The filth elder speaks

The filth elder speaks

John Waters’ Australian tour of his one-man show, This Filthy World, will not the first trip Down Under for the film icon.
“I was in Sydney and Melbourne to promote Cry Baby in 1990,” Waters told Sydney Star Observer.
“I did a big press junket and had a great time but that was a long time ago so I’m looking forward to it.”
A film version was released in 2006, but Waters said audiences at his new live show can expect something very different this time around.
“It’s very much updated, lots and lots of new material,” he said.
“We’re going to talk about politics, about fashion, about influences, what’s happened to all the people, and anecdotes from my films that I don’t think you’ve ever heard.
“I constantly update — I’ll be writing it on the plane. Many people see it and they think I’m just up there talking but its completely written and rehearsed like a play.
“I’m probably the only person who does a tour of a country and all it says in the rider instructions is ‘All I need is a microphone and a bottle of water’ and I come alone.”
Waters responsible for some of the most notorious (Pink Flamingos) and versatile (Hairspray) pieces of cinema.
The recent remake of Hairspray — starring John Travolta and Zac Efron ­— delivered his work to an entirely new audience.
So did Waters meet teen heart-throb Efron on the set of the musical remake of Hairspray?
“I certainly did and he was lovely. I don’t think he’s a twink — I’m from a generation and I like the word ‘chicken’ better,” Waters said.
“He heard me say this joke that what they should do if they want to catch child molesters is just sit him on a park bench and then see who comes out of the woodwork and then move him to the next city.
“I always tell him he should play a junkie and win the Oscar. So should Dolly Parton — get out of drag, play a junkie and you’ll win the Oscar.”
Waters has two projects in the works — Fruitcake, a film he describes as “a wonderful children’s Christmas adventure” and Hairspray 2: White Lipstick, but says the economy has hit the industry hard.
“They asked me to do the treatment, to think up everything that happened to all the characters after the end of Hairspray — it’s the real story of what happens to all the characters when they become adults in the ’60s — revolutionary prop, drugs, the British invasion. I turned it in, they liked it, they paid me, but I have no idea if that movie is ever going to get made.”

info: Waters will perform at The Arts Centre, Melbourne on February 27, Brisbane Powerhouse on March 1 and Sydney Opera House on March 2.

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