Phil attends the "THE NIGHTMARE WE CALL CHRISTMAS" Show hosted by Peaches Christ at the Castro Theatre-December 15, 2012

Happy Holidays to one and all! So this past Saturday I had the pleasure to cover "THE NIGHTMARE WE CALL CHRISTMAS: A TIM BURTON HOLIDAY REVUE" over at the historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco! Hosted the the fabulous Peaches Christ, this holiday extravaganza was one for the ages, especially since she was screening a 35mm print of the amazing film EDWARD SCISSORHANDS! After having dinner at my favorite burger joint in the Castro District Sliders Burgers, I made my way back to the theatre so I could take in all this Peachy holiday goodness.

Beetlejuice, Marya E. Gates & Lydia.

Upon entering the theatre, the air was filled with love, laughter, and holiday cheer. As I was mingling with my fellow cinematic thrillseekers, I ran into a couple of good friends of mine in the lobby. Samantha Sullivan, who was part of Peaches' stage crew for the night, is a talented filmmaker and is a member of the ultra cool indie film co-op company Scary Cow Productions. I also saw the hip Ms. Marya E. Gates, a fellow cinema lover who I met last July at the SF Silent Film Festival. She also happens to have an amazing film blog called Cinematic Fanatic so definitely check it out! When the clock struck 8pm, everybody left the lobby and made their way inside to find their seats.

Peaches Christ dancing up a storm!

Going in, I knew that the show was going to be big, but I had no idea that it was going to be HUGE!! As soon as the theatre lights were turned off, the multi-colored spotlights from the stage decorated the place. Then the one, the only, Peaches Christ came out with her fellow performers as they all danced and lip synced the opening song. All the ladies came out dressed as the suburban wives from EDWARD SCISSORHANDS! Joining in on the fun was Edward himself, who came out of a enormous Christmas box! After their opening number, the crowd roared with screams and applause. Then Peaches welcomed the audience and thanked them for coming out. She and Edward were trying to get the house ready for the holidays but needed some help. Well since this was a Tim Burton Revue, the stage was bombarded with several characters from his films!

Peaches, Edward, & Beetlejuice.

First up was Pee-Wee Herman from Burton's first film PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE, who then entertained the audience by doing his trademark dance steps to the song "Tequila." Next up was the scary Mrs. Lovett from SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, who sang a beautiful, haunting song to Edward. Then things got spooky, thanks to the one and only BEETLEJUICE, who along with the lovely Lydia sang Elvis Prestly's "Blue Christmas." Hard to believe but it got even creepier, especially when Alice from ALICE IN WONDERLAND showed up and had one helluva psychedelic trip, thanks to drinking a water/piss filled vase, courtesy of Beetlejuice. Then Peaches flubbed one of her lines, which caused director ED WOOD to come out and he and his cast of zombies, cops, and alien did a little song and dance. Also Ed was sporting his trademark angora sweeter. Then the whole cast came out for a big closing number, but all were killed by the crazy Martin Girl from the overlooked Burton film MARS ATTACKS!! After that, the whole crowd rose to their feet and screamed and yelled, whistled and hollered; it was without a doubt the loudest standing ovation I have ever heard at a PC show!!

Next up on the night's agenda was the popular staple costume contest. Helping Peaches judge this was the awesome gay Tim Burton and the stunning Miss Honey Mahogany, who will be the first San Francisco queen to appear on RuPaul's Drag Race Season V!! When it was all said and done, it was a tie between a redneck with his reindeer wife and dog and a women who dressed up as Mary Hooker! It was fantastic!!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1990)

After all this twisted Yuletide fun, it was time to watch the holiday film classic EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. Released by 20th Century Fox on December 9, 1990, the film stars Johnny Depp as Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands (created and designed by the late F/X wizard Stan Winston). After the death of his creator (the late, great Vincent Price), he lives alone in a Gothic castle, incomplete. Edward is taken in by a suburban mom and Avon caller Peg (Dianne Wiest) and her family. He soon falls in love with their teenage daughter Kim (Winona Ryder), much to the chagrin of her boyfriend Jim (Anthony Michael Hall). Also appearing in the film are Kathy Baker, Robert Oliveri, Conchata Ferrell, Caroline Aaron, O-Lan Jones, Dick Anthony Williams, and Alan Arkin.

It's been a while since I've seen this film, and I had forgotten just how wonderful and heartfelt it was. Burton was riding high from his previous film, the summer blockbuster BATMAN, and with this film, he cemented himself as one of Hollywood's most imaginative and gifted directors. The film's budget was about $20 million and it went on to gross a staggering $86,024,005. The film would go on to win the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and the the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film.

Peaches Christ & her cast. Photo courtesy of PC's Facebook.

This was the BEST PC show ever!! Now I've been attending her shows since July of last year, and each show gets bigger and better. But this show was massive: the number of cast members, the props, the crew, the choreography, the costumes, everything about the show was extravagant! But what made the show so great was the fact that Peaches was able to bring a community together to share not only laughs and good times, but love and holiday cheer. After the tragic events that transpired at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday, it was Peaches who brought us all together, to remind us that it was OK to laugh, to have a good time, and to enjoy a crazy holiday show filled with drag queens, costume contests, and a modern holiday classic. For this, I would personally like to thank Peaches for making me smile, laugh, and giving me the best night of my life. I hope you make this a yearly holiday spectacular!

For those of you who missed out on all the fun, fear not my friends. The next PC show will be on Friday, February 8, 2013 at the Castro, where she will be screening Todd Solondz's 1996 film WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE! And as an added bonus, the film's star Heather Matarazzo will be there live in-person! So make sure you come check that show out! If you are interested in becoming a fan of Peaches Christ, or want to view her upcoming shows, visit her website at http://peacheschrist.com. To view the Castro Theater's film schedule, visit their website at www.castrotheatre.com.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!