A guilty pleasure for many a theatre goer, encouraging generations of audiences to embrace their fishnet stockings and high heels, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show is now a beloved theatrical institution. The show has enjoyed many visits to Edinburgh including early in 2025 with a sell out run at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Following massive popular demand, the Edinburgh Playhouse have confirmed that the venue will kick off 2026 with a week long run of the B movie tribute rock show classic and better still musical Icon Jason Donovan will also return as the debauched Frank – N – Furter.
Speaking to Scotsgay arts Jason the still gorgeous blonde pop star told us why he has decided to return to the Playhouse and Rocky Horror “In a nutshell,” he says, “I’m a fan. I love the show; I love the music; I love the character. I was touring my own show about five years ago and included ‘Sweet Transvestite’ from Rocky as a key moment in my musical career. It went down a storm.”
Jason rejoined the Horror Show for its 50th anniversary year firstly in Sydney, then in Melbourne, followed by the West End, a UK tour in 2025 and now via a 2026 UK tour where Jason will be performing in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Eastbourne and Bristol.
The Rocky Horror Show is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O’Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the science fiction and horror genres from the 1930s to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged, clean-cut couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, Rocky, a Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially-made, fully-grown, physically perfect muscle man complete with blond hair and a tan.
The original London production premièred at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) on 19 June 1973. It later moved to several other locations in London and closed on 13 September 1980. The show ran for a total of 2,960 performances. On the 50th anniversary of the musical in 2023, it is said the production had been performed in 20 different languages and seen by 30 million people globally.
Jason’s the same performer but how does he feel about tackling the role over 25 years later? “I don’t feel uncomfortable, playing Frank at 57 – and, of course, I have personal reasons for being grateful to the show.”
The stage manager on that late 90s touring production was a young woman called Angela Malloch. “I’d be backstage waiting to go on,” recalls Jason, “and I’d get chatting to Ange.” The blossoming friendship turned into romance, but the relationship hit the buffers.
Shortly afterwards, Angela found out she was pregnant. It was ultimatum time. “If the relationship had any chance of working, she told me, and if I was going to have any involvement in the life of our child, I would have to give up the self-indulgent hedonistic lifestyle of the 90s and take greater control of my life. And I did.
It’s something that happened gradually rather than immediately. “You either seize your opportunities or you don’t”. But, in the end, he says, you’ve got to want to change. “Elton John said it and it’s true: nobody can do it for you.” Fine but, hand on heart, what’s it like climbing into those fishnet stockings and high heels seven times a week? “In many ways, very easy, I put on the costume and there’s Frank all over again. I’m in touch with my feminine side but I come from a masculine sensibility.
The character embraces both sides of me: a strength and a vulnerability as well as danger and denial.” When I put on those high heels, I become that rock ‘n’ roll star. It makes me feel powerful, tall, in charge. “And audiences love it. As I look out from the stage, I see a beautiful landscape of people wearing outrageous costumes. It’s not hard to see why: in many ways, Rocky is panto for adults. The costumes are just as much a part of the show as the characters and the music”.
Touring is demanding, but Jason takes it in stride: he will be playing Frank n Furter in Edinburgh, Eastbourne, Bristol and Liverpool. “On tour, I wake up a little later; there are no domestic chores to tackle – no trimming the ivy or doing the washing. And I’m a seasoned professional when it comes to locating any M&S or Waitrose.
“I do try and get home at weekends, though, and not agree to more than three or four weeks away at a stretch. But if I want to play Frank – and I do – I’ve got to travel. It comes with the territory.
What else are you doing? “I’ve got my Doin’ Fine Encore tour – across the UK from February to March 2026. It’s a greatest hits show, a celebration of 35 years of work.”
But for now, his focus is bringing Frank-N-Furter back to life, both for his own satisfaction and that of his inexhaustible audience. “I’ve reached a point of great contentment,” says Jason. “As long as I have my family and my health, as long as I have a good life/work balance, I’m happy. I like to think I work to live, not the other way around”.The Rocky Horror Show, Starring Jason Donovan comes to the Edinburgh Playhouse from 6th to 10th January 2026. For more information and tickets go to: The Rocky Horror Show Tickets | Edinburgh Playhouse in Edinburgh | ATG Tickets
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