From: adolphso@mizar.usc.edu (adolphson)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: Re: Paul Jabara
Date: 5 Oct 1992 14:57:35 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: mizar.usc.edu

In article <1992Oct5.143235.8636@fig.citib.com> 
glp@fig.citib.com (Greg Parkinson) writes:
| In article <1amjdbINNko7@mizar.usc.edu>, 
| adolphso@mizar.usc.edu (adolphson) writes:
|
| > When I think about Paul Jabara, I think about The Rocky Horror Show 
| > and what I was doing when I was a wild and crazy 18 year old.  Rocky 
| > Horror oppened at the Roxy in LA early in 1974, when I was just 18, 
| > with Tim Curry in the part of Frank N. Furter.
|
| I saw it three times with Tim Curry.  I still have the
| Roxy ashtray (with logo) that I stole the first time.

You stole an ashtray too?  I saw Rocky Horror on opening 
night *and* we got a ringside table (at the table on our 
left was Jack Nicholson, at the table on our right was Johnny 
Carson).  And everyone got Rocky Horror Show masks and the
waiters kept bringing bottles of on-the-house champagne.
It was *heavenly*.  I don't remember how many times I saw
Tim Curry in it.  Three?  Four?

| > (remember platform shoes? 
| > rhinestones? the New York Dolls?)
|
| I remember the Trash Dance at the Santa Monica Civic,
| with the LA Stars, Zolar X (*there* was a band!), Iggy Pop,
| and the New York Dolls.  The official death of glitter
| rock.  We wore Tippi Hedren wigs and false eye-lashes and
| golf pants and plaid coats.

Oh dear.  Glitter rock.  I used to spend all my free time at
Rodney's English Discotheque on Sunset.  It was *fabulous*. 
I saw David Bowie there one night in 1972 (I think) -- well, 
just after the Ziggy Stardust tour, whenever that was -- and
about creamed in my jeans.  Ah yes, my jeans.  This was before
the Levi's people came up with the idea of marketing their jeans
as "501s".  They just called them denim jeans.  Which is what
they are.  Anyway, I used to wear denim jeans that were unbelievably
faded and worn, and lurid bowling shirts and Hawaiian shirts, and 
platform shoes or, on occasion, my wonderful platform boots that 
made me 6'5".  Oh, and sometimes I'd wear garish plastic leis.
And I had a collection of peculiar thrift store clothes -- like
my TV-jamas, which were a cross between a kimono and pajamas, with
images of Japanese people watching TV painted all over.  And I 
was a regular on The Real Don Steele Show, a local-TV American 
Bandstand, for a couple of years. 

And look at me now.  Sigh.

| > Well, after a couple of months Tim Curry left Rocky Horror and was
| > replaced by Paul Jabara.  I went back to see the show with David on
| > Jabara's opening night and I fell in love with him.  Unlike Tim Curry,
| > Paul Jabara was an unabashed, outrageous queen.
|
| It's funny, when I saw him in the role I didn't like
| him as much, mostly because Tim Curry had defined the
| role so strongly.  I didn't like the ad-libs because they
| were *sacrilegious*. 

*Sacrilegious*!  Honey, I thought he was a *scream*!  Especially 
when, toward the end of the run, he started to flash the 
audience from time to time.

I wonder whatever happened to Jamie whatshername who played
Magenta.  I liked her a *lot*. 

Arne