Ron Rooding makes Chicago Rocky situation worse
MMRHPSCast
Well, just when my cast and I were about ready to let this whole damn thing
drop, I get this notification of an article already published here in one of
the Lerner papers in Chicago. I'm hoping this just goes to show what kind of a
lying (insert insult or something else large and painful here) our ex theater
owner Mr. Ron Rooding is.
You can (and should) read the original article first at:
http://www.intheloop.net/newsstand/newsstar/090998/tardy.html
What follows is my response to the editor and author of the article. Not very
colorful and nice, but I'm REALLY starting to get sick of Ron trying to push me
and my cast around. He is now slandering me and my cast and ruining our chances
of potentially getting a new theater. If you wish to contact Mr. Rooding with
any comments on his behavior, his phone numbers at the theater are on our web
page. If you wish to comment directly to me, e-mail me or post here.
September 16, 1998
Jack Bess, Managing Editor, News-Star
Lerner Community Newspapers
7331 North Lincoln Avenue
Lincolnwood, Illinois 60646
Dear Mr. Bess,
Thank you for your publication's take on what happened at the Village North
Theatre on the evening of Saturday, August 22nd, 1998. It was nice to see
someone who was at least familiar with our "cult" reporting on our problem. I
was not surprised and I got just what I expected from Ron Roodings version of
what happened. I do wish that you would have noted our web site link so people
could get the full version of our story and decide for themselves. Mr.
Roodings version would lead one to believe that we were running rampant and
uncontrolled while drunk through his hallowed halls. I do have some things that
I think should be supplemented to your report on our situation.
Mr. Rooding is sadly mistaken if he thinks I had alcohol of any kind that
night. Either he was lied to by his employees, or he is lying to make his side
of it look reverent. By his own admission he was out of the country during the
incident and could not even begin to prove his version of the story. It is
preposterous to think that I would have lied about ANYTHING on our page given
the fact that the incident occurred in front of over 50 witnesses that night.
For crying out loud, I was on stage, Dr.Pepper still in hand (not about to give
it up to anyone - per my story), where I was threatened and then announced to
the entire audience that we would not be performing that night. I still have
the half finished bottle of Dr. Pepper, unopened since that fateful night,
sitting next to my computer as inspiration to continue on. He has accused me
of calling the Sun Times, Tribune, Reader, and Lerner papers and spreading
inflammatory statements about the theater, and his character. Nothing could be
further from the truth (a word being thrown around far to casually in this
whole incident). We had decided to focus our energy and attentions on getting
a new theater to showcase us rather than to rip into our old digs and the cast
that replaced us. I am willing to take a polygraph test to EVERYTHING I have
stated on our web page. Is Mr. Rooding willing to do the same about his
version of the story?
We tried to work out the situation the best we could and we were willing to go
back to Ron Rooding and the Village North if we had received some basic humane
treatment. By what was written on the very flyer you referred to, we had told
anyone who called to voice support for us to be nice to Ron and his wife,
despite the treatment we had been given. As any Midnight Madness cast member
(past or present) can attest to, we have been constantly badgered, threatened,
antagonized, and mentally and verbally abused by Mr. Rooding and his employees.
We were prepared to let this all drop, going our own way, even after we found
out that Mr. Rooding was replacing us with another cast rather than try and
work something out with the incumbents (Midnight Madness). In the process, Mr.
Rooding gave the other cast almost everything we had asked for over the last
year. We were instead trying to focus on continuing on with our show elsewhere,
away from Ron's control. Now our cast is actively seeking a new theater to
break his decade old exclusive control of the film in the city, and he is
trying his best to make me and my cast look as bad as possible. Our take on the
whole situation is that in the last couple of years Midnight Madness has
developed into a cast with morals, standards, dignity, and the ability
(freedom) to walk away from a situation that we felt was unfair, and that just
gnaws away at Mr. Rooding. I also find it HIGHLY suspicious that this incident
occurred only a week or two after the Village North had become a first run
movie house and announced their plans for the remodeling of its facilities.
A correction. The Village is most definitely not the original location of
Rocky Horror in the Chicago area. That indubitable honor would belong to the
Three Penny Cinema on Aug. 13, 1976, although if you mention Rocky to almost
anyone in Chicago, the "show" as we know it grew and flourished at its finest
state at the Biograph. Don't let Ron fool you into thinking he is restoring
Rocky history in Chicago. My company, and I were the ones performing week
after week, for no payment, to continue the Rocky experience in Chicago. And,
while we appreciated the vehicle that Mr. Rooding provided to take us there, we
didn't much like the way he drove it. I suppose after years of performing for
nothing, we couldn't have expected much more when we asked for it. Despite what
Mr. Rooding might believe Midnight Madness will continue our tradition of
performing Rocky Horror in Chicago, honestly and with pride as WE always have.
Jeff Nurkiewicz
Cast Director
Midnight Madness - Rocky Horror Picture Show cast
Midnight Madness, The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast -
NO LONGER celebrating TEN Years of performing at the Village North Theatre.
Visit us on the web @ http://www.midnightmadness.org
elain...@my-dejanews.com
(text of letter to the Lerner News-Star)
September 17, 1998
Jack Bess, Managing Editor, News-Star
Lerner Community Newspapers
Lincolnwood, Illinois 60646
Dear Mr. Bess:
I would like to correct the grossly inaccurate statement printed in the
September 9, 1998 edition of the News-Star. The article concerned the August
22nd walkout of Midnight Madness, the live-performance Rocky Horror Picture
Show cast that had appeared at the Village North Theatre for 10 years, and
two staff members of the theater who were fairly new to the theater (one had
been employed for 4 weeks, the other for 1 week). In the ³And By The Way²
column by Marcella Tardy, she quotes Ronald Rooding, owner of the Village
North and Village Theatres, as saying that the ³fracas involved not pop, but
beer, and a large measure of attitude by cast members who thought that they
could operate by their own set of rules.²
The August 22nd conflict involved our cast having ³outside soda² (in this
case a bottle of Dr. Pepper) inside the theater, something we had been
allowed for 10 years, since the snack bar is usually closed by the time cast
members have finished set-up and costuming. An new usher confronted Jeff
Nurkiewicz, the cast president, on stage as the audience was being seated,
and insisted that he get rid of the pop or be ejected from the theater. The
usher also asked him to identify anyone else in the theater who had ³outside²
soda, so that he could tell them the same thing. Mr. Nurkiewicz asked three
times to speak to the manager on duty to confirm this change in policy, and
warned that if he were ejected, there was a strong possibility that the rest
of the cast would choose to leave too (choose, not be ordered by him). The
usher brought a second theater staffer to the stage, who told Mr. Nurkiewicz
that he either had to leave right away, or the police would be called.
Assuming that the second person was the manager, the cast elected to leave
with Mr. Nurkiewicz. After over half the cast had left and all props had been
returned to storage, we found out that neither of those staffers was the
manager on duty that night; the manager had not known about the problem
until we were leaving.
Of the 3040 people who had come to see our show, 5 asked for refunds; the
remainder who had already purchased their $6 tickets took the option of
seeing other features at the midnight showings.
The following morning, August 23, Mr. Rooding¹s partner, a woman named Terri,
informed the cast that we had until 10:00 pm that evening to remove all cast
possessions from the theater or they would be thrown away. We were also
informed by Terri that she had spoken with Mr. Rooding in Germany, and that
he told her our cast would have to pay $250.00 if we wanted to continue to
perform in the theater. During our removal of our props, the usher involved
in the incident referred to our cast members as ³ ing faggots² and
made similar bigoted statements. At no time did Terri accuse anyone in the
cast of having alcohol in the theater; in conversations with our cast vice
president (who is also her employee), both sides continually referred to a
bottle of soda.
On Saturday, August 29, cast members distributed leaflets on the sidewalk in
front of the theater, listing what we considered the terms necessary for a
cooperative resolution to the incident, and asking for fan support. A few
days later, Mr. Rooding informed our vice president that he would sue us if
we did not remove his name and the name of the theater from the account of
the conflict posted on our website. We refused, as there are no defaming or
slanderous statements made in the account. He then notified our vice
president on Friday, Sept. 4, that he had made arrangements with a suburban
Rocky Horror cast to replace us.
Midnight Madness takes great care with security for both its performers and
its audience. Before each performance, we patrolled the theater we were to
perform in, and cleaned it if necessary; it was common to find empty beer and
liquor bottles from previous audiences on the floor. No cast member has ever
been allowed to bring even an unopened bottle of alcohol into the theater.
Before any audience member is admitted, they must submit to a thorough search
at the entrance: pockets, purses, bags, no exceptions. We do not allow
alcohol or drugs, glass containers, knives or similar sharp objects, or
aerosol spray cans into our performances. The chance of someone getting hurt
is too great. Contraband objects must be checked at the theater counter for
pick up after the show, or the holder is not admitted. Anyone obviously under
the influence of alcohol or drugs is also refused admittance.
During the show, we post cast security people at the entrances to the
theater, to prevent ³floaters² from other movies sneaking in, and to be sure
nothing gets out of hand within the theater. After the show, we sweep the
theater and bag the garbage. We do not get paid or receive a percentage of
ticket sales for our regular weekly performances; this is strictly a
volunteer enterprise.
Terri was told by her own staff on August 23rd that the beverage in question
was soda and never contended that alcohol was present; Mr. Rooding was told
multiple times by an employee (our vice president), between Sept. 2 and 9,
that there was no alcoholic beverage involved in this incident. Mr. Rooding
has never spoken directly to Mr. Nurkiewicz about this, despite ready access
to his phone numbers. There were approximately 40 people who witnessed the
incident as it happened on stage (half cast, half audience that had already
been seated in the theater).
We have ignored attempts to intimidate us since the walkout and have put this
incident behind us, concentrating instead on finding a new host theater for
our show. Is Mr. Rooding trying to prejudice our chances of finding a new
home and becoming competition for him?
[Last paragraph contained names and contact phone numbers of cast executives]
Sincerely,
Elaine Truver, Midnight Madness Cast Secretary
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MMRHPSCast
F.Y.I. the Chicago Lerner paper has published part of my letter/post/reply to
their story. You can find it at
http://www.intheloop.net/newsstand/newsstar/092398/rockyltr.html
You will not find any more than is on my earlier post, this is just for an
update / record.
thanks all,
-jefF - Midnight Madness