‘There’s a light ...’

“Rocky Horror Picture Show” fan Bill Ung thinks of the now-shuttered Balboa Theater as an old friend.

Every few years Ung, who still plays the bespectacled character Brad Majors in stage reenactments of “Rocky Horror” with the performance troupe Midnight Insanity, has gone and peered in the windows of the old theater on Balboa Peninsula. But he only ever sees dust and rubble.

“It was home for such a long time — this is where I met all my friends,” Ung said.

Ung and other members of the Midnight Insanity troupe returned Newport Beach on Friday night to help raise money to restore the old theater. The Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation brought “Rocky Horror” and cast members from the Midnight Insanity troupe to the Balboa Pavilion to raise money for restoration plans.

Guests at the gala event noshed on theater-themed treats like pretzels and nachos, and drank “Time Warp” shots out of glitter-dusted test tubes.

The California Costal Commission recently approved plans to remodel the Balboa as a performing arts center and the theater foundation now hopes to find an architect for the project.

When it came to putting on a fundraiser to restore the beloved local landmark, a “Rocky Horror” theme seemed fitting given the film’s special history in Newport, said Mary Lonich, executive director of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation.

“‘Rocky Horror’ has such a huge tradition in Newport and with the Balboa Theater in particular,” Lonich said. “When we bring the theater back, we definitely want to ‘Rocky’ back too.”

Ung and countless other die-hard fans had their first exposure to the cult classic at the old movie house. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” played regularly at the Balboa Theater beginning in the 1970s and continued almost up until the theater closed its doors in 1992. Ung joined the performance troupe Midnight Insanity in 1989 playing a minor role as a Transylvanian.

The Balboa was the birthplace of the Midnight Insanity troupe, which is world-famous in the strange subculture of “Rocky Horror” fandom, said Midnight Insanity cast member Paco Erskine, who plays the role of the hunch-backed butler Riff Raff from the film.

“The Balboa show was one of two in Southern California at first, so this is where it all started,” Erskine said, who has been performing with various “Rocky Horror” troupes around Southern California for the past six years. “It has a huge history here.”

The weekly midnight shows at the Balboa were known for their outrageous fans in stage makeup who would throw food at the screen and dance along with the film’s campy soundtrack. Eventually fans began to get on stage and act out scenes from the film as it played.

Midnight Insanity began performing at the Balboa Theater in 1988 and continued there until the final show in 1991.

The troupe still performs regular shows at a theater in San Pedro.

Midnight Insanity’s about four-year run at the now-shuttered Balboa Theater has become legendary. Die-hard Rocky Horror fans decked out in fishnets and glitter would make a weekly pilgrimage to the Balboa Theater for each Saturday midnight screening.

People lined up for blocks for the last Midnight Insanity show at the Balboa, Ung said. He remembers people stealing letters of the theater marquee as souvenirs and begging to get in the over-packed theater.

“We brought five garbage bags full of shredded paper that night — we wanted to go out with a bang,” Ung said.

Midnight Insanity has attracted a new generation of “Rocky Horror” fans, including 21-year-old Brandon Humphrey, who plays Dr. Frank-N-Furter part-time with the troupe.

Clad in fishnets, a leather jacket, platform shoes and little else, Humphrey greeted guests at Friday’s event and posed for photographs.

Humphrey saw the Midnight Insanity show for the first time in when he was 15 in Long Beach and joined the troupe soon after.

Now he hopes the Balboa Theater will begin hosting “Rocky Horror” showings again one day.

“There’s no safer place in the world for a 15-year-old to be on a Saturday night,” he said.

“We still have people who come to the show and remember when it played here.”

GET INVOLVED AT ‘ROCKY’

Patrons at the midnight showings not only dress up, but also bring props. The following is a list of some of the most common props:

 Rice or confetti: Audience members toss rice or confetti during two wedding scenes in the film.

 Squirt gun and newspaper: Audience members cover their heads and fire squirt guns when characters Brad and Janet are caught in a rain storm.

 Cigarette lighter: Audience members hold up cigarette lighters during the song “Over At The Frankenstein Place” during the chorus that begins “there’s a light...”

 Toast: Audience members throw toasted bread during a dinner party scene featuring a toast.

 Playing cards: Audience members throw playing cards during the song “Don’t Dream It, Be It” when the lyrics “cards for sorrow, cards for pain” are sung.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.