Get Crazy

On December 31, 1982, the Saturn Theater is gearing up for a big New Year’s Eve concert under the flamboyant owner and master showman Max Wolfe Allen Garfield, who has run the venue since 1968. Assisting him are stage manager Neil Allen Daniel Stern and visiting former stage manager Willy Loman Gail Edwards. Also tangled in the night’s wild activity are beleaguered stagehand Joey Dan Frischman, fiery lighting director Violetta Mary Woronov, and Neil’s younger sister Susie Allen Stacey Nelkin.

Max Wolfe holds a 30-year lease to the theater, but reptilian concert promoter Colin Beverly Ed Begley Jr. has other ideas. Beverly offers to buy Max out and move the Saturn’s lease to his own concert auditorium and stadium, but Max refuses, and in a burst of anger he collapses from a heart attack. Outside, Max’s ambitious nephew Sammy Fox Miles Chapin informs Beverly that he stands to inherit the theater, and Beverly presents Sammy with the same deal: secure Max’s signature on an agreement to transfer the Saturn’s lease before midnight.

The show’s lineup unfolds: King Blues Bill Henderson opens with two self-styled hits, then the Nada Band takes the stage, followed by a ferocious punk rendition of “Hoochie Coochie Man” led by Piggy. Reggie Wanker [Malcolm McDowell] delivers a boastful ballad, “Hot Shot,” before moving into his own version of the blues classic.

As the night progresses, Sammy schemes to derail the venue’s fate, including fanning a basement fire and cutting the fire hose. Beverly’s hired muscle, Mark Bobby Sherman and Marv Fabian, hand Sammy a bomb that is planted inside the rocket ship scheduled for the final countdown to midnight.

Willy overhears the plot, is captured and locked in Colin Beverly’s limousine trunk, but escapes when the limo collides with Auden’s taxicab and returns to warn Neil. With the countdown ticking, the bomb is passed from person to person outside the building and eventually lands in Colin Beverly’s limo just as it pulls up to the curb. The explosion erupts at the last second, and the crowd shouts

“Happy New Year”

as Captain Cloud Howard Kaylan leads the crowd in “Auld Lang Syne.”

In the aftermath, Max hands the lease to Neil, signaling his plan to retire from the theater scene. Neil offers partnership to Willy, and the end credits roll while Auden Lou Reed sings “Little Sister” to Susie Allen. The film closes with a dedication thanking the staff of the Fillmore East, 1968–71, for the memories.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:42