Usherette Trixie
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Trixie the Usherette is a character from Richard O'Brien's musical The Rocky Horror Show. She opens the show singing "Science Fiction/Double Feature" and sings a reprise of the song at the end. She usually has a refreshment tray that has "Hi I'm Trixie" written across the front. The part of Trixie is always doubled with the actress who plays Magenta, another character from the play. It is also thought that Magenta actually is the Usherette as in the very early scripts of the play when she speaks, it reads:
Magenta (As Usherette): Michael Rennie was ill...etc.
Patricia Quinn was the first person to play the Usherette in the original 1973 production of The Rocky Horror Show. She was not named Trixie in that production. It was not until the show came to the U.S.A. in 1974 that she was first known as Trixie (having the name written across the front of the tray). Actresses who have played the Usherette and can be found performing it on certain cast recordings are:
- Patricia Quinn - 1973 Original London Cast
- Jamie Donnelly (Jan from the movie Grease) - 1974 original Los Angeles Roxy Cast
- Daphne Rubin-Vega - 2000 Broadway Revival Cast
Trixie was not featured in the movie adaptation of the play The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The filmmakers decided that they could not open the film with an Usherette singing "Science Fiction," so when actress Patricia Quinn was asked to play her part she played on stage she initially refused the role because she would not be performing the song. She eventually agreed, but was angry when she found that fellow actor and author Richard O'Brien was to perform the song. She eventually became associated with the film version of the song in that her lips were used to lip-synch the song, creating the iconic lips logo used in the film's advertising.
