- 4 minutes ago
From corsets to cutlasses, Tim Curry always knew how to steal the spotlight. Join us as we look back at some of his most unforgettable musical performances on stage and screen, from cult classics to family favorites and animated villainy. With powerhouse vocals, theatrical flair, and plenty of scene-stealing charisma, Curry proved no one delivered a song quite like him.
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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,
04:38but did you know
04:39that if you scan that QR code,
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04:44over on Ms. Mojo's 24-7 livestream?
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04:51and get a full share!
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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