The Next Narrator, Margaret Cho Makes Her Broadway Debut at Studio 54
The comedian takes the chair in The Rocky Horror Show on November 3, two nights after Rachel Dratch's last performance on West 54th Street
Margaret Cho makes her Broadway debut on Tuesday, November 3, as the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show at Studio 54, taking over the role from Rachel Dratch.
The casting was announced on Monday, October 19. Dratch's last performance is Sunday, November 1, according to BroadwayWorld's report. Cho steps in two nights later.
The Narrator is the one person in Richard O'Brien's show who stands outside the story and talks to the house. It is a comic's chair, and this revival keeps handing it to comics.
When Does Margaret Cho Start in Rocky Horror?
Her first performance is Tuesday, November 3, at Studio 54 on West 54th Street. The revival is booked through February 28, 2027, according to Broadway.com. Neither announcement says how long Cho will stay, so check the box office for the nights she plays.
The chair has turned over quickly this fall. People reported, in a story Yahoo carried, that Rosie O'Donnell played the Narrator from October 6 through October 18 while Dratch was on leave. Suite 646 covered that stretch, and the production around it, in Time Warp on 54th Street. Now Dratch gets a Sunday send-off and Cho gets the Tuesday.
Who Is Margaret Cho?
Cho is a stand-up comedian, actor and musician, and this is her first time on a Broadway stage. The Recording Academy lists five Grammy nominations for her comedy albums, from I'm the One That I Want in 2002 to American Myth in 2017. The Television Academy lists one Emmy nomination, in 2012, for playing Kim Jong-il as a guest actress on 30 Rock.
Her screen work runs from the ABC sitcom All-American Girl to 30 Rock, Fire Island, Hacks and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, per People. Broadway.com notes that Vogue named her one of the nine best female comedians of all time in 2025. Her latest film, All That We Love, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, according to BroadwayWorld.
"I think comedians in general, we get better as we get older."
That is Cho, quoted in the BroadwayWorld announcement. She goes on to say comics grow more observant with age. The line is about stand-up, but it fits a Narrator. The job is watching the room and reporting back.
What to Know Before You Go
Studio 54 is at 254 West 54th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Sam Pinkleton, a Tony winner, directs the revival, which began previews on March 26 and opened on April 23, according to People.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, three days before Cho begins.
The chair turns around, and a new Narrator is in it.
