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“Rayner your book is a wonderful read. It was a pleasure to relive that small window of time.”
Richard O´Brien , “Riff Raff” , Creator/Author
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”
"It's the first night revisited and if you weren't there you will be now. It's hilarious!
A must! A seventies dream! If you don't have this -
Essential reading for all Rocky Horror fans! ~ P.Q.
http://www.patriciaquinn.co.uk/
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"Best of luck with the new book"
Tim Curry -
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“Congratulations on writing your book. Thank you.”
Nell Campbell -
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“Thanks for the memories. Congratulations.”
Richard Hartley
Musical Director & Arranger
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"For any Rocky Horror fan this is a must read. A clear, detailed and fascinating account of what happened from audition to rehearsals, opening night, the clever Jonathan King producing an instant cast recording and its travels along the Kings Road and more. Brilliant!"
Perry Bedden
Transylvanian
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The book is a complete joy, I so enjoyed it, and it's packed with fascinating detail.
Time and again you've answered questions that I've always had about the piece, and
there were so many brilliant anecdotes that I've never heard before. It's also a
wonderful evocation of the 70s, and the whole world of the King's Road at that time.
Thanks again for all the pleasure the book has given me. I'm sure it'll be a huge
hit with anyone who has an interest in Rocky Horror -
Christopher Luscombe
Director -
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Rayner Bourton, original Rocky Horror and all round nice guy, has released a wonderful new book with his memories of the early days of The Rocky Horror Show.
The book has a little quote on the front cover of "If you can remember it you weren't really there." Wrong! I can remember it and I was really there. He certainly was and the book gives a brilliant insight from the first auditions though the original Theatre Upstairs production to the Kings Road shows.
For the true Rocky fans this book is a mine of information, with many descriptions of how the show evolved from the first drafts to the polished article that opened on 19th June 1973. A good example there, we've always put the birth of Rocky and the first shows as the 16th June, and Rayner points out that was indeed the date of the first preview of the show, with the actual first night performance on the 19th June, 1973. (We've updated our calendar accordingly)
The Rocky Horror Show: As I Remember It -
All I can say is I love this book, Rayner's style of writing brings you into the events to a level where you feel you are almost there, watching events unfold before you. The book is also very honest in tone and expands on many of the stories he has told at the conventions of the 90's and 00's. The world famous "Glitter under the foreskin" story is told in full to the level where the sensitive amongst you might cringe a little at the details!
David Freeman
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Kevin J.Boycik COSMO´S FACTORY
This book is a Rocky Horror fan's dream come true!! For the first time ever we finally have a document of the original production. Every time anyone has ever written about the original Theatre Upstairs production, it's always the same recycled information, and most of the people who write about Rocky Horror weren't actually there to see it in 1973. It's so wonderful to actually have something new to read that actually sheds new light on the show, but the other thing that's so wonderful is how it takes us from rehearsals all the way through to the Classic so that we learn all about the inner workings of putting on a fringe musical.
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed reading this book. The writing style is so
remarkable I'm surprised Rayner hasn’t written anything sooner!! I love how he made
it very enjoyable and presented everything so it flows well without coming off sounding
like a textbook. I really love how he injected humor into so many parts of the book-
While reading this I actually felt like I was right there with you and it was 1973 again. Fans of the film can turn on the DVD anytime they want to see the movie but fans of the show don't have that luxury. As you mentioned in the book, only a very fortunate few were able to see the original Theatre Upstairs production. If we want to enjoy the Original Cast the only thing we have at our disposal is the London Cast Album (no complaints there) but with this book we now have a chronicle of how everything happened.
I loved the pieces that included about the parts of the original script that were
changed. There was so much I learned-
I will be telling EVERYONE I know that they have to buy this book. I will probably sit down and start reading it again tonight just to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time around.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to write it and share all your experiences-
I ***LOVED*** it. You did an amazing job! Kevin J.Boycik COSMO´S FACTORY
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There is some air of mystique surrounding the beginnings of Richard O´Brien´s cult
masterpiece. Devoted fans -
But there has always been a desire to know more, more, more about this magical period when none of these talented young actors had any clue that they were starting out on such an extraordinary journey. Crystal clear memories of those very early days seem to have been somewhat lost under a veil of glitter and fishnets, until now.
Rayner Bourton´s ,The Rocky Horror Show: As I Remember It´ is a treasure trove of comprehensive and absorbing recollections of his experiences as the original Rocky. Full of amusing anecdotes and endearing first impressions of his fellow cast members, Rayner takes the reader on a fascinating journey which bounces along at a sprightly pace and makes for very pleasing reading.
Rayner´s writing is refreshing and honest; his recollections of being a handsome
young man in a very swinging London and his numerous conquests are particularly engaging!
He writes elegantly, and shows respect and genuine affection for his fellow cast
members , in particular Patricia Quinn who is mentioned throughout. This book will
please Rocky Horror fans old and new-
But there is more to this tale than Rocky. Rayner eloquently conveys his experience of city life during the Seventies; the people, parties, places and attitudes. Clearly he does not need to write solely about Rocky to capture the reader´s interest and the emphasis is always on how much fun was had throughout the period. This is an immensely enjoyable book which is beyond any doubt, required reading for all fans of Rocky Horror.
Katy Burchell PQ Official Internet Site
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I loved it!! Awesome! Excellent stories, very well told, very entertaining. I didn't want to put it down. Classic!
Rocky Horror fans are really going to love this. It's a wonderful book Rayner, it really was a pleasure to read and I certainly highly recommend it to all Rocky fans, and all theatre fans.
Fiona Jackson..Producer/director: “An Evening with Richard O'Brien"
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Rocky Horror tales from Rayner,
Reviewed by Michael Coveney , for “What´s on Stage” July 2009
When the English Stage Company at the Royal Court celebrated its fiftieth anniversary three years ago, The Rocky Horror Show was voted the audience favourite ahead of anything by John Osborne, Edward Bond or David Storey.
This must have surprised anyone who thought that the Rocky Horror Show was a cult film that sometimes crops up on the touring circuit and indeed the West End, not to mention all over the world.
Now the original Rocky, Rayner Bourton, has told the whole story from auditions and rehearsals through to opening night in the Theatre Upstairs at 10.30pm on 19th June 1973. And I was there!
I wasn’t reviewing that night, but accompanying a Financial Times colleague, Garry O’Connor, who was. We had spent the first part of the evening watching Ian Holm and Coral Browne in Bond’s The Sea downstairs on the main stage.
Nobody really knew what to expect, though something was palpably up when Tim Curry in leather hose and black suspender belt crawled lubriciously across the little theatre’s ceiling on a steel gantry and Richard O’Brien’s music thumped into full tranvestite gear.
Rayner was an unbelievably beautiful, perfectly blond Rocky, tall and lissom and glistening in a gold jock strap. When he turned up at the anniversary tribute show, he’d happily left his Dorian Gray portrait in the attic at home. He’d aged with grace and dignity and I later discovered that he’d been producing jazz and solo shows on tour round the country.
It’s been an interesting career but the book proves that The Rocky Show completely defined his professional life in the way it has done for so many of those involved.
Mind you, he’d already sported a jock strap or two on stage as a regular in the early
days of the Glasgow Citizens under Giles Havergal and Philip Prowse, most notably
in a gorgeously homo-
He wrote a short-
The book, The Rocky Horror Show: As I Remember It, will obviously feature at all future Rocky Horror revivals and conventions, and feed fan club frenzy in perpetuity. But it’s invaluable, too, as a rare, and very funny, production notebook — and an evocative memoir of a young Birmingham boy suddenly thrust into a West End world of celebrity, sex on tap and rock and roll. Now you really can do the time warp again.
Michael Coveney ,
Michael Coveney writes for The Guardian and has written about theatre for over three
decades, as editor of Plays and Players, and as staff drama critic on the Financial
Times, the Observer and the Daily Mail -
