Ruth Fink-Winter

I've been seriously involved with Rocky Horror since 1988, though I first fell in love with the soundtrack back in grade school. I first saw the film in 1986 at the Omaha Westroads theater, with no cast and damn little AP, while attending a Unitarian church conference. Two years later, I saw my first Rocky cast in Lincoln, Nebraska and started playing Magenta, whom I still play today. Rocky in the Great Plains is a little different than on the coasts; my black skirt and T-shirt was considered a more than adequate "costume" and people still discussed in hushed tones an old Frank who had actually dared to wear lingerie. I started college in California the next fall and discovered full-costume casts, joining a minor cast in Montclair which blew anything I'd seen in Nebraska out of the water. I'm now back in the Midwest, where I met my fiancé on another trip to Omaha Westroads (1991), and inspired him to go full-costume. The two of us currently perform in Des Moines, Iowa with the first costumed cast there in at least 4 years. We used to drive 3 hours for the privilege, but now that we actually live in Iowa, the commute is just 45 minutes. The two of us have the largest Rocky collection in Iowa, including a package of Rocky Horror Show condoms, a Shock Treatment trailer, and two Movie Novels.

My other passion besides Rocky Horror is traveling. I've combined the two during two stints studying abroad. The French fan club, "The Zen Room", graciously allowed me to perform with them during my semester in Paris in 1991, and while studying in Switzerland for a year in 1995 I did a lot of Rocky Horror tourism. I celebrated Halloween and consoled myself for choosing Europe over the 20th anniversary party by seeing Rocky in London with some French fans; traveled to Germany three times to see the Rocky Horror Show; begged and pleaded my way into the Cinema Mexico in Milan when I arrived after a 4-hour train ride to find them sold out; and made a last-minute trip to London to see Richard O'Brien at the Comedy Theatre. I'm still in contact with several European fans, and have even been teaching myself Italian.

With the Internet, I can now stay in touch with the Rocky Horror community easily from the middle of Iowa. I enjoy finding obscure Rocky material and sharing it with the newsgroup or unearthing odd links for the RHPS FAQ. If obscure pictures of Richard O'Brien interest you, check out the Richard O'Brien section of my fiancé's Web page, www.netins.net/showcase/timewarped, for pictures and text of the Master available no place else on the Web. We'll be adding more soon. I spend a lot of time prowling the Net looking for new merchandise, organizing trades, and just chatting with other Rocky folk. I have only just started to get involved in the convention scene, and I'm looking forward to meeting more Netfolk in person. In fact, I planned my wedding date around the 1997 New York convention, and am waiting impatiently for my fiancé to formally propose, undoubtedly at some future Rocky function with the prior knowledge of our entire cast.