A long time ago (when I was still a teenager), in a city far, far away (Lansing), I used to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show every Friday night at the Spartan Theater. I wouldn’t call it a good movie, and I would question the taste of anyone who says it is, but it was something to do at midnight on a weekend.

Well, decades later, lo and behold, Rocky Horror is at the State Theater here in lovely Traverse City:

No, it wasn’t a midnight, but it was also sold out, something that never happened at those midnight showings, except perhaps on Halloween, which is when I saw it last week here in the north.

It was also my first visit to the State Theater, and it was a beautiful place to see a movie. They usually show things I’m not interested in (like lefty documentaries), but this time they made a great choice of films, and I couldn’t resist reliving parts of my youth. The theater was beautiful, and I loved the stars on the ceiling and enormous red curtain – it was like being in theaters before they became the standardized version you see in every mall out lot these days.

There were some old pros in the audience who knew all the things to say, which warmed my heart. No, there was no 2:00AM meal at Don’s in Lansing on Oakland, but I’m looking forward to seeing Rocky Horror at the State again next year.