It is today considered to be one of the greatest musicals of all time.

The 1st and Most Well Known Cinematic “Midnight Movie”.

It is the longest-running theatrical release in film history, today in 2022 still running in limited release 46 years after its premiere and with a global cult following.

On release it was overall not critically and commercially successful, however it went on to be a complete hit as a midnight movie when audiences began participating with the film at the Waverley Theater in New York City in 1976. Audience members returned to the cinemas frequently and talked back to the screen and began dressing as the characters, spawning similar performance groups across the United States. Around the same time, fans in costume at the King's Court Theater in Pittsburgh began performing alongside the film. This "shadow cast" mimed the actions on screen while lip-syncing their character's lines.

The film is notably significant to the LGBTQ+ community which has comprised a large part of its cult following, yet the film also speaks to many others all whom identify with its celebration of sexual liberation, queerness, self expression, camp and creativity.

In 2005, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”