The Castro Theatre in San Francisco plays a crucial role in your movie. Can you tell us a bit more about this place? What's the story behind it?
It's actually
The Victoria Theatre, which is a wonderful old theatre in the Mission District of San Francisco. It was the perfect place to shoot our movie in because it already has a naturally old-fashioned creepy vibe. I love old theaters and The Victoria is the real-deal.
One of the girl interviewed in your doc about All About Evil world premiere says that "it is not about watching the DVD at home" but actually going to the movie theatre. I guess you also love the idea of going to the small independant movie theatres and promote them?
My whole career as "Peaches Christ" has been about creating live, interactive, theatrical movie screenings. I'm a firm believer in the "group experience" of watching a movie and really believe it makes a difference in how you experience a film.
I love the show you put on for the world premiere of the movie! Thomas Dekker's performance for "Welcome to the horror show" is astonishing! Is there a chance we can get the songs of the word premiere somewhere? How would you feel about creating a whole music show with horror songs?
I hope that we can put a soundtrack someday! There's definitely been talk of that.
Thomas Dekker is not only a brilliant actor but also a brilliant musician. I told him about how we were creating a "live event" to take on the road and that we'd be performing music and such- I swear to God that 24 hours later Thomas contacted me and said "I wanna play you something" and he'd written and recorded a version of
"Welcome To The Horror Show". He oozes talent.
Talking about music, I love the bands you chose for the soundtrack. Swann Danger and The Vanishing are awesome bands. How did you choose the songs to be put into the movies?
I had a fantastic music supervisor,
Steve Gizicki, who's taste really lined up with mine and he fully understood what I was going for. Steve wanted to find bands that fit with the aesthetic of the movie and in the case of
Swann Danger- were locals. I love the music in the movie and I admire Steve's intense research to track it all down.
I am a big big fan of Natasha Lyonne. I think she is an incredible
woman. How was it to work with her for All About Evil? Did you change
some things about the main character when you actually knew she was
going to play it?
Natasha is another giant force of talent. Both
she and Thomas have been working actors since they were small children.
They're wise beyond their years and so quick to pick things up. I love
Natasha and cannot imagine another Deborah now. I didn't change anything
in the script once we locked Natasha in- she was game for it all and
really made it work.
You had a small budget for the movie,
yet, it looks really professional and high quality! However, if you had
the chance to have a higher budget, what would you change?
There
were things in the script that I had to cut because we didn't have
enough money, i.e. the theatre was originally infested with rats and Mr.
Twigs had a pet "King Rat" that sat on his shoulder- but that just
wasn't financially feasible. Also, at the very, very, end the marquee
tower was supposed to snap off from the building and smash down on top
of Deborah, but it was too expensive as well.
I wonder to which extent do you think being a drag queen influence
the way you directed the movie (use of the music, acting
supervision...)?
I think that because I'm an entertainer and
actor who's also self-produced events for years that all of that played a
part in how I approached making the movie. All of that is experience
I've gained through being "Peaches Christ". Maybe I better understood
how actors were feeling? I don't know but writing, directing, and
producing my own stage-shows for twelve years certainly helped ready me
for directing AAE.
How was it to make a movie with the legendary Mink Stole and to have John Waters at the premiere?! It sounds REALLY cool!
I
grew up in Maryland worshipping at the altar of
Mink and
John so the
fact that I get to work with them and have become friends with them is
truly surreal and I'm the most grateful fan in the world. Both of them
have been incredibly generous with me, supportive, and truly great
friends.
What are your best memories of the Midnight Mass? Is
there a chance to have all the Midnight mass put together in a DVD one
day?
I don't know if we'll ever be able to sell a DVD because,
in the great tradition of drag, we appropriate pop music and elements
from the movies we send up. So I don't think it will ever be legal to
sell it. However, many shows and events show up on my
YouTube and
Vimeo pages. Although, I was always say it's best to see it in-person if you
can.
What are your upcoming projects?
I'm working on a new screenplay and continue to produce events in the Bay Area and beyond. I've also recently worked with Elvira on her
"Horror Hunt" film festival which is a blast. Also, Peaches is going to be in a video-game called Dragopolis where you'll be able to play this drag queen video game as "Peaches Christ in Hell". I'm really excited for that to come out. Check out
Dragopolis on Facebook.
Last question, do you watch Ru Paul's Drag Race? Any favorite participant?!
I now watch it religiously and am a fan of many of the ghouls on the show. I recently partnered with
Sharon Needles on a show called "
The Silence Of The Trans" and really ADORE her. I also love Latrice, Yara, Pandora, Tammie, and many many more. It's a
wildly entertaining show.
♡ Thank you so much PC for your time and I wish you the best ♡
