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Rock-afire Explosion mini-stage

A Mini-Stage seen at the Hillwood Strike & Spare in Nashville, Tennessee before it was bought by Funtown Mountain and removed.

The Mini-Stage was a stage format designed for smaller ShowBiz Pizza restaurants operating in smaller towns and cities to present The Rock-afire Explosion during the early 1980s. The stage used a modified version of the show, displaying only four characters, Billy Bob Brockali, Fatz Geronimo, Mitzi Mozzarella, and Looney Bird. Due to this only lasting for a few years, the Mini-Stage saw very limited usage.

Surviving Mini-Stages[]

Although only five Showbiz Pizza restaurants used the Mini-Stage, a few are known to still exist.

In 2003, a Mini Stage was purchased by Hillwood Strike and Spare in Nashville, Tennessee. Eventually, the stage stopped working, and was later put on static display in a state of disrepair. In 2015, the Funtown Mountain amusement park in Kentucky bought it, but later sold Billy Bob and Mitzi to a fan named Jack Turner, who completely restored them.

Another surviving Mini-Stage is Billy Bob's Bear-a-dise Tropical Jamboree, which is a traveling show that performed at the Kentucky State Fair in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016, the St. Joseph County Fair in South Bend, Indiana in 2013, and at the Big E Fair in Springfield, Massachusetts in 2015 and 2016. Aaron Fechter restored the show over the winter of 2016-2017.

List of Mini Stages[]

Here is a list of all the past and present Mini-Stages at non-ShowBiz locations.

- Billy Bob’s Bearadise (early 2000s - present) (still operating)

- Hillwood Strike and Spare (2003 - 2015) (now owned by Jack T)

- Tweetsie Railroad (1994 - 2001)

- Okefenokee Swamp Park (late 1990s/early 2000s - mid 2010s)

- Fun Time Pizza

- Rocking Block

External links[]

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