Inside scoop

--Compiled by the Daily Pilot staff

It’s no secret that Newport Beach Councilman Steve Bromberg is an avid

photography fan and has offered time and legal expertise to the Balboa

Performing Arts Theater Foundation, which (let’s keep our fingers

crossed) finally will open the newly restored Balboa Theater this year.

But Bromberg and his wife, Ronnie, recently outed themselves as

connoisseurs of a somewhat unconventional spectacle for conservative

Newport Beach.

The couple are seriously committed to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,”

the camp stage play and subsequent box office hit that recently

celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Get this: The Brombergs have seen the show 42 times on screen or on

stage and used to visit regular showings at the Balboa Theater.

They finally bought a copy of the movie and indulged in its hysterical

characters most recently on New Year’s Eve. Now there’s devotion for you.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Costa Mesa Councilman Gary Monahan was conspicuously absent from last

week’s meeting, when the big issue was the proposed skateboard park.

So what kept him away? Desertion by sick employees at his restaurant,

Skosh Monahan’s.

Faced with a crisis, Monahan stayed at work, waiting tables and

tending bar.

“I had a problem at the restaurant,” he said. “I had no help.”

CHICAGO, NOT TIMES SQUARE

For some, the ball drop at Times Square in New York City may be the

ultimate proof that a new year has begun.

But not so for Newport Beach Planning Director Patricia Temple, who

admitted she forgoes her usual 9 p.m. bed time to witness the clock

strike midnight one time zone further to the west.

“I don’t think New York is enough,” she said. “I have to stay up until

it crosses to Chicago and then I feel like I’ve done my new year.”

Fine then. Now, if anyone could tell us what celebrations we’ve been

missing in the Windy City, we’d surely appreciate it.

Until then, it’s all the way until midnight Pacific Standard Time for

your Piloteers.