Interview: Stephen Webb of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW at Grand Théâtre

This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing Stephen Webb, the actor currently playing Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Show. Ahead of the show’s premiere at the Grand Théâtre, the acclaimed actor took a moment to answer some of our questions.

Is this your first time in Luxembourg?

I've never been to Luxembourg. I actually drove from the UK. So it was nice to actually just take the scene. I took a little bit of a scenic route to come here. Since I've got my family with me and since we're in the Christmas season, you know.

But yeah, wherever we are, I always tend to drive, I like driving. Except if it's too far. I won't go too far. This is still okay, from Calais to here it is about just over four hours. In the UK four hours would get you to Manchester. And the driving in France was great. Better, actually. The roads are a lot better. We've got a lot of potholes at the moment…

Do you feel that international audiences experience the show in the same way as native speakers do?

No, I think they approach it in a completely different way. Baed on the people that come, there is a skit to the audience. Whenever we perform, we always have people shouting out stuff. So I always find it quite interesting to go to different countries to see what their shout-outs are, because it always keeps us, as actors, on our toes. But no, it's always different. I've been doing this show for over five years, and I think the reason I like doing it is because of the interaction with the audience.

Some songs contain dated references, such as “Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes.” What is the best way to present these scenes to modern audiences?

All this show is a parody of B-movies. So we've got a lot of, you know, Space Invaders, Frankenstein, you know, you've even got Hercules in there. So I think what it is, especially with that song particularly, it tries to set the tone of where we are going. Even ourselves, we sometimes had to find out who these people were, you know... But that's what Richard O'Brien wanted to achieve, to bring you back to the people that influenced him in his show.

And can modern audiences still experience it the same way as back in the 1970s?

Oh, I think so. Because the show is 50 years old and a lot of people would think, well, it must be old-fashioned. I'm like, actually, it's more current than ever. It's all about being whoever you want to be. We get an awful lot of fans that have been watching the show 30, 40 years, but when we get a new crowd in for the first time, it's never their only time. They'll come back and they'll see it again because they find things in it that they can relate to. So I feel that what Richard O'Brien has done with The Rocky Horror Show is made it ahead of its time. And again, you know, the songs, there's some great songs like the Time Warp. Every night everyone gets up and does the Time Warp. Sweet Transvestite. You've got a big anthem that resonates through the whole show, which is Don't Dream It, Be It. And that's why I feel that when a new generation of people come, that sometimes they feel like they don't know where they fit into society. For the next two hours, they feel like they're home. They go, oh, I can relate to that.

It was very ahead of its time, wasn’t it?

Yeah and even then it was very taboo. It was very out there, you know, during the 70s. And I think now it resonates with an awful lot of people and they can completely relate to it. So I always say to people, when it's the first time you come, come with an open mind. And I always get a lot of people that come stage door and they say, oh, we thoroughly enjoyed it. And I always say to them, welcome to the family because it is a family, you know, we're here to entertain and, you know, you're part of this cult, we should say, it is a culture, but it's very funny. It's got fantastic songs, you know, rock and roll songs, and it's sexy, but it's not crude. It's done with a lot of class.

How much of an inspiration was Tim Curry’s performance for you?

So when I got offered the job, when I was auditioning originally for it, I was doing a Tim Curry impersonation. And our director, Christopher Luscombe, says, we don't want you to do that. We want you to do your own version. Otherwise, people are going to compare you to what Tim Curry did. This actually took a weight off me. And I have been doing this for so many performances, and people still love what I do, and I'm still here, and I'm still performing it now. Don't get me wrong, I  do a nod to Tim Curry on certain things, but I try to relate it to myself.

Is there actor you would have liked to share the stage with?

Well, I was lucky enough on the 50th anniversary. I ended up meeting the original cast. That was at the Royal Court and it was a pleasure to meet Richard and so many others. Unfortunately, I never met Tim Curry. But there is an actor, actually, Jason Donovan, who is a very charming man, it would be nice to actually play alongside him. You never know, maybe one day.

You have a fairly common name in show business. Any funny stories ever came from that?

Yeah, there's two actors. So there's me with a PH, Stephen Webb, and then there's another gentleman called Steven Webb with a V. We're both around the same age, and when I was a young artist, my agent at the time said, do you know there's another Stephen Webb, but his name's spelled differently? He said, I don't think we need to worry. But then there was points where people thought that I was doing shows that I wasn't doing, and vice versa. We ended up meeting. He was doing a play literally opposite where I was doing the musical. And we both ended up having a coffee, and then we just said, oh yeah, people have been saying I've been doing this show and that show. But luckily, it hasn't been that bad. You know, just in interviews now and again, people say, oh, when you was in The Book of Mormon. I went, no, that wasn't me. So it has happened.

How will you be spending New Years?

Well, I think we're going to go and see the fireworks because we finish early. I've got my partner and my little boy with me, so it'd be nice to maybe go to the town square and see the fireworks.

Your wife is an accomplished singer. Which one of you sings more at home?

I think it's mainly her. I know that my other half is an extremely good singer, and she's always singing, you know. But in terms of who's a better singer, 100% she is.

Our special thanks to Stephen and to the Grand Théâtre of Luxembourg for organizing this meeting.

To reach out to the writer: nuno.de.sousa.lopes@gmail.com

Photo Credit: © David Freeman