Luke Evans returned to The Rocky Horror Show stage to pay tribute to Tim Curry following the actor's death at the age of 80.
The Welsh actor made a surprise return to the Broadway revival just days after wrapping his seven-month, Tony-nominated run as Dr Frank-N-Furter, the iconic role first originated by Curry.
Curry first played the flamboyant character in the 1973 London stage production and later reprised the role in the 1975 Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Show, before making his feature film debut as Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 movie adaptation.
Following Curry's death on Tuesday, the current Broadway revival organised an emotional curtain-call memorial on Wednesday night.
Evans, who played his final performance as Frank-N-Furter just three days earlier, returned to the stage to honour the actor who first brought the character to life.
At the end of Wednesday's performance, Paul Soileau, who currently plays Dr Frank-N-Furter, addressed the audience after the curtain call to honour Curry in the wake of his passing.
In his speech, Soileau described Dr Frank-N-Furter as a "marvellous beast" and noted that while the character has been portrayed by a number of stars, Curry was the "mothership".
Soileau then welcomed Evans back to the stage, where he was joined by Jake Shears, who is set to take over the iconic role beginning 11 September.
The three stars, who represent Broadway's past, present and future Frank-N-Furters, performed I'm Going Home, Frank's heartfelt number from the long-running musical.
The tribute came shortly after Evans remembered Curry in a social media post, in which he described him as "a bright fierce flame" and shared that he was "an inspiration to me and so many more people for the roles he played and the effect he had on so many of us."
"There will only be one Tim Curry," he continued. "All the rest of us will have to do out best to emulate some of the magic of that role that I've just spent 7 months playing..."
Curry died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, his longtime agent and manager Marcia Hurwitz confirmed to The New York Times on Wednesday. His cause of death has not been disclosed.