If you happened to be in the NoMa area of Washington, D.C., on the right evening in October, you may have seen some interesting characters entering the NPR offices: people dressed in fishnets and corsets, perhaps a few maid costumes; maybe a '50s-style greaser or a bespectacled super-nerd. When you welcome the Broadway revival of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show, it's only fitting to fill the audience with Frank-N-Furters, Magentas, Eddies, Riff Raffs, Brads, Janets, and various other creatures of the night.
For over 50 years, The Rocky Horror Show (and its film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), with its catchy songs and off-kilter camp storytelling, has provided both passionate fans and the uninitiated with a space to find community, to be seen, and to feel free. To match the spirit of the show, we transformed the Tiny Desk into our own version of the Frankenstein Place.
Our strange journey into Rocky Horror begins with "Science Fiction Double Feature," as Anania's effervescent vocals welcome us to the sci-fi B-movie world. "Over at the Frankenstein Place" features Lorna Courtney and Kevin McHale perfectly inhabiting the naive sweetness of young lovers Brad and Janet, while Andres Quintero's vocal timbre provides a harbinger of what thrills await the pair. The electric, '50s-tinged rocker "Hot Patootie" is performed to thrilling effect by George Salazar, punctuated by Lynn Ligammari's grooving saxophone. Jake Shears' performance of Frank-N-Furter's ballad "I'm Going Home" is captivating and heartbreaking.
I confess one of my not-so-secret goals for this show was to see an audience full of NPR staff and guests jumping to the left, stepping to the right … you know the rest. After all, what would a Rocky Horror Tiny Desk be without a performance of the show's most fun and infectious tune? Lucky for us, we'll never know. So limber up, put your hands on your hips, knees tight, and join the in-room audience in doing "The Time Warp."
SET LIST
- "Science Fiction Double Feature"
- "Over at the Frankenstein Place"
- "Hot Patootie"
- "I'm Going Home"
- "The Time Warp"
MUSICIANS
- Lorna Courtney: vocals
- Kevin McHale: vocals
- George Salazar: vocals
- Jake Shears: vocals
- Anania: vocals
- Andres Quintero: vocals
- Jane Cardona: keys, music director
- Nate Brown: guitar
- Winston Roye: bass
- Lynn Ligammari: saxophone
- Shannon Ford: drums
- Jimin Moon: background vocals
- Renée Albulario: background vocals
- Boy Radio: background vocals
- Preston Perez: background vocals
- Star Quezon: background vocals
- Larkin Reilly: background vocals
- Paul Soileau: background vocals
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Mitra I. Arthur
- Director/Editor: Maia Stern
- Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
- Creative Director: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Alanté Serene
- Audio Engineer: Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez
- Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
- Photographer: Zayrha Rodriguez
- Animator: Jackie Lay
- Copy Editor: Daoud Tyler-Ameen
- Tiny Desk Team: Dora Levite, Dhanika Pineda
- Series Editor: Lars Gotrich
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
Copyright 2026 NPR
