00:00Give yourself over to absolute pleasure.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today, we're taking a trip down memory lane
00:11to some of Tim Curry's best musical moments on stage and screen.
00:15Who's the king?
00:16You are!
00:17Who the king?
00:18You are!
00:19We won't leave you shivering with anticipation.
00:23Let's jump into the role that probably comes to musical fans' minds
00:26when they think of Tim Curry.
00:28I see you shiver with anticipation.
00:34Did you know he first strapped on Frankenfurter's high heels
00:37almost a decade before the film?
00:40He originated the role on stage,
00:42experimenting with different accents and looks
00:44before settling on the character fans know today.
00:47Just seven days, I can make you amazed.
00:57When the stage show received its silver screen makeover,
01:00even rock stars wanted a piece of it.
01:02Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Lou Reed all lobbied for the role
01:06or tried to get the rights.
01:08Yet the production stuck with its original Frank.
01:10And thank goodness they did.
01:22Curry's Frank was terrifying, gorgeous, hilarious, and magnetic.
01:27Strutting around in towering stilettos, fishnets, and a corset,
01:31he gave Frank the confidence of a Hollywood siren
01:34with the undercurrent of a terrifying menace.
01:36I'm not much of a man by the light of day,
01:41but by God I'm one hell of a lover.
01:45I'm just a sweet transvestite.
01:49Vocally, he could shift from a seductive purr to a theatrical roar,
01:53giving every song the emotional weight it deserved.
01:56That's why Curry's remains the definitive Frank.
01:59Beneath the decadence and danger
02:01is someone desperately searching for love and acceptance,
02:04making his downfall surprisingly heartbreaking.
02:07And I realized...
02:13I'm gonna come...
02:15Then Curry swapped the corset and fishnets
02:17for a wonderfully awful polyester suit
02:20to portray Rooster Hannigan in Annie.
02:35As Miss Hannigan's conman brother,
02:38he joins Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters
02:40for one of the musical's most fun numbers,
02:43bringing plenty of Rat Pack energy and sleazy charm to his appearance.
02:47It is a relatively small role,
02:49but Curry makes every second count,
02:51turning Rooster into a wonderfully flamboyant scene-stealer.
02:55Move the feet to Easy Street
03:00That's where we're gonna
03:03That's where we're gonna
03:05He throws himself into every little movement,
03:09grin and musical flourish,
03:11proving that for him,
03:12effortlessly balancing family-friendly musicals
03:15and cult movie madness
03:16really is a trip down Easy Street.
03:19That's where we're gonna
03:28His love of big theatrical villains
03:31and high-sea swashbuckling
03:33also made him a perfect Long John Silver
03:35in Muppet Treasure Island.
03:37Though you could be a doctor
03:38or perhaps a financier,
03:41my boy, why not consider
03:43a more challenging career?
03:45Even surrounded by the Muppets,
03:47he treats the material with the seriousness
03:49of a grand pirate epic.
03:51In Professional Pirate,
03:52he gets to scheme,
03:54sing,
03:55steal the limelight,
03:56and generally enjoy himself
03:58as a captain
03:58who takes his profession
03:59very seriously
04:01and knows how to sell it.
04:02It's how you look at buccaneers
04:05that makes them bad or good
04:07and I see us as members
04:09of a noble brotherhood.
04:11It's one of those performances
04:12where you can practically see Curry
04:14having the time of his life,
04:16making it all the more enjoyable
04:18for us to watch
04:19and making the pirate life
04:20pretty tempting too.
04:35Not to upstage Long John Silver's
04:37only number,
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04:53Then there are Curry's animated roles,
04:56where his talent for musical theater
04:57and making the villain
04:59one of the most beloved characters on screen
05:01come together beautifully.
05:03Don't talk for hours,
05:04don't send flowers,
05:05don't write poems,
05:06don't sing songs
05:06and dance beneath the stars
05:07that shine above.
05:09Don't fall in love.
05:12In Beauty and the Beast,
05:14The Enchanted Christmas,
05:15he voices Forte,
05:16an enormous,
05:18egotistical pipe organ
05:19and gets to put that booming baritone
05:21front and center
05:22in Don't Fall in Love.
05:24Curry gives the song
05:25a wonderfully theatrical sense of menace,
05:28practically pummeling the Beast
05:29with his booming vocals
05:30and increasingly dramatic delivery.
05:33You'll go to pot,
05:34you'll turn to drink,
05:35you'll never rest,
05:35you'll end up mad
05:36and looking like some poor,
05:38demented dove.
05:40Don't fall in love.
05:45Then there's Hexas
05:47in Fern Gully,
05:48The Last Rainforest,
05:49whose toxic love
05:50lets Curry go in
05:51a completely different direction.
05:53Because greedy human beings
05:56will always lend a hand
06:00with the destruction
06:06over a sultry,
06:08jazz-influenced arrangement.
06:10He purrs,
06:11growls,
06:11and slides between notes
06:13with a deliciously sinister quality.
06:15Both performances show
06:16exactly why Curry
06:17was such a natural fit
06:18for musical villains.
06:20He could make a song
06:21feel like a full performance
06:22in itself.
06:38We've already talked
06:39about Curry's
06:40most famous musical role,
06:42but how he got
06:43Frankenfurter
06:43is a story in itself.
06:45I bumped into
06:46Richard O'Brien,
06:47who I knew
06:48from the touring company
06:50of Hair.
06:51Curry happened to bump
06:52into Richard O'Brien,
06:53writer of the Rocky Horror Show
06:55and eventual riff-raff,
06:56outside a London gym.
06:58The two had previously
06:59worked together
07:00on the original
07:01London production of Hair,
07:02where Curry understudied
07:04Woof and played
07:04a member of the tribe.
07:12O'Brien mentioned
07:13he was looking for someone
07:14to play Rocky,
07:16so Curry agreed to audition.
07:18Curry auditioned
07:19with a version
07:19of Little Richard's
07:20Tutti Frutti
07:21while wearing boots
07:22he had spray-painted silver.
07:23Yeah,
07:24I sang Tutti Frutti
07:26from Little Richard,
07:29which was pretty fruity,
07:31really.
07:32They quickly realized
07:33he was not
07:34their muscle-bound Rocky.
07:35As it turned out,
07:37Curry had rather
07:37more to offer
07:38in high heels,
07:39fishnets,
07:40and a corset
07:40than flexing
07:41his muscles in pants
07:42that left little
07:43to the imagination.
07:43You'd be a strong man
07:49Oh, honey!
07:50But the wrong man
07:55After his London run,
07:57Curry also took Frank
07:58to L.A. and Broadway.
08:00Yet Curry's genius
08:01lay in his refusal
08:02to stay pigeonholed.
08:04He took on
08:04The Pirate King
08:05in Joe Papp's production
08:06of The Pirates of Penzance,
08:07trading Frank's
08:09rock and roll energy
08:10for rollicking fun.
08:12I am a pirate king
08:16And it is, it is
08:17a glorious thing
08:18to be a pirate king
08:20The role gave him
08:21plenty of rapid-fire patter,
08:23broad comedy,
08:24and opportunities
08:25to play directly
08:26to the audience.
08:27He won the
08:28Royal Variety Club Award
08:29for Stage Actor
08:30of the Year
08:31for the performance,
08:32showing just how easily
08:33he could move
08:34between completely
08:35different styles.
08:46His Broadway work
08:47in My Favorite Year
08:49brought out
08:49a different side.
08:50Curry played Alan Swan,
08:52a boozy,
08:53aging Hollywood star
08:54trying to find
08:55his way again
08:56while appearing
08:56on a live television
08:57variety show.
08:58New York and I
09:00we've had a long affair
09:05Breathe in my friend
09:06savor that perfume
09:08The role earned him
09:11a Tony nomination
09:12for Best Actor
09:13in a Musical
09:14and gave him the chance
09:15to show off
09:16a softer side
09:17of his voice
09:17and acting.
09:18It's a lovely reminder
09:19that Curry's musical talent
09:21went well beyond
09:22the larger-than-life
09:23characters he became
09:24famous for.
09:25I put a penny
09:26in my shoe
09:27Me too!
09:29And I believe
09:29in Sandy Scrooge
09:31to the boys
09:32on the crew
09:33Tim Curry brought
09:34unmatched theatricality
09:36to all his musical roles.
09:38In Me and My Girl,
09:39he radiated bouncy charm.
09:41In the Three Penny Opera,
09:43his vocals dripped
09:44with dark,
09:45cynical seduction.
09:46Later,
09:47as Scrooge
09:47in A Christmas Carol,
09:49he charmingly balanced
09:50bitter miserliness
09:51with a rich,
09:52soaring transformation.
09:54Let us love
09:57till we die
09:58and God bless us
10:00everyone.
10:03And then came
10:04King Arthur
10:05in Spamalot,
10:06where Curry found himself
10:07ruling a kingdom
10:08populated by
10:09killer rabbits,
10:10unhelpful Frenchmen,
10:12knights who say
10:12ni,
10:13and for reasons
10:14absent from your
10:15history books,
10:16men galloping about
10:17while clopping
10:17two coconut shells
10:18together.
10:19Through it all,
10:20Curry plays Arthur
10:21with the solemn
10:22royal dignity
10:23one might expect
10:24from a king.
10:33In Find Your Grail,
10:35he deploys
10:36his musical theater
10:37grandeur
10:38in pursuit
10:38of the sacred chalice,
10:39while I'm All Alone
10:41gives him
10:41a beautifully
10:42straight-faced
10:42comic moment.
10:54It's Curry doing
10:55what he does best,
10:56treating utter nonsense
10:58as though civilization
10:59depends upon it,
11:00then singing about it
11:01magnificently.
11:02His performance
11:03reminded us to
11:04always look on
11:05the bright side of life.
11:14What ties Curry's
11:15career together
11:16isn't the variety
11:17of his credits,
11:18but his refusal
11:19to behave like
11:19a conventional
11:20leading man.
11:29While Hollywood
11:30and Broadway
11:31like their stars
11:32categorized,
11:34Curry was more
11:34interested in characters
11:35letting him push
11:36boundaries and
11:37have a good time.
11:38No matter the role,
11:40he threw himself
11:41into it with the
11:41same theatrical
11:42commitment.
11:43True friendship
11:44and adventure
11:45are what we
11:46can't live without.
11:47And when you're
11:49a professional pirate,
11:51that's what
11:52the job's about.
11:53He never needed
11:54a character to be
11:54traditionally likable
11:56to make them magnetic,
11:57outrageous,
11:58ridiculous,
11:59sinister,
11:59or absurd.
12:00He'd be the one
12:01we'd all leave
12:02talking about.
12:03Curry gave a voice
12:04to the misfits
12:05and outcasts,
12:06while making being
12:07unconventional look
12:08like the most fun
12:09in the world.
12:10I am not
12:18what's your favorite
12:19Tim Curry musical
12:20performance?
12:21Have you ever
12:22seen him live?
12:23Let us know
12:24in the comments.
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