Elevator Girls In Bondage

HERE AT LAST! "ELEVATOR GIRLS IN BONDAGE" ON SPARKLING NEW DVD Color - 56 minutes - 1972

Starring Cockette Rumi info at: cocketterumi@gmail.com

FIRST TIME EVER! LIMITED SIGNED EDITION! NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES!

$24.95 + $3.00 shipping & handling = $27.95 US allow 2-3 weeks for delivery

check or money order to: JAMES BARTLETT 3856 Greenwood Avenue Oakland, CA 94602 USA info: cocketterumi@gmail.com for screenings, festivals, special appearances.

"Elevator Girls in Bondage" the complete soundtrack on CD coming soon

Rumi Missabu, star of 70's stage & screen (Maxine in Elevator Girls in Bondage, The Cockettes) has been keeping the party rolling in '03 and '04 as self-appointed curator and host of "Camaraderie" art salons for San Francisco's bo-ho art crowd. "Gemstones and rhinestones mixed in opulent abundance on elaborate drag outfits amid art splendors unseen since the early days of The Cockettes. The effect was breathtaking." - Mark Mardon - Bay Area Reporter

One of the original legendary Cockettes, he was trained in the theatre with the likes of Sally Field and Cindy Williams.

In the late 60's he arrived in Berkeley and embraced the hippie, anti-war and Gay Liberation movements. He began a spiritual quest that would ultimately lead him to a more radical approach to theater inspired by the teachings of Anton Artaud and Sufiism.

In 1969 he appeared with the Living Theatre before joining the drug-laced gender bending Cockettes. He starred in the cult film, Elevator Girls in Bondage. In the early 70's he arrived in New York to work with Hibiscus and the Angels of Light, which enjoyed a successful run off-off broadway.

Under the direction of performance artist Marta Minujin, Rumi performed in a number of ‘happenings’ before retiring from show business altogether to the Catskills where the two big events of the day were to wash your hair and go down the road to see the new cow.

Weary of his idyllic existence, he returned to San Francisco in 1975 as gallery rep for Art for Art’s Sake and to assist sculptor Harriett Moore at a major installation at Gresham Hall in Grace Cathedral.

In 1994 he attended the Cockettes 25th anniversary and became reacquainted with his old pals and began collecting and archiving the troupe’s purple past. In 1999 he produced the Cockettes 30th anniversary and reunited most all of it’s surviving members.

Around this time, he was approached by filmmakers David Weissman and Bill Weber to participate in their homage to the Cockettes which became a successful documentary and competed at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002.

Rumi’s love of art and performance continues to flourish with numerous public and private exhibitions including Catching Up with the Cockettes at the Jon Sims Center for Performing Arts and Low Trash=High Art at the GLBT Center. His invitation only Gertrude Stein-like Camaraderie art salons have included over one hundred artists and performers to date. Currently living in Oakland he can be reached at 415 368-5004 cell