Pumped Boy Radio Brings 'Crunchy' Dr. Frank-N-Furter to Ptown 'Rocky Horror'

Boy Radio is a towering presence at nearly six-and-a-half feet. The multi-hyphenate performer (actor, singer, songwriter) and American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) alum has toured with the iconic musical "Hairspray," released a well-received album, "Pop That," and appeared on Julio Torres' HBO comedy "Fantasmas." His second album, "Himbo," is about to drop.

Now the queer talent comes to Provincetown to star as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in Provincetown Theater's production of "The Rocky Horror Show," a musical experience that director and artistic director David Drake recently told EDGE will be "a party." (The play runs July 15 – Sept. 5. For tickets, follow this link.)

EDGE caught up with Boy Radio to hear more about Provincetown Theater's version on the iconic, half-century-old musical, the actor's musings on drag and his work with Alaska Thunderfuck, and his take on coming out as a showbiz professional.

EDGE:You've been in a couple of Alaska Thunderfuck's videos, as well as appearing in movies and TV. Have you done a lot of theater?

Boy Radio: When I moved to New York, when I was very young, I went to the very infamous AMDA. I was a part of the musical theater program – not necessarily because I wanted to, but because the other option was the Studio Acting Program, and I didn't just want to jump into acting. I wanted to become more aware of my musicality, and I'd always wanted to be a musician. On graduating, the first thing I did was a two-year tour of the national tour of "Hairspray."

EDGE: Do you do drag as well?

Boy Radio: I do a version of drag sometimes that I like to call "crunch," because I don't believe that I make a very delicate drag queen. I think I make a very crunchy drag queen. [Laughter] So whenever I do put myself in any sort of drag, I call it crunch. And then, I hopefully don't step on too many people's toes.

EDGE: How crunchy is your rendition of Dr. Frank-N-Furter going to be?

Boy Radio: Have you ever had Cheetos in a bucket of ice like that? [Laughter] That's pretty crunchy.

Playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter is akin to doing drag, isn't it?

Boy Radio: Yeah, definitely. But Frank-N-Furter also comes from a very delicate place, because he/she/they are an alien. So, we kind of can suspend the disbelief a little bit and allow ourselves to play into the "dude looks like a lady" energy.

EDGE: How does the role connect with you personally, as well as artistically?

Boy Radio: Personally, it connects with me because it's just the inlet into joy. I'm turning on that switch, being like, "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna put on this this cape and this hat, and I'm just gonna dance in the mirror with my lights off." Genuinely laughing at yourself is a part of being able to play Frank. He gets to host a party, and everyone gets to come to the castle where he's dressed in pearls and lingerie, and he's like, "No one's gonna tell me I look crazy, because it's my house." I'm very excited about that.

EDGE: I understand that this production is going to be staged like a party. How interactive is "The Rocky Horror Show" going to be?

Boy Radio: We're doing this one in the round, so there will be 360 views, and there will not be a single moment where the action isn't immersive. I think it's going to be really fun to see how that goes when we get started, because, as anyone who's seen it before knows, "The Rocky Horror Show" goes all over the place – at one point it does go off the rails, and that's going to be where it's really important to involve everyone around, so everyone gets the story.

EDGE: The play has been revived in different imaginative ways lately, and, of course, people still watch the movie and interact with the movie even though this material is half a century old. What, in your opinion, is it that brings us back to "Rocky Horror" after all this time?

Boy Radio: It's Queer Culture 101. It's still a part of our list of must-see things. Until there's another film or movie that has such a cultural, cult-like activation in people, "Rocky Horror" will always be the one that continuously, consistently can play from now until eternity.

EDGE: It is a big part of queer culture, and so is drag. But those two things also each have a huge audience in straight people. Is that a coincidence?

Boy Radio: Yeah, I wonder that too. In the "Rocky Horror" shows that I've seen in theaters, one of the funnest things is to see the straight dude who dresses as Frank-N-Furter, just enjoying his night out. Meatloaf and Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon, all these actors that got put onto the movie who weren't a part of the play, kind of brought an element of straightness to it. I know that Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick came into it as more solid actors, they weren't coming into it with queer-coded energy. They were like, "I booked this job that my agent got me. I don't know what it is. I'm getting paid. I'm gonna be at a castle for two months." They had no idea.

EDGE: A lot of performers don't want to come out of the closet. They think it will be harmful to their career. Was that ever the case for you? Or were you always saying, "Here I am, this is who I am and what I do"?

Boy Radio: It was 1,000% the case for me. Yes, 1,000%! I spent time in my head when I was younger, watching my favorite icons of the time and just thinking to myself, "Oh my gosh, I hope that I can achieve a level of good work and notoriety in a space that allows me to have whatever this is," and still thinking to myself, "Well, geez, but I'll never really be able to be myself" – like, "I'll never be able to come out, it'll be a scandal." We all saw George Michael get outed in a public scandal, and I thought to myself, "Well, I'll never be able to have sex, because I'll get AIDS. I'll never be able to have a life that my family can support, because they don't like gay people. I'll probably have to get married, and I'll probably have to fake my life."

Over the course of the years, I've 100% leaned into finding myself. That's why I moved to New York in the first place – I wanted to lean into art and music. I was attracted to Andy Warhol's New York. This is in the early 2000s, so I was coming from a place of nostalgia, you know, future nostalgia, in a way. And then there was a pivotal moment: I turned 27 and I auditioned for a big TV talent show. I made it to a certain level, and then I was taken out – they decided to go in a different direction. I was so devastated. My dad called me out of the blue, and I was so upset I had sort of a breakdown. I said to him, "I'm 27, and you really don't even know me." We hung up, and I called my mom, and I started crying. I came out to my mom at 27, and from that point on all the things that I started to do in my life – creative life, work, life, family life – started to become more authentic to who I am. When my creative work started to become more taken on by audiences, I finally was like, "I don't care. I don't care in the best sense of the word, because I'm not going to stop being who I am."

As far as being an out artist, and not having to put that in front of my title – gay actor, gay musician, gay anything – it's just what it is. I'm so happy that I we live in a time right now, and in America, where we're willing to fight for what we believe, and I feel fortunate that I get to be an out artist.

EDGE: Being an out artist in Provincetown, playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter – it seems like it couldn't get any better than that.

Boy Radio: I really do want this to be an excellent summer. And the cast is incredible – every single person involved, they are putting in the work. Their voices are amazing. Our Brad and Janet are so funny. We have 64 shows, I think, and I really want every single show to be excellent. That's the goal.

It's an iconic thing to be doing "Rocky Horror" in P-town and being able to play Frank-N-Furter. I'm very excited about it.

"The Rocky Horror Show" will run at The Provincetown Theater from July 15 – Sept. 5. For tickets, follow this link.