Writer and filmmaker John Waters may be ending his Camp John Waters summer gathering for superfans next year, but he’s not slowing down with his spoken-word shows and other projects this fall.
Between Nov. 30 and Dec. 23, Waters is scheduled to perform his “A John Waters Christmas” show 19 times in 15 cities in the U. S. and Canada.
At 79, he’s also releasing a new single, three screenplay books and his annual Best Movies list. He just received a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Unleashed LGBTQ+ Conference and Festival in Dallas, Texas. He’ll be speaking at the 92nd Street Y cultural center in New York in October.
Waters announced this month that his annual Camp John Waters event at Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut, will end after next year’s edition. The four-day party started in 2017 and has been held every year except 2020, when it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Waters hasn’t made announcements about curtailing any other activities.
Coast to coast tour
The “John Waters Christmas” tour starts at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Nov. 30. From there Waters has nine shows in nine days on the West Coast. Stops include: the Aladdin Theater in Portland, Oregon, on Dec. 1; Neptune Theatre in Seattle, Washington, on Dec. 2; Rio Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Dec. 3 and 4; Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California, on Dec. 5; El Portal in North Hollywood, California, on Dec. 6 and 7; and Lou Lou’s in San Diego, California, on Dec. 8 and 9.
Also, Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts, on Dec. 13; Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec. 14; Atwood Music Hall in Madison, Wisconsin, on Dec. 15; Avondale Music Hall in Chicago, Illinois, on Dec. 16; Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on Dec. 17; The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia on Dec. 20; City Winery in New York City on Dec. 21 and 22 and Baltimore Soundstage in Baltimore on Dec. 23.
He’s also appearing at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California, on Oct. 19; the Sun Ray Cinema in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 25, where he’ll be part of a screening of “Polyester”; the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Nov. 1 and the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Nov. 22. His new, freshly-written, non-Christmas spoken-word shows will be called “Going to Extremes.” He received the Lifetime Achievement Award on Sept. 19 at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas for his contributions to queer culture and advocacy through his films.
John Waters Covers Little Cindy
In addition to his shows, Waters is releasing a new Christmas single on Sub Pop Records, entitled “John Waters Covers Little Cindy.” The cover reads: “A little girl opens her heart to God at Christmas time.” The featured song is “Happy Birthday Jesus.” The B side is “A Pig Latin Visit from St. Nicholas.”
“John Waters Covers Little Cindy” is the second Christmas parody project that Waters has released with Sub Pop, after “Jingle Bells/It’s a Punk Rock Christmas.” It’s produced by his longtime friend and colleague, Grammy winner Ian Brennan. Waters also collaborated with Sub Pop and Brennan to release “It’s In The Book,” and “A Prayer to Pasolini.”
“In the tradition of novelty records, which I’ve always loved, this year I pay tribute to one of my favorite hymns that was once included in my ‘John Waters Christmas’ album — sung by the ever-holy child vocalist Little Cindy,” Waters said in a statement. “I have never been in drag professionally, but with this little sticks-and-stones gift record to bad children everywhere, I channel Little Cindy’s voice and aura, even stumbling over the exact words she did on the original 45 rpm version. Little Cindy is beyond saintly in my opinion, a minor miracle, a human spiritual sacrament who brings her devoted sanctity to this psalm of southern sentimentality. For a few vinyl minutes, I hope listeners will agree: John Waters IS Little Cindy.”
Side B, Waters continued, is “beyond the valley of gimmicks, over the top of parody and underneath the mountain of linguistics, recorded in Pig Latin — a secret dialect my mother taught me in the ‘50s. I don’t take easily to learning a new language but this maddeningly ugly way of speaking is a tongue I eventually licked. I even used Pig Latin in ‘Pink Flamingos’ where Divine’s family skipped, happily chanting, ‘We Are The Filthiest People Alive.’ What better way to remind my public of this lunatic way of communication (even the Three Stooges spoke it in some of their 1930s movies) than to translate this beloved poem into a consonantly confused vernacular? ‘A Visit from St. Nick?’ As-tway E-thay Ight-nay Efore-bay Istmas-kray! See? I’m speaking in tongues! Want to clear your house of holiday party guests who have overstayed their welcome? Just play the flipside of this record, and they’ll run like they’ve just been teargassed! Ig-pay Atin-lay! Learn it, you little devils!”
Screenplay books
On Oct. 16, MacMillan Publishers and its subsidiary, Picador, are releasing three screenplay books by Waters, “Multiple Maniacs,” “Female Trouble” and “Hairspray.” The release follows three Waters books that came out in May: “Pink Flamingos,” “Desperate Living” and “Flamingos Forever.” All six feature covers by artist Wayne A. Hollowell.
In conjunction with the October book release, Waters will appear at the 92nd Street Y cultural center, 1395 Lexington Ave. in New York, on Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. for a “Reading and Conversation” with The New Yorker’s Michael Schulman. The program is part of the Unterberg Poetry Center. Harper’s Magazine is the media partner.
“In this reading and conversation covering Waters’ earliest days as a filmmaker in Baltimore to his status as the auteur king of exploitation films made for art theaters, we celebrate the entire arc of Waters’ singular career, to honor the reissue of six of Waters’ early screenplays,” the organizers said in their announcement of the event.
‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ listening party
Not to be outdone, Atomic Books in Baltimore is having a listening party to mark the reissuance of “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by the late Edith Massey, who starred in many of Waters’ films. The B Side is Massey’s “Punks Get Off The Grass.”
Atomic Books collaborated with Defunct Nouveau to present a limited edition re-release of Massey’s Egg Records cult single from 1982 on yellow and white “egg splatter” vinyl. The listening party is scheduled for Nov. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the book store, 3620 Falls Road in Hampden. Cover art by Haleigh Buck will be on sale along with the single.
Atomic Books takes orders for John Waters books, singles and other merchandise at www.atomicbooks.com. It also receives John Waters’ fan mail.
