SF drag legend and midnight movie impresario Peaches Christ is returning home to the Castro Theatre as part of its grand reopening months, putting on a 30th anniversary screening of the cult classic Showgirls.
Paul Verhoeven's 1995 camp masterpiece Showgirls was created as a self-aware, over-the-top, bawdy camp masterpiece, given Verhoeven's oeuvre — he also directed Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers. And thus, despite initially being a box office flop — likely due to its NC-17 rating — it has had an extended afterlife as a midnight movie and cult classic. Even star Elizabeth Berkley, who blamed the film for destroying her career early on, has come to embrace it, and will be participating in a 30th anniversary tour of the film being produced by Live Nation.
But film buff Peaches Christ was an early fan, and first put on a midnight screening of Showgirls in 1998 at the Bridge Theater, with a troop of pre-show dancers — complete with a "Free lap dance with every large popcorn!"
As she tells the Chronicle of the film, it's "undoubtedly the movie that’s the most connected with my career as a midnight movie impresario and exhibitor."
And now, with the Castro Theatre reopening at last next week, Peaches Christ is returning to host another of her large-scale screenings and pre-shows, though this one won't be at midnight. It's happening at 7:30 on April 2, and it will also feature a pre-show conversation with Crysal Conners herself, Gina Gershon. (Berkley, reportedly, has declined all previous invitations.)
Gershon said in a statement to the Chronicle, "I can’t think of a better way than to celebrate Showgirls 30th anniversary than at the the fabulous Castro Theatre." Gershon adds, "Joy! Mischief! Art!! May this new chapter of Castro life sustain us!"
The film, if you somehow have never seen it, tells the story of Nomi Malone, an aspiring dancer who finds work at a strip club in Las Vegas before being cast in a topless casino dance extravaganza, which is framed as the most glamorous gig in town — starring Miss Crystal Conners.
Basically everyone in the film turns out to be evil and self-serving, except for Nomi's friend Molly — and she gets punished for being good.
Verhoeven directed the film with a jaded European's lens on Las Vegas, eliciting some truly hilarious and outsized performances from everyone involved — including Kyle McLachlan, who plays Gershon's boyfriend. And while the film may have some B-movie qualities, it's clearly a high-budget Hollywood affair with plenty of winks to film-savvy audience members — and references to classic films like All About Eve.
Peaches tells the Chronicle she sees the booking of Showgirls, and her pre-show, as a positive sign for queer programming in general at the revamped Castro Theatre.
When promoters Another Planet Entertainment announced an initial slate of programming last fall, it included a slew of queer-centric performers and events. And they have since added to that with an opening night screening next week of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and two nights of concerts by the Indigo Girls in May.
