Alysha Umphress, Sean Okuniewicz, Rotimi Agbabiaka & More Will Lead THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW In San Francisco

Tony Award winner and American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon announced today the full cast and creative team for Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show. On a dark and stormy night, Brad and Janet get a flat tire . . . So begins the party at the Geary Theater. Tony Award-nominated director-choreographer Sam Pinkleton (Soft Power and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) reimagines this swirling, sci-fi world for 2020 San Francisco. Before this cross-dressing classic was ever a midnight movie at the Strand, Richard O'Brien's Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Magenta, and Riff Raff started life as a smash rock musical. Experience the Geary as never before in this outrageous celebration of sex, drag, rock'n'roll, and being who you really are. In a dazzling mix of sequins and fishnet stockings, "Let's do the Time Warp again!" Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show will play at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary St., San Francisco) April 23-May 17, 2020. Press night for The Rocky Horror Show will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Single tickets (ranging from $15-$110) are available at the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or online at act-sf.org. Ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

"Our open call auditions this past Halloween brought more than 210 Bay Area curious-enough-to-sign-up-brave-enough-to-show up-hugely-talented-with-deep-and varied-experience performers to the attention of the Rocky creative team," says MacKinnon. "We are thrilled to say that 8 out of our 15 company members were met through this uniquely inclusive, welcoming-while-rigorous process that celebrates who we are and can be in the San Francisco Bay Area."

"I'm so excited to make The Rocky Horror Show at A.C.T. as it is perhaps the only show that has ever existed that might just be as colorful, hilarious, terrifying, challenging, and idiosyncratic as the Bay Area itself," adds Pinkleton. "We'll throw open the big gold doors of the fabulous Geary Theater to all corners of San Francisco this spring, creating a weeks-long block party-anchored by a brilliant cast with deep Bay Area ties and exploded outward in all directions by Bay Area celebrity special guests, local visual artists, drag performers, DJs, curators, Rocky Horror buffs, bartenders, aliens, and audiences of all ages and stripes to come together and do the 'Time Warp' in a way that could only happen in San Francisco. The Rocky Horror Show is a celebration of absurd and gleeful otherness that comes as the world fills with so much *ugh*, a celebration that proclaims DON'T DREAM IT, BE IT at the top of its glittery lungs. Pack your wig, San Francisco. I can't wait to meet you there."

Under the direction of Pinkleton, The Rocky Horror Show features (in alphabetical order): Rotimi Agbabiaka (Frank-N-Furter), Tanika Baptiste* (Transylvanian), Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (Magenta), Daya Curley (Narrator), Cookie Harrist* (Transylvanian), Sean Okuniewicz* (Brad), Maya Phillips* (Understudy), Kunal Prasad* (Rocky), Travis Santell Rowland* (Transylvanian), Chris Steele (Understudy), Branden Noel Thomas* (Riff Raff), Alysha Umphress (Janet), Ryan Patrick Welsh* (Transylvanian), Ada Westfall (Columbia), and Phil Wong (Dr. Scott/Eddie).*Cast from A.C.T.'s Open Call Auditions held on October 31, 2019

The creative team for Toni Stone includes Sam Pinkleton (Director & Choreographer), Ani Taj (Associate Director & Co-Choreographer), David Israel Reynoso (Scenic Designer & Costume Designer), Alexander V. Nichols (Lighting Designer), Jessica Paz (Sound Designer), Ada Westfall (Music Director), and David Möschler (Associate Music Director).

In connection with The Rocky Horror Show, A.C.T. will present a host of pre- and post-show festivities and activities that will engage the San Francisco Bay Area community. These include:

· Tuesday night post-show drag nights

· Thursday night post-show open mic nights

· Friday night dance parties

· A piano bar night in collaboration with Feinstein's at the Nikko

· And more

In addition, A.C.T. will offer numerous InterACT events-many of which are presented free of charge-that will give patrons opportunities to get closer to the action while having an entire night out at the theater. Visit act-sf.org/interact to learn more about these events:

· Bike to the Theater Night:
Thursday, April 23, 6:30 p.m.
Providing a greener alternative to theater transportation, A.C.T. and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition offer free valet bike parking, as well as a special discount on tickets, for these select performances.

· Drinks & Drama Friday:
Friday, April 24, 6 p.m.
A new preshow evening of specialty cocktails, pop-up food, and low-priced tickets to the performance

· Prologue:
Tuesday, April 28, 5 p.m.
Before the curtain goes up, get a sneak peek at the artistic process at this fascinating preshow discussion with the director and artistic staff.

· Audience Exchanges:
Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m. | Sunday, May 10, 2 p.m. | Wednesday, May 13, 2 p.m.
After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists who create the work onstage.

· Pride Night (formerly OUT with A.C.T.):
Wednesday, May 6, before and following the 7:30 p.m. performance
A revamped pre- and postshow party celebrating LGBTQ+ pride within the theater community

· Wine Night:
Tuesday, May 12, 6:30 p.m.
Before the show, raise a glass at this wine-tasting event featuring the Bay Area's hottest local winery.

· PlayTime:
Saturday, May 16, 12:45 p.m.
Before this matinee performance, get hands-on with the artists who make it happen at this interactive theater workshop.

A.C.T.'s production of The Rocky Horror Show is made possible by Company Sponsor The Marymor Family Fund; Executive Producers Kirke and Nancy Sawyer Hasson; Marcy and Paul Nathan; and John and Heather Stallings Little; Producers Norman Abramson in celebration of David V. Beery; Marcia and Jim Levy; and Ms. Merrill Randol; Associate Producers Anonymous; Paul Angelo and Cindy Low; Janet Cluff; Ken Lamb; Pamela D. Lee; and Barbara Phillips; and Benefactors Kenneth and Sharon Wilson.

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