UA Westwood
The UA Theater was located on Lindbrook Drive in Westwood Village, CA, a West Los Angeles community surrounding UCLA. Westwood Village was (and remains) a hub of movie premieres. In mid to late 20th century, when the small town was a major destination for film-goers, with over 20 screens. The midsize UA Theater (referred to commonly as "The UA Westwood") opened in 1970, in a 1929 Ralph's supermarket, one of Westwood Village's first six buildings. It was simple, yet comfortable, making it perfect for debuts that were less likely to be a block-buster.
Because of the unprecedented success in Westwood Village a year before for the 20th Century Fox film Phantom of the Paradise at a neighboring theater, The UA was chosen to host the exclusive US debut of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which opened there on September 26, 1975. In a unique move for the time, tickets were sold in advance via mail order in special envelopes that were available at the theater and other "hip" locations around town. The opening night was a complete sell out, and it is rumored that Andy Warhol, Mick and Bianca Jagger were turned away for not having advance tickets. From the first night it played, The Rocky Horror Picture Show had midnight screenings as part of its schedule.
The initial week of its run was exclusive to the UA Theater, and included the "Super Heroes" cut of the film. Observing the downbeat ending's effect on the audience, Lou Adler requested the ending be updated to what became the standard version for the film from October 1975 until the 1990s, when it was added back in to most prints.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened in 10 other theaters a week after opening at the UA, but failed to attract an audience. In Westwood, it was the opposite. The screenings often sold out, but it was also noted that many of the same people were coming over and over to see it. Enthusiastic audience members familiar with th play started making call-backs to the screen mimicking the Roxy Cast album in its initial run at the UA Westwood, the first actual audience participation was born. Additionally, the first know Frank N Furter impersonator, Michael Wolfson of The Rocky Horror Revue began creating his costume while returning to multiple screenings at the UA in its initial run in 1975.
As part of the opening, a giant 6-foot cut out of Tim Curry as Frank N Furter (a photo from a Roxy Cast photo session) was unveiled in the lobby.
Rocky Horror played there until January of 1976, when it moved to its sister theater, the UA Cinema Center, just outside of Westwood Village, where it played several times a day through 1976, becoming exclusively a midnight movie in 1977.
