A very special, and very famous guest is flying in from Australia for Richard O'Brien's ‘75 Years of Frock ‘n' Roll' 75th birthday celebrations next Friday, March 24, at Tauranga's Baycourt Theatre.
‘Neighbours' star and Gold Logie award-winning Australian actor, musician, singer and composer Craig McLachlan has confirmed he'll be on-stage with Richard for the very public birthday bash to raise funds for the Starship Foundation.
Among his many roles, including in ‘Neighbours', Craig played Frank N. Furter in the Australia stage version of Richard's ‘Rocky Horror Show' in 1993 and again in 2014. And when Richard extended an invitation to his birthday celebration show his month in Tauranga, he couldn't refuse.
Craig's appearance adds to the list of well-known personalities and entertainers supporting Richard's birthday celebration. Also in the line-up are highly popular local blues band Kokomo and Grant Winterburn, one of New Zealand's leading pianists.
Veteran Kiwi broadcaster and Richard's long-time friend Mark Sainsbury will be cast in the role of a friendly shrink, attempting, during the show, to unravel Richard's mind.
The audience can be assured of enjoying, and participating in renditions of Rocky Horror classics, including of course ‘Let's Do the Time Warp Again'.
Richard has also written a brand-new song called ‘Harry Singer' especially for the evening. 'It's inspired by black and white ‘B' detective movies – I love noir movies. This song tells a story – it has a beginning, a middle and an end,” says Richard, hinting at the tale of a dark criminal underworld.
To add to the evening's atmosphere – the audience is invited to dress up too and Richard has high expectations of the Tauranga audience's flair for the outrageous – and there will be prizes for the best dressed.
'Every cent of the ticket price from the Tauranga ‘75 Years of Frock ‘n' Roll' will go to Starship,” says Richard.
Deciding to support Starship, says Richard, is easy. 'There's no politics, no other agenda than helping children get well. There is a rule that no child should die before their parents as that's unbearable. Then there is New Zealand's shocking levels of child abuse, which sees too many children admitted to hospital.”
Since 2010, Richard and his wife Sabrina have lived near Katikati, enjoying the peace and quiet of the countryside. But Richard has by no means retired. He's stars in the TVNZ's new celebrity genealogy show ‘DNA Detectives' in which he guides well-known New Zealanders though a series of cryptic clues to find their origins, based on DNA.
Richard O'Brien presents ‘75 Years of Frock ‘n' Roll' at Baycourt's Addison Theatre in Tauranga on Friday, March 24, from 8pm. Tickets cost $38-$78 from Ticketek.