Nuart Theater
Theater Location: 11272 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Los Angeles, CA
Theater Website: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/los-angeles/nuart-theatre
Theater Chain: Landmark Theatres (since 1974)
Theater Open Date: 1929
Theater Status: Active
Cast Affiliations
- Sins O' The Flesh (1987 to present)
History
The Nuart Theater in West Los Angeles, CA was one of the first theaters in the country to play The Rocky Horror Picture Show on a regular basis, beginning in 1976, and has become one of the longest running homes for the film. The historic theater first opened in the 1929 with 600 seats. The Nuart was purchased by Landmark Theatres in 1974 (then known as Parallax Theatres), considered the flagship for the art-house chain, which also owns other pioneer Rocky Horror outlets including The Oriental Theater in Milwaukee, WI and the currently in-flux Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena, CA. In 2006, the Nuart was refurbished with 300 larger seats.
In Fall of 1976, new prints of Rocky Horror were struck. The film was beginning to play in more and more theaters, and there was also multi-location re-release in Southern California.
Revival houses around town were also showing the film once a month as part of their rotation, and the Nuart was one of the first of these revival houses to pick up the film. Audience members included a group of regulars that sought the film out at various venues, and would show up in costume early on, and dance the "Time Warp" in the aisles during the film. The film played mostly to a quiet audience, though there were also several callbacks in place, including the now standard "Meatloaf Again" at the dinner scene. In March of 1977, Lisa Kurtz Sutton brought noise makers for the creation scene and a Teddy Bear to hold up during "Eddie's Teddy" for possibly the earliest documented use of props during the film, though Sutton says she brought the Teddy Bear after seeing someone carrying one to a screening in February of that year, indicating that the trend had begun earlier on.
On December 9, 1977, the film began showing at midnight on Fridays, but was replaced on January 2, 1978 by an ongoing Friday at Midnight screening of Eraserhead. Eventually, The Rocky Horror Picture Show returned to the Nuart as a weekly Midnight movie on Saturdays in 1985. There was a brief hiatus February through June of 1986 to make way for the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense. Rocky Horror became the permanent, currently-continuing, Saturday Night feature beginning on September 14, 1986. A loyal cast grew over time, and in December 1987 became Sins O' The Flesh, one of the most venerable performing groups in the country, with over 30 years of weekly performances.
The Nuart is featured on The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 45th Anniversary Limited Edition Vinyl Picture Disc.
Screening History
- 12/29/76 -- with Paul Morrissey's Flesh
- 2/?/77 co-feature unknown
- 3/26/77 with Brian DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise
- 7/16/77 with James Whale's The Bride Of Frankenstein
- 9/16/77 with Paul Morrissey's Trash
- 12/4/77 with Brian DePalma's Phantom Of The Paradise
- 12/9/77, 12/16/77, 12/22/77, 12/29/77 as Midnight Screening
- 12/31/84 with Plan 9 From Outer Space
- Various dates in 1985 as Saturday, Midnight Screening
- 9/14/86-Present as Saturday, Midnight Screening
Special Screenings
- 5/9/86 - "10th Anniversary" of the Midnight Show
- 9/27/86 "11th Anniversary" screening
External Links
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Official Fan Site [1]
Cinema Treasures [2]
