Dundee Theater Midnight Screenings breathe new life into an old tradition

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The audience at Dundee Theater learns how to use props for their screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 

Since 1925, the Dundee Theater has served as a place for amateur movie-goers and hardcore film-fanatics alike. Starting when they re-opened their doors after a renovation in 2017, Film Streams, the non-profit organization that owns Dundee Theater, has been doing ‘midnight screenings’; a tradition that was a large part of the culture at the theater prior to renovations in the theater.

“When we took over the Dundee Theater, we knew [that] midnight screenings were something that we were going to have to bring back,” said Patrick Kinney, Communications Director at Film Streams. “Everybody on staff has [such] great memories of going to those ourselves, they are just something we knew that we really wanted to continue.”

Film Streams has been showing midnight screenings on the last Friday of every month since January of 2018, with their latest 3-month cycle, The Cult of Curry, being specifically based around films featuring the actor Tim Curry. For their October showing, Film Streams selected one of their most requested midnight movies, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

“Just with ticket pre-sales [alone], Rocky Horror is by far the most popular [midnight screening] that we’ve done yet,” Kinney said. “We’re expecting [the audience] to get very into The Rocky Horror Picture Show;It’s one of the most interactive midnight madness films that there is.”

As is customary with most midnight screenings, focus is less on the film itself, and more on giving the audience an interactive experience.

“Be aware that [what you’re walking in to] is not like a normal film screening – people tend to talk during [the movie], they talk back to the film, they could get up and have a reaction to what’s going on on the screen,” Kinney said. “Rocky Horror is going to be the real deal with people standing up, dancing, and singing along;We’re [also] going to have prop kits, there’s scenes where you throw confetti and use noise makers -[Rocky Horror] is going to be the ‘top-end’ of the experience.”