Miss McGee
Get ready to celebrate Spooky Season at The Highlands Playhouse with Miss McGee’s Creature Feature and the Playhouse’s first ever 12-hour marathon of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The Playhouse is bringing movies back to the screen this Halloween with classic ‘80s horror films such as Fright Night, Gremlins, Return of the Living Dead and Poltergeist.
Playhouse director Scott Daniel said the movies are part Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and part Mystery Science 3,000 with improvised commentary and trivia by McGee.
“Miss McGee is a brilliant host,” Daniel said. “She has hosted several film festivals and her genre is specific to ‘80s horror films. We all know that those films are not even horror anymore. I mean, there is so much comedy and they are edited so poorly, so, there is a real send up of these films, which is really exciting. This event is a sort of crossover between the cinema and live side. It is the two mixed together with the movies on the screen and Miss McGee commenting over them. There was a theater down in Florida that did sort of the same thing, and I thought I should bring it up here.”
Daniel said he hopes that the 12-hour Rocky Horror Film Festival will become a tradition in Highlands.
“We hope to eventually even do a sort of shadow cast,” Daniel said. “Those are so fun, but we will see how the community will embrace it. We start our first showing at 10 a.m., and then it will be on a loop all day, until 10 p.m.”
He said he chose the Rocky Horror Picture Show because it is a classic film.
“I was skeptical about doing this at first, because I wasn’t sure if the audience would appreciate it,” Daniel said. “But it is such a classic film. I think everyone connects to it and you know everyone has seen it. I’ve been doing live curtain speeches before all of our shows right now, and we announce the different events we are going to be hosting and people lose it when I tell them about the marathon. I think the film really is for everybody. It’s a brilliantly funny film, not for the reasons I think they intended, but the performances are great, as well. Everyone knows the songs, and it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, when the Timewarp comes on, people dance.”
Since COVID-19 destroyed Halloween plans all over the country, Daniel said he is excited to be able to host an event and get people in the doors of the Playhouse.
“I am thrilled,” Daniel said. “I think our movies are one of the biggest ways that we get people in to witness our organization. I think people forget that we are a nonprofit theater organization. So, our primary focus is live theater, but we want to make sure that we are touching every single member of our community and films help us do just that. I think what we are showing for Halloween is a perfect crossover between those two things.”
Daniel said he doesn’t want the Playhouse to be the only stop on the Halloween event trail in Highlands.
“It is truly my mission that we are part of what the community is already presenting,” Daniel said. “We hope that we are a stop on what amazing things the town has planned to offer during the Halloween season, and we just want to share in the fun.”
On Oct. 27, the Playhouse will show Fright Night, on Oct. 28, Gremlins, Return of the Living Dead on Oct. 29 and Poltergeist on Oct. 30. Each day, the shows will begin at 7 p.m.
To purchase individual tickets, visit highlandsplayhouse.org. The Playhouse is also offering a bundled package with all four movies for a buy one, get one free price.
The Rocky Horror Film Festival will begin at 10 a.m., on Oct. 31 and is free for the public.
For more information, visit highlandsplayhouse.org.
- By Christopher Smith