Wizard World: Barry Bostwick talks Rocky Horror, Spin City

Barry Bostwick

Actor Barry Bostwick took time today to speak with Solzy at the Movies while he was in town to sign autographs and take photos with fans at Wizard World Chicago.

Thanks for joining Solzy at the Movies.  How are you enjoying your time in Chicago?

Barry Bostwick:  I’ve been here three hours and I’ve seen the hotel.  That’s about it but I love my time in Chicago.  Years ago, we did the first tour of Grease here.  When I did it on Broadway, we did it here.  I left the show (inaudible) Chicago and I love my time in Chicago.  I just don’t get here enough but maybe I’ll come back soon.

When you’re in town, what’s one of your favorite things to do?

Barry Bostwick:  Drinking.  That’s probably (inaudible).

Got a favorite bar?

Barry Bostwick:  No, no.  I’ll go anywhere where there’s liquor.

You were in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  What’s one of your favorite memories from working in the film?

Barry Bostwick:  Probably the floor show scene where we’re all dancing in high heels on a wet floor that’s slippery.  Right after we’ve come out of the pool and had an orgy.  Orgies are always good things.

In playing Mayor Randall Winston on Spin City, what would he be doing now?

Barry Bostwick:  Right now, he would be retired in his house in Connecticut on the ocean and making lots of money speaking because he had a good sense of humor.  He had a good staff and he would probably be on a speaking tour and raking it in.  He’d probably spend a lot of time down in Mar-a-Lago.

Would he be on Twitter all the time?

Barry Bostwick:  No, I don’t think he’d have figured the whole Twitter thing out.  He’d try but then he wouldn’t do it.  He probably doesn’t even know how to do Facebook.  If anything, he’s on the one that was before Facebook.  What was that?

MySpace.

Barry Bostwick:  He’s probably still be on MySpace, wondering why he doesn’t have any followers.

Other than Tom? (Laughs)  You’re a veteran of A Capitol Fourth.  To me, you’re the Billy Crystal of A Capitol Fourth

Barry Bostwick:  Oh?

—Because you were on there year after year after year and then all of a sudden, you were no longer there.

Barry Bostwick:  I think I asked for a raise.  I think that was what it was.  Also, we sort of mutually got tired of me singing “Yankee Doodle Dandy” every year.  I tried to widen the musical threshold and it was not to happen.  The show hasn’t changed much at all.  It’s amazing.

It’s one of my go-to shows each year.

Barry Bostwick:  It’s really a well-produced show.  If the acts are good that year, it can’t be beat.  Have you ever been there live?

No, we wanted to but we just couldn’t get our vacation plans worked out.

Barry Bostwick:  It’s quite exciting—over a million people sitting out there on the lawn.  When it’s raining, it’s even more exciting.

Do you keep in touch with the Spin City cast?

Barry Bostwick:  Oh, yeah.  I keep in touch with quite a few of them.  Alan Ruck is one of my best friends and I see him all the time.  The rest of them, we catch up.  I don’t see the girls that often.  I wish I did.  They’re too busy working.

Thank you.

Barry Bostwick:  Nice talking to you.

You, too.

Later that day, I learned from Bostwick that they made a sequel to Big Fat Liar, titled Bigger Fatter Liar, and it was released on DVD this year.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

Leave a Reply