FOX is airing a two-hour special, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again. It’s a re-imagining of the 1975 cult classic starring Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter (who in this version is the criminologist narrator). Laverne Cox plays the sexually-ambiguous mad scientist Frank-N-Furter. Victoria Justice and Ryan McCartan play young couple Janet and Brad (originally portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick). Frank-N-Furter’s rival, scientist Dr. Everett V. Scott, is portrayed by Ben Vereen. (In the film, Scott was portrayed by the late Jonathan Adams.)
Ben Vereen is a Broadway legend (Wicked, Fosse, I’m Not Rappaport, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, Grind, Jelly’s Last Jam and A Christmas Carol). The 70-year-old is also known for his TV roles on How I Met Your Mother (Sam Gibbs), Silk Stalkings (Captain Ben Hutchinson), Zoobilee Zoo (Mayor Ben), Webster (Uncle Phillip Long), and in the 1977 TV mini-series Roots (“Chicken” George Moore). Vereen is also recognized for his roles in the musical films Funny Lady with Barbara Streisand (Bert Robbins), and Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz (O’Connor Flood). The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again airs Thursday, October 20 at 8pm on FOX.
