Celebrating the thirty years since the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a fan-run convention in Manhattan has been scheduled for July 23- 25, 2004. Titled "The Transylvanians Take Manhattan", the convention will feature a variety of events for Rocky Horror fans both moderate and fanatical.

HOTEL: All convention events will take place in the hotel or within a few blocks walking distance.

We have arranged a special convention room rate of $139 a night. This is for Friday and Saturday and more than likely the lowest price for a room you will find in Times Square, probably all of Manhattan. Normally a hotel rate for the Times Square area of Manhattan starts at $200 per night, in fact the weekend rate for the Park Central is $219 per night, so this is a great room rate! You have to call the hotel directly at 1-800-346-1359 to book your room, as we cannot handle any of the rooming reservations. When booking, please mention that you are staying with The Rocky Horror Picture Show Convention in order to get our special room rate.

For more info about the hotel please visit the hotel web site at http://www.parkcentralny.com/beta/index.html.

VENUE: The convention events on Friday and Saturday will take place at the Park Central Hotel. Shock Treatment will be shown at the hotel on Friday night. And for those adventurous you might be able to make it to the normal midnight showing of the New York City Cast's RHPS in Chelsea.

The Saturday midnight showing of RHPS will be held at the historic Ziegfeld Theatre, just a two-block walk south from the hotel. Built just a few hundred feet from the original Ziegfeld Theatre, this 1960's movie house was one of the last big palaces built in the United States. The theater features 1,131 seats, with 825 seats in the front section and 306 seats in the raised balcony section in the rear. Our goal is to sell all of those seats for the Rocky Horror Saturday midnight performance.

The Sunday activities will be held two blocks north of the hotel in beautiful Central Park, starting with a bagel breakfast. Don't worry about your luggage, the hotel has offered to hold it for us while we go out and play for the day.

For those of you thinking of making a vacation out of your trip we will provide tourist information for the place to see, things to do and food to eat while you are here.

TRAVEL: By bus, by car, by plane, by train and even by boat. Take your pick! Manhattan is a wonderful little island with several million people moving in and out of it every day and at every hour. By far the easiest way to get to the city is through mass transit. You can get a bus or train from just about anywhere in the country to Port Authority or Grand Central Station. From either of those stations you would take the Q, R, or W subway to the 57th Street station. We will post more specific subway directions in June, including Path train directions.

We'll also post travel directions here for those who live in New Jersey and want to take the ferry to the city.

For those flying in, you have your choice of JFK, Newark or LaGuardia airports. You would have to take either a bus from the airport to the island of Manhattan, or a bus to a subway. LaGuardia is closer to the hotel so commuting time should be shorter if your travel to that airport. The earlier you make your air travel plans the lower your airplane ticket will probably be.

Unless you are accustomed to driving in other urban centers you may not want to drive into Manhattan. But if you do drive, you will find easy parking at one of two parking garages as you exit the Lincoln Tunnel. The first is the Port Authority station, the second is called Convention Center Parking. The Convention Center parking garage has slightly better rates. From there you would take the subway to the hotel. There are plenty of places to park in the city, but finding one for a weekend might get expensive.

Here is the tentative schedule. The times have yet to be fixed, any listed time are subject to change.

FRIDAY:
Starting at 6PM at the Park Central Hotel you are invited to celebrate our Opening Reception with French Frank-n-Furter, Hawaiian Riff-Raff, and Scottish Dr Scott. It's the RHPS International Party. Come dressed up as your favorite Rocky character, but interpret/theme your costume according to another nationality. What would a Native American Magenta look like? Maybe she would have Pocahontas braids and a hatchet instead of a feather duster!

Here are some suggestions you can use that might be funny: Celtic, Chinese, Dutch, Egyptian, French, German, Greek, Indian, Israeli, Native American, Swiss… be creative. The party will include a cash bar and prizes for the best costumes that night as well as the best group costumes.

Following the party at the Park Central Hotel there will be a screening of Shock Treatment, complete with a performing cast. If you would like to be one of the lucky performers you need to contact our casting committee ASAP. Shock Treatment should finish in time for you to race over to the normal Friday night showing of Rocky Horror in Chelsea with the World Famous New York City Cast. Please note however that the Friday night showing of RHPS is NOT included in the convention price. You will have to pay for that show when you get to the Chelsea theatre.

SATURDAY:
Starting at 12 NOON we will be back at the Park Central Hotel. This main Convention Day will be packed with activities. The schedule is not yet ready, but it will include: