John Cameron Mitchell Rolls His “Mattachine” Party To Seattle…AND, Is A “Hedwig” Sequel In The Works?

John Cameron Mitchell and Kevin Kauer from a previous Mattachine event. Photo: Kevin Kauer/Nark Magazine

Like most arty-farty, card carrying fags, we are HUGE mega fans of actor/director John Cameron Mitchell, best known as the co-creator/star of “Hedwig & the Angry Inch”. The iconic gender bending rock opera written by Mr. Mitchell and composer Stephen Trask became a stage sensation in 1998 and solidified its appeal with the film version which also marked Mr. Mitchell’s directing debut. Since then, the actor has concentrated more on film directing, with well-received follow ups, “Shortbus” and the Nicole Kidman starring “Rabbit Hole”.

But, when he’s not behind the camera, Mitchell can frequently be found behind a turntable at a queer music venue near you. “Mattachine” is a dance party night created and dj’d by Mitchell with two of his “Shortbus” actors, PJ DeBoy and Paul Dawson and since its debut at the historic West Village queer bar, Julius four years ago the trio have taken their show on the road to venues all over the country. Mattachine has already turned up in San Francisco and Portland, and next Saturday, August 4 the party makes its Seattle debut at Chop Suey in a very special event produced by Nark Magazine. (Advanced tickets available HERE; a steal at only $8!)

But, what IS Mattachine and what do they play? Mitchell explains in an interview with Culture Map Houston:

We play punk, classic rock, disco, soul, with a cut off of about 1995 — with the exception of LCD Soundsystem. I specialize in slow dances in between songs. You know, it’s a very friendly vibe. It makes you remember what it was like at high school dances. We also talk a lot, and do some comedy and singing.

We often DJ simultaneously, the four of us. We tag-team it, so we never know what’s going to happen. It keeps it from becoming too formulaic — sometimes DJs get caught up in beat matching, but not us. We sometimes have skipped records, because we use a lot of vinyl, but we celebrate in our non-professionalism.

Yeah, you can probably expect some live singing from the original Hedwig…all the more reason to check out this show…

AND, in other Hedwig related news, Broadway.com is reporting today that both Mitchell and Stephen Trask have allegedly signed on to create a stage SEQUEL to the hugely beloved original production. The site reports that a reading of the new show has been scheduled for September 16 at the Provincetown Afterglow Festival. The Afterglow Festival website does confirm that there will be a reading of a work in progress; tickets for that event and the other amazing shows happening during Afterglow (we kinda really wanna/hafta/desperately need to go to this weekend…)

In the meantime as we salivate over the prospect of “Hedwig II: The Revenge of the Inch” we suggest you snap up your tix to Mattachine…it’ll be hot, hot, HOT! (And, we mean that in all sense’s of the word…we encourage you to dress immodestly…)