Mormons take Manhattan

STIPIMM: "The Rainbow Connection,” as sung by Kermit the Frog

Within the past week, the movie that we shot a year ago, “Trapped by the Mormons,” has been shown in two different major cities, New York and Boston. The screening in Boston took place last Friday, the 14th, at the Boston Fantastic Film Festival at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge. It was monsooning that night--miserable when you don’t have a car at your disposal. And yet, despite the bad weather, between 30 and 40 people showed up to watch our humble little flick. The director, Ian, his boyfriend Sung, and Judith, one of the zombie girls, came up from Boston to join in. Three of my co-workers from H&R Block braved the weather and the late hour to see my work; that meant a lot to me. It was a successful showing, overall, but who knows how good it might have been had the sky been clear.

Even if the Brattle had been packed to the rafters, however, it probably couldn’t have compared with Wednesday’s sold-out show at the Pioneer Theatre in the East Village. I made the trek to New York City that afternoon (via cheap-ass Chinatown bus) just for the event. Ian and I went to the theatre together about 45 minutes before showtime and basked in the success of our venture. When we first got the screening there, we were worried about filling seats; we said we could pack the house, and we wanted to deliver. Turns out we needn’t have worried as much as we did; the show sold out the day before, which meant walk-up traffic was turned away.

The lovely Miss Baicich

Johnny Kat and friends

Besides Ian and I, many of the major people involved in the project were there: Johnny Kat, the drag-king star of the movie; Emily Riehl-Bedford, the darling ingénue; Judith Baicich, who played zombie queen Tilly; and Emily Rems, who had a bit role in the film, but a big role in promoting it in NYC (Bridget couldn’t be there because she had to go to something for school that night; she found other ways to occupy herself, though). No big celebrity sightings at this premiere, alas, but the enthusiasm of the crowd made up for it. Packed into that theatre were almost 100 hipsters, wanna-bes, queers, dykes (spelled correctly, Mams?), and straight-laced-looking little videographers. During the curtain speech, Ray, the programmer at the theatre, announced to the public what Ian and I already knew, that “Trapped” will have a one-week run at the theatre in mid-December! So all those people turned away at the door will have a second chance in a couple of months.

The audience laughed, gasped and applauded in all the right places and seemed to genuinely enjoy the movie. Afterwards, about half of the attendees wound up at Mo Pitkins, a bar just around the corner from the theatre. There we reveled in the events of the evening and enjoyed the Stormin’ Mormon, a coffee/liquor drink concocted especially for that evening (actually, being a coffeephobe, I didn’t try it, but I heard [and saw] that it was potent). Several of us went over to the Two Boots restaurant across the street later and shot the breeze. Johnny Kat boldly took out his dick, or at least the disturbingly realistic rubber thing that provided a bulge in his pants; I didn’t get pictures of that momentous event, but you can be sure that Ian did.

Standing room only

That evening, as I went to sleep on Ian’s couch, I was struck with a bittersweet note. Leave it to me to find a cloud for every silver lining, but I couldn’t help think about a few things. Most significantly, I recognized that the success of this event was, in many ways, an anomaly. The marketing of “Trapped by the Mormons” had two big things going for it right out of the gate: the campy infamy of the original film, and the inherent hilarity of the idea of being trapped by anything Mormon. The movie attracts a hipster crowd that is, more or less, a specialty audience that is readily marketed to in the alternative publications and burlesque shows in New York.

Then I think of other projects that I particularly am interested in doing or care about – no ready-made audiences there. My dream project, “Indian Girl,” isn’t exactly the kind of flick that would get young people running to the theater. I see the quick (albeit minor) success of a specialty film like “Trapped” and the way that other good, but unquirky films trudge through getting screenings and festival plays, and I just realize that there will be nothing quick or painless about “Indian Girl,” or any other project I might have in mind. That’s not to be pessimistic or fatalistic about future film prospects, but just a dose of reality I gave myself that night. After that diversion into Dumpsville, though, I jumped back into reveling in the success of the evening and what promised to be great run in December. My first New York premiere… I swear it won’t be my last.