My Life In Fishnets

on May 26, 2011  

I started Insider House with Chris Ambler because we were both members of a niche community that we felt was being dramatically under served by a corporate group of "outsiders" who didn't understand (or care!) about us or our wants & needs. We felt we could offer something more, something better because we were part of the community, inside of it, literally INSIDERS. As our first project evolved & we brought Daniel on board we started talking (as freaks & geeks often do) about all our passions that're outside the "mainstream," from gaming to Ren Faires to cult films, and we decided to start making homes for all the places we felt a part of. The only question was, "where do we go FIRST?"

When Chris approached me about the RockyHorror.org/Rockypedia.org project I leapt at it. I am delighted my life has brought me back to a passion that shaped so much of me, that got me laid for the first time, and that helped me find friends I still cherish to this day. I never forgot the film (I can still recite most of it from memory, have copies in multiple formats, and the soundtracks are mainstays on my MP3 playlist) so doing this project feels like coming home. The worst part of this gig, especially as I visit local casts & film them for RHPS.tv, is that I'm really getting the itch to join up & start performing again! I need to hit a thrift store & find a tail coat and some spats! But I'm beginning at the end, so let me go back a bit.

I first saw Rocky in 1985 at the tender age of 15. I'd been doing community theater & school theater since 5th grade, and as I'd been playing "the kid" for a lot of community theater & local college productions I was hanging around with an older crowd. So one fateful night in May I was dressed up & taken to the Interstate Mall 6 (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1985-10-27/entertainment/0340120186_1_barry-bostwick-horror-show-piro/2, now sadly no longer in existence) and de-virginized.

Over the next few years I continued to attend the show semi-regularly as it moved to the Fashion Square Cinema and then ultimately to the AMC Fashion Village 8 with the cast known as the Fantasie Factory Players. I joined the cast right after my December 1987 eighteenth birthday & took part in planning and running the state's first (and to date only) Florida Transylvanian Convention (not to be confused with the national level Con put on by the RHPS Vacation folks in 2001) in March of 1988 (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1988-03-25/lifestyle/0030020103_1_florida-horror-picture-show-convention).

As a rather nerdy kid I started out playing Brad, but after 100 or so shows with a growth spurt that sent me up several inches in height and hair that was starting to reach the middle of my back I moved in to playing Frank, a role I simply loved as it allowed and encouraged me to be as flamboyant as I wanted. At the time the Orlando Naval Training Center was in operation a mile from the theater & I got 3 or 4 marriage proposals from the sailors every weekend. During that time I also took turns playing Riff & Columbia. In 1989 I took on more responsibility for running & caring for the lights & props, a job I kept up until 1990 when I moved to a living space that didn't allow me to keep up with it.

Life commitments also pushed me a bit further away from the show (although my roommates at the time were all Rocky people!) but I continued to go back whenever I could often guesting as Riff, Brad, or Frank. I kept that up until 1994 when, sadly, the theater closed Rocky (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1994-04-24/news/9404240538_1_horror-picture-show-touch-a-touch-a-barry-bostwick). That left no cast in Orlando for a few years, and tho I was asked back some years later when a new cast was forming I was unable to take part. I still visited when I could, and one of my great joys in attending DragonCon several times between 2004 and 2008 was getting to see the late night performances there.

We formed this venture to help bridge the community between scattered platforms & bring it together. In the cast visits I've done so far (I am fortunate enough to be in an area with a huge number of casts close by) I've been overwhelmingly reminded of the mantra that "Rocky is a FAMILY." The casts in this area are very close, sharing performers and roots and probably occasionally a few things not to be mentioned in polite company. They've all welcomed me with open arms and I'm just happy to be home! Now I just need that tailcoat.