Rocky Horror's Broadway Revival Gets a New Cast, and Its Costumes Are Still Halloween Gold

Jake Shears, Lorna Courtney, and Kevin McHale are stepping into Studio 54's fishnets this fall, giving the Tony-nominated Rocky Horror revival a fresh cast and a great excuse to talk about why this show remains the ultimate Halloween costume cheat sheet.

New faces are jumping into the Time Warp

Broadway confirmed on July 24 that a new trio is taking over three of the biggest roles in The Rocky Horror Show at Studio 54. Lorna Courtney and Kevin McHale step in as Janet and Brad on August 25, and Jake Shears follows as Frank-N-Furter on September 11. Paul Soileau will hold down the corset and heels in the gap weeks between departures and debuts.

The performers they're replacing, Luke Evans, Andrew Durand, and Stephanie Hsu, take their final bows on August 23. It is a fairly normal Broadway cast rotation on paper, but for a show built entirely around a cult costume tradition, every new actor stepping into those iconic silhouettes is its own kind of event for fans who treat Rocky Horror as a yearly ritual.

Shears is a familiar face to anyone who has followed pop music theater crossovers, having fronted Scissor Sisters and appeared in Kinky Boots, while Courtney and McHale bring their own fan bases from recent Broadway and television work. None of that changes the wardrobe rack waiting for them at Studio 54, which has become nearly as famous as the cast itself this season.

The costumes behind the Tony nomination

This revival's costume designer, David I. Reynoso, picked up a 2026 Tony Award nomination for Best Costume Design of a Musical, and the concept behind his work is part of why the show keeps resonating with costume fans specifically. Rather than recreating the 1975 film's looks stitch for stitch, Reynoso built his version out of deliberately humble, DIY materials: shredded trash bag ribbons woven into Frank-N-Furter's dress, tinsel and metallic curtain scraps, and small personal touches like pink rubber gloves finished with glued-on nails.

Reynoso has talked about wanting every performer to feel something specific inside the garment, describing the idea that a look assembled from scraps can still feel completely glamorous once someone puts it on with intention. That philosophy, dressing a character from junk-drawer materials until it reads as couture, is basically the founding principle of great Halloween costuming, and it is a big reason this revival's wardrobe has been getting written about as much as its cast.

Why Rocky Horror never leaves the Halloween costume rotation

Long before this revival opened at Studio 54 in April, Rocky Horror characters were already Halloween and midnight-screening staples, and the new Broadway buzz is only reinforcing that. Part of the appeal is how efficient each look is: a corset, fishnets, and pearls reads as Frank-N-Furter from across a party. A gold sequined jacket and striped shorts reads as Columbia. Nobody needs a name tag.

That readability is exactly what makes these costumes so approachable to build at home or pull together at a shop like ours. The pieces are mostly wardrobe basics, corsets, fishnets, sequined jackets, lab coats, dressed up with the right accessories and attitude rather than expensive custom tailoring.

• Corsets and basques in black or metallic finishes
• Fishnet stockings and tights in classic black
• Sequined jackets and striped shorts for Columbia-style looks
• Maid-style dresses and aprons for Magenta
• Lab coats that can be distressed for a Frank-N-Furter transformation moment

Build any Rocky Horror look from our racks

You do not need a Broadway costume budget to nail this cast of characters. Here is how we would piece together the essentials for a Time Warp-ready group costume.

1. Frank-N-Furter: A black corset, fishnets, heels, and a strand of pearls, finished with a lab coat you can shrug off mid-party for the reveal.
2. Columbia: A gold sequined jacket and matching top hat over striped shorts, with bright blue socks and a short red wig to seal it.
3. Magenta: A French maid dress with a lace apron, dark tights, and a slicked-back or bobbed wig.
4. Riff Raff: A butler-style tailcoat, a bald cap or slicked hairstyle, and platform boots for the height.
5. Brad: A conservative button-down, sweater vest, and khakis, kept deliberately plain so the transformation later in the night hits harder.
6. Janet: A modest slip dress or cardigan set that can layer down to lingerie-style pieces as the costume evolves through the night.
7. Rocky: Gold body paint or a metallic bodysuit paired with simple gold shorts, for the group's most confident member.

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