Grand expects lively crowd for first ‘Rocky Horror’
by Jon Mendelson / Tracy Press
Feb 24, 2012 | 1958 views | 1 1 comments | 39 39 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Let’s do the time warp — for the first time.

No, there haven’t been any changes to the lyrics of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” song that encourages the audience to dance along. But this weekend will be the first time the cult classic film has flickered on the screen of the revitalized Grand Theatre Center for the Arts.

Jeffrey Haskett, co-arts program manager at the Grand, said it’s been a popular request among patrons of the Cinematic Treasures movies series shown at the theater.

“We’ve been asked to do it the past several years,” he said in advance of the showing Sunday, Feb. 26.

The movie has become a hit at midnight showings since it debuted in 1975, with audience members often dressing in costume and wielding squirt guns, toast and other props as part of the experience.

Haskett expects this showing to stay true to the participatory history of “Rocky Horror.”

“We hope that there will be some people taking part in costume,” he said. “It’s a culture thing, so I expect that there will be some people here to have fun and sing along, play along.”

Haskett said “precautions” would be taken to ensure the theater won’t be trashed by enthusiastic picture-goers.

“We’ll be doing some extra cleaning that night, I’m sure,” he said.

Setting up for the show — which costs $4 and rolls opening credits at 12:01 a.m. — will be an extra challenge, following on the heels of a

classical performance Saturday evening.

Franc D’Ambrosio, who made his name in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” will take the Grand Theatre stage at 8 p.m., sharing Broadway classics and his life story as the longest-running Phantom in Broadway history.

“He is, of course, the iron man of the mask,” Haskett said. “He was the Phantom of the Opera for hundreds of shows.”

Without his mask,

D’ Ambrosio will belt tunes from “Les Miserables,” “Sweeny Todd,” “Phantom” and other hits during his third trip to the Grand. Tickets cost between $20 and $40, depending on where the seats are.

Haskett said the evening’s near double-booking was just a quirk of the theater’s schedule. The staff is enlisting extra help to turn the Broadway setting for D’ Ambrosio into a tableau fit for “Rocky Horror.”

“It’s going to be a little of a challenge,” he said. “We do have some volunteers who have said they are going to come in and help us set up for the movie.”
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Johnson_Alfred
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February 26, 2012
Had an enjoyable time listening to Franc D'Ambrosio last night. Liked all of it- Music of the Night was worth the price of admission. Danny Boy without the microphone had me stunned.

Loved the way he praised the theatre and his visit with Tracy High students. Made me feel so proud of Tracy.


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