April 15, 2006

The Teaches Of Peaches

Underground film director and San Francisco drag-star Peaches Christ wants you on your knees at Midnight Mass.

The story of The Cockettes descent upon Manhattan in the 1970s is one of legend: underground, San Francisco, avant-garde drag act arrives in New York City to great fanfare only to be dismissed as vulgar and amateur by highbrow Manhattanites. Thirty years later another SF-based performer is headed this way, but we have a sneaking suspicion this queen’s luck is a bit better than that of those commune-living Cockettes. Her name is Peaches Christ and she’s got higher powers on her side.

Is she nervous about her NY debut? “Totally. I'm really aware of what happened to the Cockettes in NYC and I'm seriously wondering about our brand of drag and how it will be received there,” announces Joshua Grannell, Christ’s alter ego. “Will we be too unpolished for New York? Too lowbrow? Too retarded?”

Probably not. Trannyshack, the legendary drag night in San Francisco where Peaches got her start also launched the careers of another unique troupe of characters, The Scissor Sisters. Outside of a mutual love of sequins and wigs, the macabre queen probably has more in common with film auteurs John Waters and Wes Craven than she does with Jake Shears and crew. Peaches is not your typical drag queen. She’s a film director and movie fanatic and is currently finishing up her first full-length screenplay.

Christ hails from Maryland, the same state Waters, Mink Stole, and Justin Bond all call home. When asked what it is that makes Baltimore turn out the freaks she snaps “I feel a special connection with Maryland trash. We're a special brand of trash.” That trash is arriving in New York in late April to launch Midnight Mass, her wildly successful, sellout, midnight movie screening series in San Francisco. The concept of the midnight movie is nothing new, but Peaches’ take is anything but stale. It’s equal part drag show, film festival, Rocky Horror, and Halloween. The two films she’s showing in NYC are Christ cult favorites: Showgirls and Truth or Dare, screened as a sing-along of course.

What should jaded New Yorkers expect from Midnight Mass? If the shows are anything like Christ’s premiere of Annie we’re in for a wonderful treat. “When I told people we were doing Annie at Midnight Mass they were horrified, but it worked. I co-wrote a musical called Tranny for the pre-show about a little girl that can't get adopted because she has a penis. Eventually Leather Daddy Warbucks comes along and saves the day. There were so many Annies in the audience that night and the movie is just sick enough that the whole thing worked.”

The four Manhattan shows will include live performances (including Trannyshack founder and Scissor Sister muse Heklina), screenings of some of Christ’s films, and a Madonna look-alike contest. While the idea of singing to Madge at 2am is extremely appealing, it’s the Elizabeth Berkley classic we’re most anticipating. And Peaches Christ agrees. “I think Showgirls is the best bad movie ever made. Ever. It really has to be seen in a theatre full of screaming queens.” Count us in.

From HX magazine.