Horrors! "Rocky" Ends Art Run

By Amy Bentley-Smith
Features Editor

For 14 years, people have been doing the Time Warp on Saturday nights at the Art Theatre.

But this Saturday, the single-screen theater on Fourth Street will not be showing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at midnight. Instead the cult classic will be shown tonight (Thursday) in what could be its last time at the Art.

The Midnight Insanity shadow cast group, whose members act out the movie as it plays on the screen behind them, are not calling it quits. They will set up “RHPS” in a ballroom at the Seaport Marina Hotel until they can find a more permanent home, said cast producer Mark Tomaino. The first performance at “Club Rocky” in Seaport Marina Hotel will be Aug. 5.

The decision to leave the Art was a sad one, Tomaino said, but necessary given the possible change in ownership at the theater (see story). In anticipation of a sale, Midnight Insanity had to move its props out of the theater, and the prospect of not being able to move them back in was a major concern.

“Our props are pretty elaborate,” Tomaino said. “You know the tank scene? We have a tank exactly like that. It’s eight feet tall by four feet wide and weighs 200 to 300 pounds.”

There’s also a wall with controls that are active and light up, as well as a jukebox that is an exact replica of the one in the movie. It required a 26-foot truck to remove all the props from the theater.

“We have thousands invested in our props. That’s what distinguishes us,” Tomaino said about the group that performed for the Fox television special about the movie in 1993, appeared on “The Drew Carey” show, and most recently performed at the Hollywood Bowl.

Midnight Insanity first began putting on “Rocky Horror” performances in 1988 at the Balboa Theatre in Newport Beach. By then, “Rocky” shadow casts/audience participation screenings had been going on throughout the country for more than a decade. When it came out in the theaters in 1975, the movie flopped, but within a couple of years it had become a cult favorite. The first of the shadows cast shows performed in New York City in 1977.

“I think it’s just a social thingŠ. On Saturday, they know where their friends will be,” Tomaino said of why people — mainly the under 21 set who have few places to hang out on the weekends — keep coming back week after week to the shows. He added that the nature of the show helps. “It’s just a spectacle. It’s a funny show.”

Midnight Insanity moved to the Art in 1992 after the Balboa closed. Art Theatre owner Howard Linn recalls that the group initially was only looking for something temporary.

“Of course it became more permanent,” said Linn, who discounted “RHPS” leaving the Art for good, especially if he ended up retaining ownership of the theater. “It worked out and we kept building on it and it’s grown.”

Today, an average show draws between 200 and 300 people, with the larger themed shows attracting upwards of 400. Tomaino said the show at the Art has about 150 regulars and 250 “irregulars.” The core of Midnight Insanity’s crew comprises between 40 and 50 people, who work security, do behind-the-scenes work, or perform as Frank-N-Furter, Riff-Raff, Magenta, Brad, Janet and the rest of the cast, including the Transylvanian Dancers.

Tomaino said he and the cast have an obligation to put on the best show possible, and putting more wear and tear on the props than necessary and asking the all-volunteer crew to load it and unload it would have put a strain on the performance.

In addition, the costs to store and truck in the props coupled with increased insurance costs would have required a rise in the ticket price. The decision to move now before any sale is official was the best thing for the Midnight Insanity troupe.

“It’s sad to leave the Art Theatre, believe me,” he said. “We’re not happy. We need to go in a direction where we’re in control. For us, it’s more than a business; it’s more like a puppy. You can’t just kick it out onto the street; you need to find it a good home. My goal is to buy a building or buy a theater, but right now we have a secure place (at Seaport Marina Hotel).”

The last Midnight Insanity run of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Art Theatre, 2025 E. Fourth St., will begin as Thursday (tonight) becomes Friday. People usually start lining up around 11:15 p.m. Tickets are $7, and props (rice, confetti, balloons and newspapers) are $1. People should not bring squirt guns, hot dogs or toast.

For more information, visit www.midnightinsanity.com.