In his Broadway debut, Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans is stepping into the "extremely high stilettos" — and many other clothing items he's never worn before — of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

First Rocky Horror memory: When I was in college learning to be a performer, I was about 17 or 18, and we were doing an end-of-year show, in fact, to get a theatrical agent in London. We had to choose a song from a show that was sort of in-your-face, something that would really catch the attention of the agents in the audience. And I just went, "Well, there's this song called 'Sweet Transvestite,'" which really is punchy and powerful and epic.

I knew the song. I wasn't aware of the show as much, but all over Soho and all over the West End, there used to be these theatres where people used to come and see the show and participate, as they do with the film. So I've seen it many times since.

Message to audiences: [Is dressing up] encouraged? It's almost obligatory. I mean, if I have to dress up in heels and stilettos and fishnets, then everybody else should be, too. No, of course not, there's no pressure.

But of course, this is a worldwide family of fans that have followed and supported and made this show what it is after 53 years. So when they come, I want them to have the best time. We want them to just feel like they're in this wonderful environment, this little bubble of madness, absurdity, trash, queerness — just acceptance within Studio 54.

And if they want to dress up, dress up, baby. You won't feel out of place, that's for sure.

Show he'd take aliens to: Avenue Q

The Narrator, the audience's guide through the wild world of Rocky Horror, is usually played by "a stiff old man." Rachel Dratch, a Saturday Night Live alum and Tony nominee, is here to change that.

First Rocky Horror memory: I went with a friend [to the movie]. I was in seventh grade, I think. It was very much over my head, but I was like, "Let's go do this cool thing everyone's talking about."

Message to audiences: This is the kind of show I could see people wanting to go back again and again if your wallet allows. [...] I could see it being culty, just like the movie itself was culty.

Show she'd take aliens to: The Rocky Horror Show!

One of Broadway's fastest-rising leading men, Dead Outlaw Tony nominee Andrew Durand stars as Brad, a man who "really thinks he knows who he is, and he discovers he really has no idea who he is."

First Rocky Horror memory: I was in a production in Atlanta, where I'm from; I played Rocky. I was 17, so legally I couldn't wear a gold thong on stage, but they told me to tell everyone I was 18.

My father played guitar in the band, and we went to Hot Topic and bought him black lipstick and a choker and big boots. It was a family affair, and it was really, really fun.

Message to audiences: Traditionally, audience involvement is for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and this is The Rocky Horror Show, which is a theatrical experience versus a cinematic experience. But we're going to learn a lot in previews of how the audiences want to react and interact with the show.

We want the die-hard fans to get to enjoy the show the way they want to, but also regular theatergoing patrons to get to enjoy it. We're going to find a balance so everybody can have fun.

Show he'd take aliens to: Six. "All their outfits are kind of galactic."

Appropriately for playing the innocent Janet, Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once) was a Rocky Horror "virgin" until now.

First Rocky Horror memory: I never saw it until Sam called me to play Janet! And I have been joking, but this is real also: The midnight showings were so very late at night. I think I just somehow could never get out of my house.

Now I'm deep in the wormhole of all the research and have seen the movie at least a million times. I de-virginized myself and snuck into a midnight showing and got to hear all the callouts.

Message to audiences: You would think that 50 years later, our world is so much more progressive that Rocky feels like a saltine, dull. But weirdly, this show feels so, dare I say, necessary right now.

It feels like the aliens have come here to remind us once again to give yourself over to absolute pleasure, that joy and freakishness is a part of our lifeblood.

Show she'd take aliens to: Oh, Mary!

Hadestown Tony nominee Amber Gray considers herself a character actor, and the "feral creature" Riff Raff is right in line with that.

First Rocky Horror memory: Middle school — I'd just started doing theatre, and my theatre pals would go to the local library and check out CDs of musicals. So my first exposure was the soundtrack of the movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I checked out that, The Who's Tommy, and Jesus Christ Superstar, so I thought all musicals were rock operas.

Message to audiences: I heard a term recently which totally applies to some of my past shows and this one: "musicult." People always dress up to musicults, so I expect that, and I welcome that. I can't wait to see all the costumes.

Show she'd take aliens to: A version of Hadestown where Orpheus and Eurydice get a happy ending

In her Broadway debut, Cape Fear Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis is playing a Magenta that "is all the things that Mr. O’Brien dreamed of," she said. "Severe, absurd, funny — with a little sprinkle [of] Eartha Kitt and Nina Hagan."

First Rocky Horror memory: Coincidentally, about a month prior to being offered the role, I had just written a foreword to the new Mick Rock Rocky Horror book about when I first saw Rocky Horror when I was 11 years old, and I saw the world and people to which I belong. Before I ever had a career, I knew that this world was my cosmic creative DNA. I was struck on a visceral level. For some of us, Rocky Horror is like that. We find a sense of belonging, hope, and celebration, so it is a huge full-circle moment that in midlife I am on the stage in Rocky Horror.

Message to audiences: We are leaning into the “Science Fiction” and horror of it all. From the second you walk into the theatre, on a molecular level, you should feel your energy start to shift!

Show she'd take aliens to: Dog Day Afternoon

In her Broadway debut, Pose Emmy nominee Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is excited to play up the "gaudy" and "campy" yet deeply human sides of Frank-N-Furter's groupie Columbia.

First Rocky Horror memory: I was very young when I saw it. My mom and my dad, they would watch it every Halloween. And my dad was like, "Come over here and check this out. I think you will really like this." [...] It revolutionized my experience as a queer person and how to express myself.

Message to audiences: I would speak for everyone and encourage everyone to come and dress up and be who you are. If this show entices you to dress up as Frank-N-Furter or Columbia, Riff Raff or Magenta, or any of the Phantoms, do it.

And be yourself. This is a show that encourages you to live out loud and be loud and be audacious and have tenacity. Come out, show out, and have fun.

Show she'd take aliens to: Wicked

What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén knows a thing or two about the paranormal. He makes his Broadway debut in the dual role of Eddie and Dr. Scott — a paramour and a scientist who, when all is said and done, aren't so different. One is "just better at suppressing it from the public."

First Rocky Horror memory: I saw the movie when I was pretty young. It was taboo. I saw a man wearing heels [...] and I actually might have gone into my mom's closet and put on heels. I thought it was okay to play different people and different things. That's around the time I fell in love with acting — that and Annie.

Years later, I did a movie with Susan Sarandon. I was going to go to a midnight show of Rocky Horror with her [...] and then COVID hit, so we did not do it. But they are very excited to see the show. I'm really excited that somehow, it's all led to this.

Message to audiences: We would love for people to come and dress up. We're looking forward to that. I think we're going to have special screenings or special performances where people are going to be more than welcome to do that.

You should let your freak flag fly. What the show does is it makes you drop your inhibitions and makes it okay for you to do it.

Show he'd take aliens to: Ragtime. "I want aliens to see the problems that were back then and the problems we still have today. Can you help us?"

Making his Broadway debut, American Sports Story's Josh Rivera is putting both the "Rocky" and the "Horror" in Rocky Horror. "The thing that gets glossed over is it is a horror show," he said. "Rocky gets born on stage and everybody wants something from him immediately. He has no understanding of his body or what it means to be desired. He sings a song about it. And then the song afterwards is just about how hot he is. And then he gets married to his dad. It's so bonkers."

First Rocky Horror memory: Before I had even seen it, I knew of Frank-N-Furter. Tim Curry is so iconic — there's a lot of iconography of him and his costume and makeup, but I never really thought about it more than being a symbol. Then I remember seeing the [movie] when I was 22, and I was really shocked by how much I liked it. I didn't expect to dislike it, but it really subverts expectations.

The first little while, it's a B-[movie] sci-fi satire. Frank-N-Furter shows up, and I remember thinking, "Wow, there's so many different kinds of sexy." I remember there being such a magnetism with Frank-N-Furter and with all the characters coming out and exploring their respective selves, like Brad and Janet. I remember, towards the end, being like, "I'm really moved by this." I didn't expect that.

Message to audiences: I'm really excited to cultivate that experience with the audience. [The participatory element] is something we are all obviously aware of, but to what degree and how we'll respond to it, I personally don't know.

Show he'd take aliens to: Wicked. "My dad's an old-school Puerto Rican guy who currently lives in Alabama, and he loved Wicked. So, if he liked Wicked, aliens will too."

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