate, “who has a very tragic end to her story, much like Columbia,” she explains. This took the form of colorful, exaggerated eyebrows, pastel blush that can be seen from space, and glitter galore. The purple hues used throughout the makeup reference royalty, while the gold shimmer on Rodriguez’s eyes draws from the original production, culminating in the perfect concoction of regality, old celebrity, and vaudevillian iconography.

Columbia’s wig was created with a similar sentiment, holding true to the character’s famed bright red hair, updated for this production with finger waves and short pigtails. “We wanted to keep [Rodriguez’s] playfulness,” Alvarado adds, “which is why you see all of those hair decorations that are put in haphazardly,” adding a nice, spirited contrast to Columbia’s regality.

For characters like the Riff Raff (Amber Gray), the castle’s spooky caretaker who sits right at Frank-N-Furter’s side, “the most important thing to me was silhouette,” Alvarado says. In their designs, both he and Tull wanted to acknowledge that Gray is a woman of color playing this traditionally male character, not shying away from the drag king reality taking stage in this portrayal.

Riff Raff’s complete hair and makeup.

Gray transforming into Riff Raff backstage.

Following a similar silhouette to Richard O’Brien’s original Riff Raff, Alvarado collaborated with Gray on a wig consisting of firmly laid blonde braids that hang down her neck. “It’s an honoring of my hair [as someone who is] biracial…It’s the perfect combination in keeping a wig that would be made for my hair type as well as the original silhouette,” Gray says.

Tull paired this with makeup that can best be described as “alien punk,” emphasizing Gray’s natural features with heavy contour, black lipstick, and darkened teeth to create a skeletal aesthetic that uplifts Riff Raff’s frightening demeanor. “The truth is,” Gray tells Allure, while getting prepped backstage before a Thursday matinee, “that I’m a very outside-in actor. So when I stare in the mirror in my costume, in the wig, and in the makeup, I understand how to play the role.”

Harvey Guillén as Eddie.

The drag king inspiration continued with Harvey Guillén’s portrayal of Eddie, the show’s rock-and-roll ghost who survives just one scene before being chainsawed to pieces. Tull drew inspiration from old Broadway makeup that is “specifically over the top,” best showcased in Guillén’s massive black eyebrows that are dusted with enough glitter to shine for those seated at the top of the balcony.

“A big throughline with a lot of the people in the castle, including Eddie and the Phantoms, is that they all kind of have a Frank-N-Furter shape to their eyes because they're, in my head, being infected by him,” Tull explains. “These Transylvanians, who might be aliens or might once have been human, have become so deranged over time and become little cultish Frank-N-Furter creatures, and that's how I really felt about Eddie.”

Alvarado’s wig choice for Eddie resembles classic biker mullets and updos from the 1960s. Given Eddie is a fully comedic role, Alvarado was intentional in not wanting to cheapen the character’s aesthetic in a laughable manner, but rather, to make Guillén as “hot” as possible. “There’s something so much more powerful about making them look really beautiful and letting them be funny by choice,” he says.

ArrowArrow

It's a stark contrast to the second role Guillén plays in the production: Dr. Scott, a much more demure-looking gentleman compared to Eddie’s rock 'n roll flair. Guillén begins the show in Dr. Scott’s ensemble, then, after just one number, bolts to the theater’s basement to be transformed into Eddie, where, in the nick of time, he is able to make it back onstage for his star number. Only to return to the basement shortly after, peel out of Eddie-drag, and back into his full Dr. Scott look to finish the show. The whole journey is a true testament to the creative team’s excellence.

Josh Rivera as Rocky.

Then there’s Rocky (played by Josh Rivera), the show’s meticulously crafted specimen who Frank has created for NSFW purposes. “I really wanted to create a femme Rocky,” Tull says, laughing, “and Josh said he’s never felt as masculine as when he was in full baby doll glam.”

In the storyline, “Rocky is seven hours old; they were just born today,” Tull says, “so the makeup needed to explain that. This person put on this makeup without any knowledge of makeup, but they’re doing it because it makes them feel good; it makes them feel sexy.” Tull executed this by giving Rocky bright pink blushed cheeks, baby blue eye shadow, and bold bottom lashes, achieving a youthful glow that sparkles onstage.

ArrowArrow

Rivera enjoys the freedom his makeup chart allows, exploring the beautiful possibilities that come with a bright blush palette and bountiful amounts of glitter. “During previews, I started [extending the blush] to my nose too, so I get a little Rudolf-chic kind of thing. I just think it’s cheeky.” He jokes, “We are singlehandedly propping up the glitter industry right now.”

While Rocky is typically portrayed as a classic, naturally blonde hunk, Alvarado chose to create a wig that “looked like what his hair would look like if we actually bleached it, which is why there is still root in there,” he says. And don’t worry, the hunk aesthetic remains untouched.

The Rocky Horror Show pridefully struts forward on the tails of its famous legacy while beaming with modern flair and electricity. There is simply too much to appreciate in one viewing. I am on my fourth visit to Rocky, with many more to come as the show continues to run through the fall on Broadway, and each subsequent evening I spend in Transylvania makes one point abundantly clear: There’s a light over at the Frankenstein place, and if my research is correct, that light may just be a spotlight reflecting off the pounds of glitter scattered across the Studio 54 stage. And what a marvelous sight it is.