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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