ATLRetro

In January 2010, The Plaza Theatre celebrated its 70th anniversary with a three-day festival of some of the top movies of its opening year, 1939, including THE WIZARD OF OZ.  For Day 3, we’d like to treat you to a photo from the pre-party for that screening which featured members of Blast-Off Burlesque and other friends of The Plaza dressed up as favorite OZ characters. Unfortunately special guest Karl Slover, one of the original Munchkins, passed away in November 2011, but if you came that day, you had the chance to meet him! I wonder who’ll be coming for the 75th anniversary of The Plaza?! Help make sure there is one by coming to one of the many shows this week, buying concessions and making a donation to the Plaza Theatre Foundation here and encourage everyone else you know.

Playing This Week at The Plaza:

AKA BLONDIE. Through May 10, May 14, May 16 and May 17 at 9:30 p.m. An intimate view of the most famous exotic dancer in the Southeastern U.S., the new documentary provides a fresh, provocative look at the complex, morally ambiguous world of the 55-year -old Atlanta icon. Anita Rae Strange, also known as Blondie, recounts her childhood with an absent father, her brief stint as a prostitute, the loss of loved ones to AIDS and the infamous Clermont Lounge.

FREAK DANCE. May 9 at 9:30 p.m. Directed by Besser and Neil Mahoney, and featuring UCB Theatre founders Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation’), Matt Walsh (Cyrus), Ian Roberts (“Reno 911!”) and Horatio Sanz (“Saturday Night Live”), Freak Dance is sure to become a comedy classic much like the troupe’s legendary improv shows and their wickedly wacked-out Comedy Central series. The Upright Citizens Brigade proves again to be one of the most daring and untamed comedy collectives working today, for them, no topic is out of bounds and no dance too freaky, demand to get your freak on!

THE ROOM, with special guests Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestaro.  May 11, 12 & 13 at 8:30 p.m. SPONSORED BY FANTASYLAND RECORDS!  Win CDs and LPs every month by grabbing the most spoons after the show! The film’s so-bad-it’s-freakin’-awesome vibe has attracted a devout army of aficionados whose membership includes the cream of Hollywood’s comedy community. Role Models star Paul Rudd and Arrested Development’s David Cross are both fans, as is Jonah Hill, who uses a still from the movie as his MySpace photograph. Heroes star Kristen Bell hosts Room-viewing parties at her house and last year attended the film’s monthly Laemmle screening with Rudd, Hill, and Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright. ”There is a magic about that film that is indescribable,” she says. The Room has even infiltrated the halls of cinematic academia. ”It is one of the most important films of the past decade,” says Ross Morin, an assistant professor of film studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. ”It exposes the fabricated nature of Hollywood. The Room is the Citizen Kane of bad movies.”

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Every Friday at Midnight. With live stage show by Lips Down on Dixie.