The RKO Army
Rhode Island
[ Additional Info ]
The RKO Army started out in the late 90s as the latest (and last) cast that performed at the now-defunct Meadowbrook Cinema in Warwick, RI. It soon took in members from the previous casts, as well as from the Absolute Pleasure Players, another long-running Rhode Island cast. After moves to theaters in Cranston and Providence, RI, they began performing a monthly show at the Island Cinema in Middletown, RI in the winter of 2004. The run became successful enough that another theater in the chain decided to pick it up as well. As a result, they now do two shows per month; one in Middletown, RI and the other in East Bridgewater, MA, about half an hour north of Providence.
The two theaters have very little audience crossover and two very different layouts (one has stadium seating, the other does not; one is single-aisle, the other double). This allows the two shows to have totally different atmospheres. It also allows them to "creatively recycle" pre-shows and theme nights. In addition to the usual Gender Bender nights and Lingerie nights, they have done a super-hero show and a Star Wars show. On September 7th and 8th, 2007, they will be performing Rocky Horror and Shock Treatment.
The RKO Army also does guest performances. The two most memorable are an outdoor show at the former Rocky Point Amusement Park where it actually began to snow during the performance, and a double show at the Garde Theater in New London, CT, an off-Broadway playhouse where almost 1,000 people came. They have also developed a 22-minute audio-only production that can be run in bars and nightclubs.
|