Archive Review: John Waters’ 2022 “Halloweener” at The Parkway Theater in Minneapolis
“Halloweener is the next chapter in Waters' rapid-fire one-man spoken word Vaudevillean act, This Filthy World, celebrating the film career and joyously appalling taste of the man William Burroughs once called "The Pope of Trash.” In this live performance, the legend himself talks about his early negative artistic influences, including his fascination with true crime, exploitation films, fashion lunacy, the extremes of the art world, Catholicism, sexual deviancy and a love of reading.” — The Parkway Theater
The 2022 show left its audience members exhilarated, as well as optimistic for Waters’ future in film.
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I became a fan of John Waters during lockdown, when everything and every entertainment option screamed, “Safe!” John Waters is far from safe entertainment. He’s a gritty film director who has been noted as a LGBTQIA+ storyteller throughout his 50-plus year long showbiz career.
Waters left his Minneapolis “Halloweener” audience October 29 at The Parkway Theater in shock and awe — much to our delight — coming through on an unspoken promise he has made to keep his “cult members” in such a state. Seriously, he has a cult; Waters holds a yearly camp that sounds like something out of one of his classic movies, Desperate Living.
Coincidentally, Desperate Living was voted by the audience as his next most worthy film of being given a deluxe restoration by the prestigious film distributor, The Criterion Collection. They have reissued some of his best already, like the beyond legendary drag queen Divine’s most beloved cinematic vehicles, Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble.
The first half of the Waters’ show talked about how the world was ending. COVID-19, his beloved hometown Baltimore being fourth worst for crime, doing acid in his 70s with his muse Mink Stole, and also the state of the movie industry. He made zingers left and right. Even at 76, Waters’ comedic talent and quick wit are seemingly not going anywhere, anytime soon.
The second half of the show pointed out why the world ending might not be that bad of a thing after all. He can release new, revisionist remakes of his beloved cult comedy films. The movie industry could give away awards for bad English remakes of good Italian films. Joe Biden might be our best president yet — maybe he will make a mistake and, “Write us all $100,000 checks,” as Waters joked.
Some of the best tidbits came from the lively and generous, post-show Q&A Waters had with his Minneapolis audience. For instance, Waters uses a Polaroid-style camera to snap a photo of everyone who spends time in his home. He said it makes him sad seeing dead friends in old Polaroid photos, knowing they didn’t know they were going to die relatively soon after the candid picture was taken.
John Waters also made a declaration that he will never retire. He loves his work too much to stop. The director even fielded fan excitement and casting questions over his next movie, a screen depiction of his 2022 debut novel, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance. It will be the first full-length film he’s directed since 2004’s A Dirty Shame.
A fan asked Waters if he’s tried a Jucy Lucy burger in Minneapolis, and Waters misheard “Juicy Fruit,” like the gum. Before long, the audience worked together to define the Minneapolis phenomenon for Waters. He had never heard of the cheese-stuffed burger.
The show left me feeling hopeful for the future of the John Waters cinematic universe. After witnessing Waters still at the top of his game, I felt exhilarated and moved.
