Big night ahead with Riff Raff

SHOCK, HORROR: Ray Titchener is looking forward to Riff Raff's unveiling. (IAIN MCGREGOR / Waikato Times)
 

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3102701a6004,00.html

20 November 2004 
By LUCY REED AND JAMES HEFFIELD

Hamilton transvestite Ray Titchener has got his outfit ready for Friday night's unveiling of the Riff Raff statue.

Mr Titchener, aka Princess Beverly from the Virgin Islands, said he would wear fishnet stockings, bright '60s make-up and gloves to get into the spirit of the night.

The statue is being unveiled on Hamilton's Victoria St to celebrate the Rocky Horror Picture Show's creator – former Hamilton man Richard O'Brien.

Mr Titchener said he was looking forward to seeing other members of the public turn up in different costumes.

"It will be amazing to see just how people's imaginations are awakened. It will be great family entertainment."

The unveiling would be a chance to exercise his freedom around like-minded people, he said.

Actor Mark Servian, the driving force behind the project, acknowledged that not everyone would feel comfortable in high heels and stockings, and suggested people think laterally.

People could look at the New Zealand connections to the movie. They could dress as Sir Robert Muldoon – who once had a part in a stage production of the show.

If that sounded too wild an even milder suggestion was to dress like someone from Denton, he said.

For those unfamiliar with the Rocky Horror Show, that's the "square" town two of the main characters – Brad and Janet – are from.

Servian said O'Brien once told him that Denton was based on Morrinsville. So people could always dress like a modern day Brad or Janet.

Or people could think about scenes from the movie, suggested Servian.

Servian wasn't giving much away about his own costume.
"I'm planning to wear an amalgam of a general Rocky style with a particularly Hamilton concept."

He said it would be a chance for Hamiltonians to stick their tongues "in our cheeks at ourselves".

"I like to think of it as a cultural meteor strike on Hamilton."

The Victoria St party kicks off at 9pm, with street performers and live music. The statue will be unveiled at midnight.