Mini Stage
Mini-Stage at Cullman, AL.
The Mini Rock-afire Explosion Stage was a four character show created for smaller Showbiz Pizza Place restaurants and later other family entertainment centers.
History
Five Showbiz Pizza Place locations opened with the Mini Stage band in 1983. Showbiz Pizza proposed that select locations should receive four character shows to Creative Engineering. Aaron Fetcher, owner of Creative Engineering, opposed the idea to install the shows but went through with Showbiz's orders.[1]
In November of 1983 Jim Parrish, the Director of development and Executive Vice President of Showbiz, gave a memo to CEI regarding the shows, stating that Aaron was correct on not wanting to install the shows and that the three stages would be the greater entertainment option. Jim suggested selling the one-stage shows to different customers at an upcoming IAAPA convention. As a result of this exchange, it was planned that Showbiz locations featuring the Mini Stage setup were to convert to the full Rockafire Explosion show. The animatronics used on the stages would be used to help complete new, additional shows. Anderson, IN would be the first to have their show replaced. But, this conversion did not come to fruition, and these stores would all close around the same time with the one-stage band.
After Concept Unification, Creative Engineering would sell Mini shows to different customers.
Design
This is one of two Creative Engineering shows to feature the singing flowers. The one-stage show features Mitzi Mozzarella, Fatz, Billy Bob, and Looney Bird. Behind Mitzi and Fatz is a unique backdrop and tree. Behind Billy Bob and Looney Bird is Smitty's Super Service Station with a new "Used and Abused Tars" sign and a new "Goofy Gas" gas pump lamp. The traditional Rock--afire Explosion frog was also retrofit into the "bad frog" with a spiked collar and chain. Mini stages installed outside of Showbiz would not use the mountain backdrop or unique stage floor. CEI would however package a center stage Rock-afire Explosion tree line with these shows.
Gallery
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Strike and Spare's Mini-Stage.
Known Installations
| Store | Location | Notes | Installation Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ShowBiz Pizza Place | Anderson, IN (845 E 53rd St) | Planned to be the first to be replaced; Later auctioned after closure and could have potentially been reused at a fair in 1986. | 1983 |
| ShowBiz Pizza Place | Cullman, AL (210 2nd Ave) | ???? | 1983 |
| ShowBiz Pizza Place | Logansport, IN (3900 E Market St) | ???? | 1983 |
| Fun Time Pizza | McAllen, TX | Backdrops were reused at the 2nd McAllen location and Lake Jackson location along with Arlington's show. Bots were most likely used for spare parts. | Approximately 1993 |
| Tweetsie Railroad | Blowing Rock, NC | A Mini Stage set that would receive an exclusive showtape (under the name Tweetsie Railroad Hootenanny Hoedown) which contained both custom dialogue and reused RAE songs. New outfits for the characters were also present in this setup. After decommissioning the show, the characters were all moved to Tweetsie Railroad's storage facilities. However, Mitzi and Billy Bob's mechanisms became utilized for the "Freaky Forest" attraction, as part of Tweetsie's yearly "Ghost Train" event. | Approximately 1994 |
| Okefenokee Swamp Park | Waycross, GA | This installation is very notable, as it is officially referred to as the Okefenokee Bear Revue. Mitzi and Fatz were given custom outfits, along with modified Pete Thornsberry and Billy Bill masks from the Hard Luck Bears (the same types also used for the Gulliver's Rock-afire retrofits) respectively. Billy Bob's traditional overalls were replaced with darker blue overalls with patchwork, while Looney Bird's oil drum was repainted to a light brown color. This show, like the Tweetsie Railroad installation, was given a custom showtape featuring newly recorded skits intertwined with reused RAE songs, though with every character renamed except for Billy Bob. This show was also notable for its control system eventually being reworked by Sally Corporation at some point during its lifetime. It has been said the characters were oppositely rewired from the previous controller's configuration to become compatible with Sally's system. Around 2018, the entire show would be acquired by Connor Leschinsky, restoring the characters back into an operational state after SBNO at the Swamp Park. | 2000 |
| Hillwood Strike N' Spare | Nashville, TN | Purchased directly from CEI in 2002 and installed the next year, this set would operate at Hillwood until November 2014. The show was then sold to Will Russell with the intention to operate at Funtown Mountain in Cave City, KY. As a result of financial issues and after one disastrous opening, the park would permanently close. Mitzi and Billy Bob would be purchased by Jack Turner around 2015 (as part of a funding kickstarter reward) and 2016 (during the Funtown auction), respectively. | 2003 |