REPO! Road
Tour Diary: Foxboro
by Terrance Zdunich
.
January
15, 2009: It's early. Way too early to be awake. Dragging my luggage (and
my tired knuckles), I ride the elevator down to the hotel's lobby. Darren
Smith is already there, reading a newspaper, sipping on hotel lobby coffee.
He looks as tired as I feel. There's no sign of Spooky yet, but I'm not
concerned; Cassie (our designated driver/victim this morning) sent me a
text message moments earlier, alerting me that she would be running about
10 minutes late.
10 minutes pass. Cassie arrives. Still
no sign of Spooky. I text message him, followed by a phone call to his
room. No response. I go up and pound on the door. A sleepy-eyed, sorry
excuse for a spooky tour manager stares at me through a crack in the door.
He's overslept. With gravel in his throat, he promises to meet us downstairs
in 5-minutes. I want to be mad, but Spooky, this disheveled, overslept
goth, with Tom Waits morning voice and bloodshot eyes, looks like a f***ing
rock star. Plus, he manages to get his s*** together with record-speed;
he meets us in the lobby in a matter of minutes, ready to go.
We hop into Cassie's car and head to the
airport, making a quick stop at Staples to buy packing tape for our merch
boxes.
We arrive at the airport, where Darren
Smith boards a separate plane. He's heading back home to Los Angeles today,
while Spooky and I proceed onto the 3rd stop of Repo Road Tour 3: Foxboro,
Massachusetts.
It's
11:00am. Our plane takes off. We stop for a 40-minute layover in Washington
D.C. before landing in Providence, Rhode Island, just before 3:00. Since
we'll be driving to the next 3 tour stops, Spooky and I purchase a rental
car and wait for director Darren Lynn Bousman and actress Alexa Vega (Shilo)
to arrive. They're joining the tour tonight, and are flying in from L.A.
in a little over an hour. Parked in our heated rental car, waiting for
Alexa and Darren to touch down, Spooky and I end up getting hooked by the
sounds of a local radio station�but not because of the music.
The station features a trio of what sounds
like drunk, teenaged girls, babbling as they play random tracks off of
an ipod. Their delivery is so odd and unprofessional, that we can't help
but listen. The girls keep encouraging people to call in with song requests�and
Spooky and I are at the ready to ask for "Zydrate Anatomy"�but this slurring
satellite sisterhood never bothers to announce the phone number.
We get the phone call that Alexa and DLB
have landed, start the car, scoop them up, and discover that the GPS system
in our rented jeep isn't working. We contemplate exchanging vehicles, but
instead resolve to use Spooky's phone as a map�a decision that results
in much wasted time over the next couple of days, as the phone's map is
not the easiest to follow.
The 4 of us trek to our hotel for the night, a Marriot Courtyard. There's
a snowman greeting us as we walk into the lobby�that means it's cold! We
separate to our rooms to decompress before tonight's screening.
It's 7:30pm. Alexa, Darren, Spooky &
I collect in the hotel lobby, hop in the car, and head towards The Orpheum
Theatre. This is my 2nd time to Massachusetts�the 1st time was a month
ago on our RRT2 stop in Boston�but Foxboro is no Boston.
A quiet, snow-dusted town (positioned somewhere
between Providence and Boston), Foxboro, at a glance, feels way to quaint,
way too "normal" for REPO!...especially considering that Boston,
it's neighbor to the north, was one of the rowdiest RRT audiences to date.
We roll towards Foxboro's town circle, where we can see The Orpheum's marquee
on the horizon. The venue looks more like a church than a theatre. We question
whether we made a bad choice in booking this venue in this seemingly quiet
city. These concerns are quickly subdued as we turn the corner and see
the massive line of REPO! fans wrapping around the block, waiting
to get into the theatre. It's freezing out, and these people are gleefully
lined up, many wearing skimpy REPO!-inspired digs. Foxboro is every bit
as rowdy as Boston!
We park. Alexa, Darren & I exit the
vehicle and approach the line. The fans are excited to see us, and us them.
We're especially excited to see some of the elaborate fan-made REPO!
costumes on display: several GraveRobbers, Shilos, Mags, Repo Mans,
an impressive Rotti Largo flaked by Henchgirls, and a woman (Molly "zirofax")
dressed as a walking Zydrate Vial with a silver vial-top hat.
Also in attendance tonight is REPO!
alumni C.J. DeAngeles, Jr. (soundtrack musician and 2005 N.Y. stage
play musical director) and Jerry Urban (2002 L.A. stage play photographer).
Jerry left Los Angeles and moved to Boston some time ago, and this is the
1st time that I've seen him in years. I really hope he enjoys the film.
Entering the theatre's lobby, I take a
photo with Mary ("Squiffy") who is dressed as Shilo, holding a hand-sewn
GraveRobber doll. Another fan gives me a beaded bracelet with the letters
G-R-A-A-A-A-A-A-V-E-S stamped onto tiny, threaded, dice-like cubes.
It's
10:30pm. The Orpheum opens its doors. The mounting line pours into the
theatre to take their seats (and escape the cold!). Spooky Dan conducts
his spooky pre-show and the audience reacts riotously to his Puppet Opera
vid, and the costume contest that follows. A macabreley masked yet flamboyantly
acted Pavi wins, with a very sexy version of Amber Sweet (Molly "thisismolly")
coming in a close 2nd. I'm compelled to tell ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Molly
that she's my favorite as I pass her in an aisle. As a young illustrator,
I always wanted my drawings to come to life�especially the sexily drawn
gals�and now it's happening, right in front of me. I repress the urge to
carry her out of the theatre like a caveman.
The movie screens to the very vocal audience, followed by an equally spirited
reception to our Q & A, in which Alexa completely charms the audience
(especially when Darren goads her into doing her "My Humps" dance, which
is already all over youtube).
While onstage, Darren gets a surprise:
a belated 30th birthday cake. The present is from the RKO Army (Foxboro's
Rocky Horror troupe) who plans to shadow cast REPO! on April
11th. Darren, Alexa & I sit down on the stage, and share the chocolate
frosted yumminess.
It's
after 2:00am. We finally leave the theatre. We're all starving so we make
a pit stop at a convenience store for snacks, which include Hot Pockets,
Mac 'n' Cheese, & Cup O' Noodles. At the store, a strange (and very
drunk) male patron makes a point of telling me repeatedly how much I look
like Brenda Faser. He also repeats that his observation should in no way
be construed as "gay". We drive back to our hotel, down our microwavable
goodies, and crash.
Check out Terrance's site
for a lot more info!
Info and Links
REPO! Road Tour Diary: Foxboro
Preview
and Purchase The DVD Online
Visit
the official homepage
More
articles for this artist
tell
a friend about this article
.
...end |