Saturday, April 5, 2008

The birthplace of The Rocky Horror Picture Show


This statue of Riff Raff in Victoria Street is the birthplace of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It is erected on the site of the former Embassy Theatre and the barber shop where Richard O'Brien, the creator of the show, cut hair from 1959 to 1964, before returning to England. He starred as Riff Raff in the 1975 film version.

The statue is a cast bronze sculpture created by Weta Workshop, designed by Greg Broadmore, sculpted by Brigitte Wuest and engineered by Dave Irons.

He is curated and was installed by the Waikato Museum of Art and History on behalf of his owner, the Hamilton City Council. He was commissioned and then gifted to the city by Mark Servian and the Riff Raff Public Arts Trust with the assistance of The Perry Foundation.


The statue was unveiled at midnight on Friday, 26 November, 2004. It is very popular with tourists and locals alike.

In December 2007, Richard O'Brien returned to Hamilton for an event held at the WEL Energy Trust Academy for the Performing Arts, where he entertained the audience with music and stories.

7 comments:

Ben Nakagawa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meg said...

In spite of having had numerous chances to go see this in the last...3 decades (goodness me, has it been that long?) I've never seen it yet, nor have attended these showings where everybody dresses up! Though I do prefer the Sound of Music singalong shows...

Enjoying the "long" weekend?

Ben Nakagawa said...

I've heard this sometimes ago. Thanks for pics!

Unknown said...

All together now; "Let's Do The Timewarp Again".

Sakiwi said...

Yes, Meg, that extra hour really makes a difference! This morning the cafes were full by 10 o'clock!

Let's do the timewarp again!!

raf said...

Had no idea! I'm not a fan of horror flicks or most sci-fi, but Rocky is one of my all-time favorites. Yes, may have seen it a dozen times and it always entertains. Especially love the music and satire. Thanks for your informative post and for stopping by with your comments today. All the best!

Anonymous said...

I am a teen and have seen this movie musical for the first time the night after halloween! I LOVE this movie now, and this article was so wicked! I think it would be very interesting to visit this sme day, and to be able to get a photo of it... even better!
I must say this... I loved Riff-Raff!