Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Midnight Insanity celebrates 20 years

MONEY and fame do not automatically bestow respectability. But anniversaries might. Just ask Mark Tomaino.

The 46-year-old theater producer witnessed camp movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" grow from an obscure, fringe obsession to material worthy of none other than the grand marquee of the Hollywood Bowl.

Tomaino led his Rocky Horror theater troupe, the Long Beach-based Midnight Insanity, to perform at the bowl at the 30th anniversary of "Rocky Horror" in 2005. Now another big anniversary looms on Midnight Insanity's horizon.

It will celebrate 20 years, or more than 1,121 weekly performances, of mouthing the smart-alecky double-entendres of "Rocky Horror" songs such as "Sweet Transvestite" and "Dammit Janet" -- all with the male and female actors performing in fishnet stockings. The anniversary transports this Long Beach troupe a long way from its beginnings at creaky Orange County cinemas. On Jan. 19, members performed at the elegant Royal Theater on the Queen Mary.

(By -- Andrew Asch)

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