Mike “Beaker” Parpovich
Beaker is the owner and a founding member of Pale Eye Productions. He started his haunting career in 1991, working under his mentor Steve “Wolfman” Riner for the Green Bay Jaycee’s haunted house. He was brought out to the event by his good friend Troy “T-Lo” Kelly. Being that there was already a Mikey, Mike, and Michael in and around the haunted house. He quickly was dubbed “Beaker” by Ryan “Duke” Dequaine due to his lack of chin, and his almost immediate response of “meep meep” after being called Beaker. After this he was officially a part of the build team, the Bad Boys.
Beaker’s first real responsibility as part of the build crew, was to build a ramp from a “Room of Doors” to a “Tilt Room”. Being a skateboarder, he felt a flat ramp was boring and convinced Wolfman to let him build a “Beaker Ramp”. This ramp was just the thing this transition needed, and Beaker quickly became the go-to guy for the crazy building that they needed. Beaker worked closely with Jesse “Pugs” Borowitz, who was their main builder at the time. The two of them quickly became good friends and were the main builders for that year’s attraction.
The following year, they had to move the haunted house from their current location to an old building called The Option on University Avenue in Green Bay. They only had 3 weeks to rebuild the entire event from the ground up. Once again, Beaker was called upon to build the “Beetle Rip” room, as they called it. This scene was modeled after the “Hallway of Lost Souls” from the movie Beetlejuice, and called for a fun floor to be built yet again.
In Beaker’s third year, his mentor Wolfman moved to Florida. The team was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with the late, Dale Kuipers. Dale was a very talented artist known for his over sized masks at Spooky’s Costumes in Green Bay and his work in Hollywood. This would end up being the Bad Boys last year working with the Green Bay Jaycee’s.
The following year, Beaker and the Bad Boys started a haunt in an old schoolhouse called “The House”. This year they also were privileged to work with yet another talented artist, William Forsche. Bill was known for his work on Nightmare on Elm Street 4, The Lost Boys, Friday the 13th Part 6, The Howling 4, and his fang work on the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. This would also be the point where the Bad Boys decided to form a company, thus Bad Boys Scenic Design was founded in 1993. Beaker was Vice President from the inception of the company and later had the privilege of sharing that role with Kenrick Fruzen.
After 3 years at the schoolhouse, they embarked on their biggest challenge, to move yet again. This time they moved to their current location and started Terror on the Fox. As time went on and Bad Boy members started to move on in life and move to other states, Beaker became responsible for more and more of the event. By the late 2000’s Beaker was responsible for overseeing the design, the marketing, the graphics, and staffing of the event.
In 2010, there was a parting of ways with Bad Boys Scenic Design and Beaker. At this point, Beaker formed Pale Eye Productions with several former Bad Boys and took complete control over the operations of Terror on the Fox. This is also the year that Beaker had the privilege of moving his mentor, Wolfman, back to Green Bay. During the 2010 build season, the Pale Eye Productions crew decided to give Terror on the Fox its biggest facelift to date and redesigned a new facade for the main attraction.
Outside of Terror on the Fox Beaker had the honor of being the Key Scenic Carpenter on the movie The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue. He is also the Head Audio Engineer for Overture Hall in Madison, WI for IATSE 251 (the local Stagehands Union). He also was involved in many classes taught by Bad Boys Scenic Design at various tradeshows. Beaker credits his love of Halloween to his childhood of going to the local haunted house in Cedarburg, where he grew up.
