Neighbours legend set for huge UK comeback as he reprises iconic role for the first time in 25 years
A NEIGHBOURS legend is reprising his Rocky Horror Picture Show role 25 years after last playing the character as he returns to UK stages.
Later this year, soap heartthrob Jason Donovan, 55, will don Dr Frank ‘n’ Furter’s famous stockings and do the Time Warp in front of audiences around the country.
Jason said: “I am thrilled to dive into the exhilarating role of Frank ‘n’ Furter with a fantastic new cast and Time Warp with audiences throughout the UK.
“We promise to deliver the freshest Rocky ever, that audiences will not forget. So, buckle up, as the show promises to be a wild and wicked ride!”
The show will be well dialled by its August launch, with Jason already wowing theatregoers in his native Australia.
No stranger to the West End, where the musical will stop off at the Dominion Theatre, Jason famously played Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1991.
His other credits include Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Grease The Musical, while he holds the distinction of having the biggest selling album in the UK in 1989.
Today he appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss his UK return and lifted the lid on his age-defying looks.
He said: “I have to work at it. I spend a lot of time with my fitness which I think is very important but yeah, I don’t know what it is. No Botox, no fillers – just eating well, lots of water and enjoying my life I suppose.”
He has fond memories of his first run on a Rocky Horror tour, which helped him move on from cocaine addiction.
In the mid-90s, Jason infamously overdosed at Kate Moss’s star-studded 21st birthday in LA’s notorious Viper Room.
It was a low point in his life, but made the big stage comeback that much sweeter.
He said: “I met my wife on Rocky Horror in 1998 and we’ve been together happily now for 25 years.
“I would say that the character of Frank is a sort of extrovert and misfit character and he goes to dark places which I was probably going to at that point in my life.
“But, it wasn’t long after that show that a lightbulb happened in my life and things sort of started to change for the best so it seems like a natural progression for me to re-visit this wonderful show 25 years on. The 50th anniversary!”
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Show’s 1974 film release.
The cult flick tells tells the story of clean cut college students Brad and his fiancée Janet, who meet alien transvestite Dr Frank ’n’ Furter when their car breaks down outside his house.
The action then takes a very unexpected turn full of playful sauciness.
The film adaptation took over $135 million at the Box Office and is still shown in cinemas around the world.