Formerly "The Rocky Horror - Oregon Newsletter"

Volume 2   Number 1                      January 2001
Edited by Mike Bennett 

This is the Northwest Rocky Horror newsletter, an email newsletter designed to keep Rocky fans and cast members informed about what's happening in Rocky Horror throughout the Pacific Northwest, and around the country.

You are receiving this newsletter because you either requested it or you are involved in Rocky Horror in the region.  If you feel that you have received this in error, you will find subscription and submission information at the end of this newsletter.
 

National and Regional News

  - Oregon Rocky Horror Newsletter Goes Regional
  - Northwest Rocky Horror Consortium Formed
  - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
  - Richard O'Brien To Star in New Elvira Movie

   - Forbidden Fruit to become official UO student group

   - Cabaret Hits the Road to Bremerton
   - Cab Spends Night in Motel Hell
   - How to Get Lost in Seattle Without Really Trying

   - T-Town Trannies Go Through Some Changes

   - West Seattle's Admiral Theater is Struggling
   - The Vicarious Theatre Company Goes on Hiatus

   - A Scene Update

   - A Scene Update

   - Support Your Local Theatre

As most of you readers know, this newsletter used to be called "The Rocky Horror - Oregon Newsletter".  Because of a request from some of the casts in Washington and British Columbia, I've decided to expand this newsletter to include the entire Pacific Northwest.  This means that where ever you are traveling along the I-5 corridor, from Vancouver in the North, to Eugene in the south; you will now have all the information you need to catch the nearest Rocky Horror performance.  Whether it's the movie or the play, you'll find it here first.

To help me in this endeavor I now have a staff of "reporters" from each of the casts to cover the local scenes.  I would like to thank the following people for signing on to do these important tasks.
 

Vancouver BC	Kelvin Hoyle
Bremerton WA	Patrick McMahon
Tacoma WA	Led Lawless
Portland OR	Chris Balo and Steff Ferguson
Eugene OR	Mike Bennett

As always, if you have news that you feel should be included in this newsletter, you can still send it to me.  Or, you may now give it to any of my reporters, and they will pass it onto me.

The talks that led to the formation of the Northwest Rocky Horror News has also led to talks between all 7 of the Rocky Horror casts in the region.  This unprecedented dialogue has been without any of the rancor and discord that has plagued many inter-cast discussions in the past.

With such animosity out of the way, Kelly McKivor of the Vicarious Theatre Company of Seattle proposed an e-mail discussion group for all the cast leaders in the region.  Thus the Northwest Rocky Horror Consortium was formed.  It currently consists of 12 cast leaders and fan club representatives working for the betterment of the entire Regional Rocky Horror scene.

Working with a minimum of rules and no "leadership" to incite factions, the group is currently working to put together a one-day regional mini-convention or "Rocky Horror Block Party" sometime in 2001.  Preliminary proposals are due by March 1st.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Midnight Insanity would like to invite you to the MOTHER-F***ER of all conventions.  This will be our third national convention.  We will be celebrating the 26th anniversary of Rocky Horror AND the 20th Anniversary of Shock Treatment.

In attending about a dozen conventions over the last 8 years we have noticed that so many people now arrive on Thursday that we decided to add that as a day to the convention.  So many people end up staying through Sunday that we thought we would give you something to do if you wanted on that day as well.

We have tried to allow a lot of time for unstructured fun.  We want to give you an overdose of RHPS but also a chance to put on your dancing shoes, express yourselves, and hang out with friends.

If your work or travel arrangements do not permit the extra day, don't worry.  We will be confining all RHPS and ST specific events to Friday and Saturday. Thursday usually finds lots of people wandering around the hotel wondering what to do or hanging out in the lobby.

For more information email Mark Tomaino at: [email protected]

RO'B has just finished shooting a new movie with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.  Entitled "Elvira's Haunted Hills", it's your typical schlock-horror film in which RO'B plays "Vladimere Hellsubus", a "quintessential gothic villain, living in a decaying castle in the hills of Carpathia".  Can you say "Vampire"???  I knew that you could.

Filmed entirely in Romania, the setting is "the real Count Dracula's Castle" in the Carpathian mountains.  Portions of the movie were also filmed in the studios at Bucharest.

All I've been able to discern of the plot (like that's required for an Elvira movie) is as follows:  When Elvira gets kicked out of an Inn for a slight monetary discrepancy, she is rescued by a local who takes her to stay at the castle in the hills high above the village. The fact that she happens to resemble the count's former "missing" wife opens a can of worms or two.

You can find out more about the movie at Elvira's website:  http://www.elvira.com/ehh/index.html
 
 

In part, because of the chaos caused by the Cultural Forum, the leadership of Forbidden Fruit has begun the process of becoming a fully recognized student group at the University of Oregon.  Once this is complete, Forbidden Fruit will have the ability to produce shows without the need of a sponsoring group like the Cultural Forum.

Hopefully, this will allow Rocky to become self perpetuating.  With luck, shows can be produced on a term or monthly basis by next season.  Regardless of the outcome of this process, Forbidden Fruit hopes to produce at least one more show at the UO this year, and is looking at the possibility of road-tripping to Portland, Salem and Corvallis this season.

As always, if you would like to join the cast, contact Mike Bennett at [email protected]
 
 

On December 9th, 2000, the Clinton Street Cabaret hit the road to perform a special show at the Charleston Cinema in Bremerton Washington.  With us for the show were members of our host cast, The Charleston Cherry Poppers and The Vicarious Theatre Company of Seattle.

Of course, I was late getting to the theater.  Kev and I got lost trying to find our Motel. It was cold and foggy, and I think we crossed the same bridge 3 or 4 times! But no matter, we checked in the motel, and raced to the theater just in time for the doors to open.

Considering there were members of 3 different casts performing, with 3 different styles of blocking, we did pretty damn well.  Our Trannies were stressed out, but had fun as they learned the different ways the Seattle Trannies interact with the show. They learned quickly, and looked awesome next to the VTC Trannies. Everyone was unsure which scene would go where (the poor Lightning Crew!), but we worked it out, and it turned out looking fantastic.

Thanks to everyone who made the show happen.

Knowing that a road-trip to Bremerton meant an overnight stay, the Cabaret needed overnight accommodations.  Luckily, the Charleston Cherry Poppers were able to find a cheap motel nearby.  Actually, it wasn't that bad for a cheap Motel, but after looking around the rooms, I noticed a black box on the nightstand. At that point, a light bulb went on in my head.

I suddenly realized that The Cabaret had sunk to an All-Time Low... the rooms were equipped with Vibrating Beds!!  Of course, after the show, we all piled into Balo's room to party, and a bunch of people piled on the bed and stuck a quarter in the box... I think it was called "Magic Fingers"... I dunno.  It was frightening.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Next time try the castle.)

After our Bremerton show, we lost Colin who played Brad in our road-show.  He went over to Seattle that night with one of their Crew, and was gone all night.  We ended up playing "Where's Waldo...err Colin" all the next day.

As I remember it, Colin called Balo in the morning to let us know he was on the Ferry back to Bremerton, and wanted us to pick him up.  Mike went, but no Colin.  We all decided to go to breakfast after finding out he hadn't left Seattle yet, then went back to pick him up.  No Colin.  Balo thought he might have fallen asleep on the Ferry, so we called one of the members from Seattle, and left a message pertaining to his whereabouts.  Still, no Colin.

Kev and I decided we wanted to take the ferry to Seattle and bum around there for the rest of the day.  I looked around when we boarded.  No sleeping Colin.  Finally after about 20 minutes into the ride, I got a page from Balo.  They located Colin.  He had fallen asleep on the Ferry to Bremerton, and found that the Ferry was on its way back to Seattle!  So he got off the Ferry in Seattle and decided to take Greyhound back home.  I laughed hysterically.  Well Colin, I hope it was worth it.  I hope you at least got laid!!
 
 

As of October 4th, Rocky Horror at the Lincoln Plaza General Cinemas in Tacoma, Washington closed down, as General Cinemas had gone bankrupt.  Not to worry.  With assistance from my beloved cast, we were able to re-open Halloween night at the Blue Mouse in the Proctor District of Tacoma.  The Blue Mouse is much better suited to Rocky Horror, having a stage, great acoustics, and a history.  We have gone through yet another name change, and are now known by a symbol.  Since there is no name for the symbol, when described, we are, "The Cast Formerly Known as the T-Town Trannies."
 
 

Because of excessive copyright enforcement by the Seattle Times, I cannot reprint their article about The Admiral Twin Theatre (the home of the Vicarious Theatre Company).  But because I think that you should really know what's happening, I must ask you to follow this link to their website.

The VTC is taking a brief hiatus.  There will be no VTC shows in January, either at the Admiral or at RustyCon.  We have agreed to perform at NorWesCon in April, but currently have no other shows scheduled.  We will be looking for a new venue while the Admiral Theatre re-assesses their financial situation.  All possibilities are being considered, but we are still the official Admiral Twin Theatre cast, for now.  Updates will be posted to www.thezenroom.com by January 12.

Lastly, there is so much exciting stuff happening on the regional scene, I must take this opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful hospitality that has been extended lately.  First, many thanks to Mike Bennett, editor extraordinaire, for providing a forum for community, idea exchange, and growth.  A huge "Hoopla, Charleston Cherry Poppers!" for hosting members of the Clinton Street Cabaret, the Vicarious Theatre Company, and the VTC Trannies on December 9th.  It was a fun and amazingly well executed show, and it was great having the chance to hang out with the CSC.  Colin (CSC Brad) may have become more intimately familiar with the Washington State Ferry system than he intended to, but otherwise all went off without a hitch.
 
 
 

The Charleston Cherry Poppers just celebrated their 1st Anniversary this past Halloween.  The C.C.P. started as a road show by members and friends of The Vicarious Theatre Company (of Seattle) to help celebrate Halloween in Bremerton.  Since then Rocky Horror has taken off here.  The C.C.P is now an all local cast.  The attendance is usually between 75 and 100+ people each night.  We also had sell out crowds, 220+ people, for both of our Halloween shows.
 
 

Rocky Horror is just starting to take off again here in Vancouver, where it had a 3 year absence from any Vancouver theatre.  Attendance right now is anywhere from 50-150 people, but we did play to over 2000 people over our 6 show span during Halloween. We have just recently solidified our cast, and now moving on to shameless self promotion.
 
 

If you haven't had a chance to read the above article about the Admiral Theatre, please do so before reading this editorial.  Thank you.

Something has been happening in the movie theatre business over the past 20 years.  Big corporations have been building vast cinema megaplexes, some with as many as 30 screens.  For example, in Eugene, OR, Cinemark has a 12 screen megaplex and a 17 screen megaplex.  Both in the SAME shopping mall.  These big businesses have been slowly killing off the local single and twin screen movie palaces that have been the cultural backbone of many American cities since the invention of the motion picture.

These big corporate moviehouses are doing so by undercutting the smaller movie palaces.  With lower overhead and more seating capacity, they can guarantee a higher percentage of the gross receipts than can the neighborhood theatre.  This means that smaller single and twin screen theatres have to survive on the scraps as "2nd run" theatres, getting the films after the big guys have drained as much money out of it as they can, or when a bigger fish (...er, film) comes along.

So, you ask, "what does this have to do with Rocky Horror?"  A lot.  These cinemas have been keeping Rocky Horror alive since it started 25 years ago.  The big guys don't care for a movie that can only be shown once or twice a week, at most.  They don't want a movie that you can buy in any video store.  They're looking for the next blockbuster that they can show 6 times a day, 7 days a week, and rake in the bucks.  Because of this the smaller, often locally owned, theatres must actively seek out those movies that are different, obscure and perhaps even cultish.

Rocky Horror is a cult.  And as a cult, we need a temple in which to perform our rituals. These local movie palaces are our temples.  They show Rocky Horror as a service to us with the hopes that you will come back and see the other movies that they show during the rest of the week.  We owe it to them to support them in any way possible.  How many of you go to see other movies at your local Rocky Horror "temple"?  How many of you have actually walked up to your local theatre manager and said "Thank you for showing Rocky Horror.  What can I do to help?"
 
 

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