"Getting to play Frank-N-Furter right now at this time in my life, and with Tim Curry just passing, feels like an absolute privilege and an honor," said Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears, who described Rocky Horror as his favorite piece of art. "It's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

First Rocky Horror memory: I was 12 going on 13. It was 1990, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show was having its 15th anniversary. They were finally putting it out on VHS. I started seeing imagery from it and immediately was like, "Whatever this is, I have to see this." And my mom was like, "You absolutely cannot see this."

[She] thought it was going to crack my brain open and I was going to turn into an absolute weirdo, which is exactly what happened. My sister snuck me the original Roxy cast recording on cassette, and then she snuck me the movie. And then I started going to the screenings and became a complete Rocky Horror nerd.

Scissor Sisters wouldn't exist without it. My songwriting style, I don't think would exist without it. I don't think my stage persona would exist without Tim Curry.

Message to audiences: It means so many things to so many different people, but you really do feel in that room every night how much it means to most everybody in there. But I also love it when people have never seen any of it.

I meet people after the show that's like, "I had no idea what this was even about." That's also really, really exciting, to get people to form their initial memories of Rocky.

Show he'd take aliens to: The Lost Boys

Kevin McHale is now making his Broadway debut as Brad Majors, but he'll always have a soft spot for the Rocky Horror-themed episode of Glee, on which he played Artie Abrams for all six seasons. "I'm really proud of that episode," he said. "Our versions [of the songs] are pretty great."

First Rocky Horror memory: Mine was during Glee. We were doing a Rocky Horror episode, and I was living with Jenna Ushkowitz at the time. [...] We lived in this spooky house in the mountains and turned on Rocky Horror at night. And I was like, "How are we supposed to do this on Fox at 8 p.m.?"

Message to audiences: The show is liberating in so many ways. Sam Pinkleton [...] was like, "You're going to look out in that audience, and some people are going to be laughing at the same time somebody next to them is crying, and both responses are correct."

People are dressing up every single night. You should feel free, feel liberated, so sexy. Scream at us and have a good time. It is the place to be. It's Halloween every single day at Studio 54 right now.

Show he'd take aliens to: Wicked

& Juliet Tony nominee Lorna Courtney most recently starred as Veronica in Heathers off Broadway, so she's staying in the cult-classic realm as Janet in Rocky Horror.

First Rocky Horror memory: Mine was actually last year at Bucks County Playhouse [in Pennsylvania]. I saw it and I had the best time, and it was so interactive, and I was like, "What is this show? Everyone knows the words." It felt like a cult classic, and I was like, "I want to be a part of it." And now look!

Message to audiences: The motto of the show, "don't dream it, be it," really resonates with everyone and means something different for everyone. If someone has been hiding who they are, what they want, this show inspires them to be their true selves.

Show she'd take aliens to: The Rocky Horror Show

The Narrator, the audience's guide through the wild world of Rocky Horror, is usually played by "a stiff old man" — Rachel Dratch's words. The Saturday Night Live alum and Tony nominee is here to change that.

First Rocky Horror memory: I went with a friend [to the movie]. I was in seventh grade, I think. It was very much over my head, but I was like, "Let's go do this cool thing everyone's talking about."

Message to audiences: This is the kind of show I could see people wanting to go back again and again if your wallet allows. [...] I could see it being culty, just like the movie itself was culty.

Show she'd take aliens to: The Rocky Horror Show!

RuPaul's Drag Race alum Valentina has come a long way since playing the Beast in Beauty and the Beast at her performing arts high school. "To approach this full-femme on Broadway [is] a dream come true," she said of playing the groupie Columbia in her Broadway debut.

First Rocky Horror memory: I'd known about Rocky Horror and people dressing up and Halloween and "Science Fiction/Double Feature," the lips. Then when I was asked to be in the show, I got to experience the movie, and I was excited, turned on, confused, loved the music.

Message to audiences: You want to have a queer time, you want to have a sexy time, you want to have a kooky time, you like a little chaos, come visit us.

Show she'd take aliens to: My dream role is to be Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, and I would invite them to watch me.

"I'm doing the same show the 25-year-olds are doing!" exclaimed three-time Tony Award nominee Sherie Rene Scott. As Magenta, the Broadway mainstay is excited to be on "a new frontier as women coming into our own in our 50s." By which she means: You're never too old to be sexy and strong.

First Rocky Horror memory: My first encounter goes way back to when I was 13 in Kansas. One of the only out gay men I knew [...] took me to see Rocky Horror with his partner. They were like, "It's a little advanced, but you'll understand."

You can see that's about freedom and people being themselves. And at the same time, I knew [...] I don't have to be like [the characters], but I just loved that it's an amazing work of art that's hilarious and sexy and that there's audience interaction. My life opened up so much after seeing that.

Message to audiences: It's going to feel like you're going to a concert, and it'll be really fun, and you'll actually come away feeling really good about humanity and how unique we all are and how similar and together we all are in that uniqueness.

It's fun, it's hopeful, it's naughty, it's dirty, it's sexy. It's thoughtful. It has a good heart.

Show she'd take aliens to: If [it was] running, I would take the aliens to see A Chorus Line because it shows old Broadway, and also what doesn't change over time. We're still hoofers doing it eight times a week!

Before rising to Broadway fame in Be More Chill, George Salazar grew up listening to Sherie Rene Scott on The Last Five Years cast album. Now, watching her sing from the wings is one of his favorite parts of Rocky Horror. "I have to actively fight emotion because I truly cannot believe this is my life," Salazar said. "I would never say this to her face."

First Rocky Horror memory: I was either 9 or 10; I faked sick and got to stay home for a day from school. VH1 used to do this series called Movies That Rock, and [...] they did Rocky Horror. I remember being so enamored. That experience shaped my sensibility as a consumer of art, but also as an artist now.

Then in high school, I went to my first shadow cast with a friend. [...] I was blown away and taken aback by the sense of community among the company members, but also the gap that's bridged between audience and performer and film.

Message to audiences: Undeniably, Rocky Horror is really weird [...] but the main takeaway, and the production does this so beautifully by lowering this text in neon lights toward the end of the show, is: "Don't dream it, be it."

Don't waste your time and your energy wishing you were something else or wishing you had the courage to be who you really are. Just step out of your home as you and be unapologetic about it and share all the things that make you you with the world.

Show he'd take aliens to: Oh, Mary! or Little Shop of Horrors

Hadestown Tony nominee Amber Gray considers herself a character actor, and the "feral creature" Riff Raff is right in line with that.

First Rocky Horror memory: Middle school — I'd just started doing theatre, and my theatre pals would go to the local library and check out CDs of musicals. So my first exposure was the soundtrack of the movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I checked out that, The Who's Tommy, and Jesus Christ Superstar, so I thought all musicals were rock operas.

Message to audiences: I heard a term recently which totally applies to some of my past shows and this one: "musicult." People always dress up to musicults, so I expect that, and I welcome that. I can't wait to see all the costumes.

Show she'd take aliens to: A version of Hadestown where Orpheus and Eurydice get a happy ending

Sunset Boulevard and Heated Rivalry musical star Jimin Moon is Rocky Horror's title character second and a Glee fan first.

First Rocky Horror memory: "The Rocky Horror Glee Show," down. Kevin McHale as Dr. Scott, babe. Amber Riley as Frank-N-Furter. She came to the show the other day; I was so starstruck. I'm such a Gleek.

Message to audiences: Our second show was the day Tim Curry passed away, so it immediately thrust such a spotlight on how much this piece means to people. [Because of Glee,] I have this idea of Rocky Horror as something that's for people of my generation, and it's not. It's been beloved since the '70s.

Getting to look out into the audience and see a ton of people who I wouldn't expect to be obsessed with a show about sex aliens be obsessed with sex aliens, I'm like, "Oh, this is awesome."

Show they'd take aliens to: Schmigadoon!

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Interview excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

Photo credit: The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway. (Photos by Joan Marcus)