‘Hairspray’s’ John Waters talks up bad taste and Christmas cheer in his annual show
The holidays without John Waters would be like Christmas without Santa — if St. Nick peddled in tasteless gifts and filthy stories.
Filmmaker, author and the man behind the “Hairspray” empire, Waters is bringing his annual “A John Waters Christmas” to The Neptune Theatre in Seattle on Dec. 5.
The show is new every year, Waters said. He was in the middle of writing it when he spoke with The News Tribune in October.
“It’s fast-moving,” he said. “You won’t be bored. And it’s all new material.”
Waters delivers a 70-minute monologue followed by a 20-minute question and answer period. It’s Christmas-themed, he said, but he doesn’t dwell on it.
“I use Christmas to be able to talk about politics, fashion, movies, everything,” he said.
A Waters Q&A can take unexpected turns. Straight men sometimes ask to kiss him or, in some cases, propose to their girlfriends in front of him.
“They do it to be funny,” he said, then reconsidered. “I think young people are much more fluid and less defined. It does make me laugh.”
Waters, 73, is also out with a new book, “Mr. Know-It-All”.
He dispenses advice in the 372-page book, including the three tenets every auteur should believe in: the parodying of enthusiasm, the mocking of convention and sexual confusion.
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up,” he confirmed. “But you have to make fun of yourself before you can make fun of anybody else.”
King’s Books in Tacoma had the book listed under self-help in October. Waters wasn’t pleased to hear that.
“Oh, God,” he said. “I didn’t even know they had self-help sections anymore. But the worst place is ‘humor’.”
He was pleased to hear King’s was displaying it in the front of the store.
“It is a self-help book for crazy people who want to triumph,” Waters said. “You don’t have to change your extreme views as long as you can negotiate a way through it to find some kind of success and enough people to enable you to make a living doing it.”
Waters said he never sets out to make fun of people in his work.
“I think I’m just interested in human behavior,” he said. “I never judge anybody … well, yeah, I do. I judge Trump. But, you’re allowed to judge politicians.”
The day he stops being interested in human culture is the day he’ll be officially old, he said.
“I mean, you might have a nice life, but your influences are over,” he said.
Waters heavily researches material for his best-selling books and “Mr. Know-It-All” was no exception. Along with advice, it has history lessons mixed with plenty of personal anecdotes.
A chapter on Andy Warhol contains Waters’ personal interactions with the pop art star as well as observations, opinions and research. It’s written in long run-on sentences that are an homage to Warhol’s own writing style.
The book covers Waters’ most memorable films. Most are unforgettable.
Waters began his career making some of the most outrageous, pearl-clutching cinema to grace, or perhaps sully, the silver screen. “Pink Flamingos,” “Female Trouble” and other early 1970s films starred his childhood friend and muse, Glenn Milstead, better known as the drag queen Divine.
Waters’ and Divine’s X-rated reputations became inseparable as they filmed right up to the edge of propriety. But mainstream success was soon to follow.
Waters’ 1988 film “Hairspray,” which starred Divine, Sonny Bono, Debbie Harry, Jerry Stiller and Ricki Lake, among others, proved to be the gift that keeps on giving. The satirical film, about the racial integration of a 1960s Baltimore TV teen dance show, was a modest success on its release. But that was just the beginning.
A hit Broadway musical — launched in Seattle — followed in 2002 and swept the Tony Awards. A movie based on the musical and starring John Travolta (in the Divine role), Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah and others came out in 2007.
Other mainstream films followed, including 1994’s “Serial Mom” with Kathleen Turner and 1990’s “Cry Baby” with Johnny Depp.
Waters has plenty of Hollywood dish in “Mr. Know-It-All”. His films had unconventional actors, including newspaper heiress and kidnapping victim Patty Hearst.
Waters both criticizes and sticks up for studio executives.
“Their job is to make money,” he said. “It’s not called “show art,” it’s show business.”
But, he said, studios have too much say over content.
“They try to tamper with it and have these test screenings where they make everyone love it,” he said. “That always ruins it.”
Still, Waters took the money and ran, he said.
“When it’s all over, I think Hollywood treated me fairly,” he said.
Now, Tinseltown seems to be in his rearview mirror. Waters called 2004’s “Dirty Shame” his last movie. His books make more money, he said, and the budgets for independent films have been slashed to a fraction of what they were.
“I’m not going backwards. I’m not going to be a 72-year-old film anarchist. I own three homes,” he said. “I’ve made 17 movies. It’s not like I haven’t spoken.”
Waters gives his post-mortal existence some thought in “Mr. Know-It-All”. He’s worried a nurse won’t be able to properly draw on his trademark pencil-thin mustache.
Divine died in 1988, just three weeks after the release of “Hairspray.” Waters has a grave plot picked out near his in Baltimore.
Waters said he doesn’t mind the thought of people visiting or even dancing on his grave, as long as it’s the Madison from “Hairspray”.
“Just don’t steal my head,” he requested. “I don’t want my head in some goth girl’s basement where people watch Hammer horror films once a week.”
“A John Waters Christmas”
When: Dec. 5, 8 p.m.
Where: The Neptune Theatre, 1303 NE 45th St., Seattle
Information: stgpresents.org/
Tickets: $35-45, 800-982-2787
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 11:00 AM.
