Episode one of the five-year melodramatic sage returns to the eccentric, independent theater.
The Garage Theatre’s last show of the year, “Terror at the Pike,” is an improv-touting, tomato-throwing, laugh-inducing production that shines the spotlight on Long Beach history.
The first part of the five-episode melodramatic tale weaves together Long Beach history and fantastical storylines of magicians, roller coasters and heroes. The only catch—fans will have to wait four years to find out how this tale ends, as episodes will be performed on an annual basis.
This year’s episode is set in Long Beach, 1910 and centers around the hero Rod McGirdlebutt and a rotating cast of heroines and villains. The story was written by one of The Garage Theatre’s founding members Jamie Sweet in the early days of the nonprofit, and is loosely based on the amusement park that once stood where the Pike Outlets are in Downtown Long Beach.
“I love that it’s about Long Beach history and an amusement park that’s now a strip mall that I wish I could’ve seen, but I’m obsessed with the history of it,” said Rob Young, who has starred in the five-year-long show and is now directing it for the first time.
One of the episodes dives into when the Long Beach harbor was effectively “sinking” due to oil extraction. The eastern end of Terminal Island had dropped about four feet, and the Long Beach breakwater had dropped two feet. In the show, the characters will face a flooding city caused by a nefarious magician.
When The Garage Theatre first opened, the small group of friends from Orange Coast College’s theater department had no permanent place to host shows, and certainly no money to purchase the rights to other people’s plays. This resulted in many out-of-the-box, eccentric ideas from the founding members, but perhaps none more experimental than the five-year saga, “Terror at the Pike.”
The show first ran from 2005 through 2009, then for a second iteration from 2011 through 2015. Though the stories have remained largely the same, The Garage Theatre remains true to its roots of encouraging creativity and change.
Some inside jokes from the original cast have stayed, tested by time and audiences alike, and some of the idiosyncrasies have been ushered in through the mostly new cast members.
“There’s a script and a story and a plot, but a lot of things are interconnected and the actors have full range to change it, so this show compared to the last show definitely has differences,” Young said.
A recent change came from necessity, as the show usually features a “plucky” Cambodian sidekick character helping the heroes fend off evil. No Cambodian actors tried out for the part this year, and Young said the theater didn’t want to cast someone of a different ethnic background to play a Cambodian character.
Diana Rodriguez swooped in with the necessary acting chops and a bright idea. Reigning from Puerto Rican descent, Rodriguez suggested they feature a Puerto Rican sidekick to represent another population that migrated to California in the 1970s.
One thing that has not changed is the beloved tradition of throwing plush tomatoes at the story’s villains. Just under 100 plump, cotton-stuffed tomatoes sit in the Seventh Street studio eagerly awaiting families and friends to show up and participate in their shows.
Like many of the Garage Theatre’s unconventional traditions, its patrons deliver on enthusiasm. In past iterations of the show, people have brought in their own stuffed tomatoes, some larger than the size of their head, and one audience member brought a plush tomato on a string, throwing it toward the villain only to bring it back to himself, until the magician unexpectedly pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the string, prompting laughter from the audience.
Audience members can also enjoy free ice cream during the show while hearing original songs written by Sweet melded in with the show.
“[The show] is very close to my heart,” Young said. “I felt like the company missed it and it’s unique to us.”
“Terror at the Pike” will have shows every night through Nov. 18 at 8 p.m., then take a break for Thanksgiving. Shows will return on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. from Nov. 30 to Dec. 16. Young said the company is planning to add a Sunday matinee to the schedule.
Tickets are $25 for general admission and $18 for students, seniors, military members and teachers. On Thursdays, two tickets can be purchased for $12.50 each.