Peaches Christ and BEYOND...!!!

That GRAND Mistress of the Dark, Peaches Christ has kicked off her annual summer festival of midnight movies, aka 'Midnight Mass with your hostess, Peaches Christ'! (Actually, it started LAST weekend, but who's counting?!) This weekend's festivities surrounded the release of the spectacular DVD edition of Russ Meyer's classic, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"! An evening with Peaches Christ is no dull affair. (Nor a short one, for that matter, as the midnight show tends to go on until around 3 a.m.)

Peaches Christ, who was in 'FULL Z-Man as Superwoman drag', introduced the Whoa Nellies, a local band who performed EXCELLENT covers of three of the songs from "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." They were each dressed as a particular character from the film, which was sort of a cool touch, though it gives the evening a suitable cheesiness, too. However, their musicianship is outstanding

Following the band, there was a short interlude of clips highlighting the performances of Peaches' SPECIAL guests! She introduced three of the cast members from "Beyond...": Erica Gavin (Roxanne), Marcia McBroom (Petronella), and John Lazar (Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell). Actually, Peaches claimed nervousness and allowed Lazar to introduce himself and the two women. (I sort of don't believe this, but I do not know why Peaches excused herself at that point.) During the interview, Lazar was a bit of a mic hog, however Gavin's reactions to that were priceless. McBroom has BARELY aged, and looks amazing! I can't say I remember much of what the interview revealed that wasn't already covered in the extras on the recent DVD release. However, it was nice to see Lazar look better than he does on the interviews on the disc. And Gavin got to speak about her experiences in "Vixen" and a couple of other Russ Meyer's flicks she was in. The audience was more than appreciative (and a bit more than vocal) of this experience.

In fact, as the film was screened, it quickly became apparent that this was a more than usually rowdy Midnight Mass crowd. Or at least there was a row of them. At one point, I was ready to leave, however I was there with friends and thought better than to disrupt the evening (morning?) more than it already was. So, I simply finished off my rum and pineapple and some peanut M&Ms and snuggled down for the duration. Oh, yes. I sort of forgot about THAT part of the Midnight Mass experience. The crowd is informed as they wait outside in line that "any visible alcoholic beverages will be confiscated." Note the word "visible". A good half of the audience notes that word, too, including your humble author and friends. There are no warnings about pot, which are fairly openly consumed inside and outside of the theater. So, that should give you a better idea of why the crowd is so 'vocally appreciative of the experience'.

During the screening of the film, the special guests were out in the lobby signing photos, t-shirts, dvds, cds, etc. for nominal fees. (JimmyD, tbe photographer in this report, bought a autographed photo from Lazar costing $20, and they were signing the DVDs for $15!) The band was back there too, selling cds, I assume. The crowd in the lobby was a bit raucous at times, as well.

Anyway, I guess this isn't so much of a review as it is simply a report upon yet another San Francisco Only experience! ;)