The Rocky Horror Birthday Party
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Revision as of 14:25, 21 February 2016 by HistHORRian (Talk | contribs)
Possibly the first official, ticketed gathering in celebration of the The Rocky Horror Picture Show took place at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, celebrating the first year of its debut in that city as a midnight movie. The First Annual Birthday Party and Costume Ball, cosponsored by Presidio Theaters and the underground newspaper The Austin Sun, was held Saturday, April 23, 1977, at the enormous, ornate Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. At the time, the film was having two successful runs at the Dobie Theatre in Austin, and the Riverside Twin in South-East Austin, beginning in May of 1976. Tim Curry appeared, and was awarded a certificate of honorary citizenship of Austin by Mayor Jeff Friedman who appeared in in a Jimmy Carter mask for the occasion. (Curry was also interviewed by the Austin Sun while in town.) The band Texoid played, and a costume contest was held. UT drama student Leo Lerma performed "Sweet Transvestite" with the band, and won first prize as Frank, and was awarded one of Curry's corsets from the play The Rocky Horror Show. The evening's audience numbered 1300 people.
