Not a drag: Mom of 'Hedwig' creator speaks at PrideFest screening

Joan Mitchell — mother of John Cameron Mitchell, who wrote and directed “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” — will speak Saturday before a PrideFest screening of the film, which saw great acclaim at the Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival in 2001.

“It’s my son, so I was just going to tell a little bit about his career,” said Mitchell, 75. She lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, Ret. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John Mitchell.

Asked how she and her husband reacted when they found their son was gay, Mitchell said, “I knew my son pretty well. I knew that he was a gay man. Although I don’t agree with him in all things, I knew that he was extremely talented, and he’s a very kind person and very generous.”

Mitchell noted that she and her husband had lost two of their five children and said, “I remember when I told my husband, and he said ‘I lost two sons; I’m not going to lose another one.’ He was our son, and we’re very proud of him.”

“Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” which tells a tragicomic story of a transgender singer’s struggle with identity, premiered off-Broadway in 1998, catapulting the working actor and writer to some renown. A film followed three years later with Cameron Mitchell as director and star. Both have inspired a cultlike following.

The play was inspired, in part, by Cameron Mitchell’s own life.

“The story is about Hedwig on both sides of the Berlin Wall, because at that time my husband was commander of the occupied forces in West Berlin,” his mother said, “and my son was coming to see us and visiting the other side. So this was basically the story based on two sides of the wall, the two sides of Hedwig.

“Some of the expressions were not ones I would’ve used in public,” Mitchell says of the film, “but it was a jolly good movie.”

The screening is just one of the many high-profile events designed to draw attention to Colorado Springs’ diversity, said Ryan Acker, executive director of the Pikes Peak Gay and Lesbian Community Center, which is also known as the Pride Center.

The city has a reputation for intolerance, he said, but the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has been “active here since shortly after Stonewall,” said Acker, referring to the 1969 riots in New York City’s Greenwich Village after anti-homosexual police raids. It launched the modern gay and lesbian rights movement.

“It’s the conservative nature of the city that gets the most attention, but we’ve had a thriving … community for a long time, and I think it’s important that people know that, as well.”

Because 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, the Pride Center has invited Fredd “Tree” Folk, a participant in the original riots, to appear in person and will honor him onstage during the festivities.

The center will also honor Daniel Garcia and James Burge, the newly elected and openly gay president and vice president of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ Student Government Association.

“We’re really excited about that,” Acker said, “because last year was the issue with spectrum, the LGBT group on campus, where the previous student body president refused to sign their request for support. They’ll be cutting the ribbon for the 2009 PrideFest Parade.”

Acker also pointed out that pride flags will fly on downtown light poles for the first time since the 2006 “Norman” (“Let the puppy moo”) and “Sherman” puppy campaigns stirred controversy about acceptance in the community. Acker was excited that both Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado Springs Vice Mayor Larry Small had written letters of support.

“PrideFest has grown very much over the past several years. It’s more than doubled in size in just four and five years,” Acker added. “It’s also grown in business and sponsorship support. It’s really exciting because we have people who come from Denver and outside of the state and as far away as Ohio and Florida. It shows that not only do we have something for the LGBT community, but it also brings people to the community to spend their dollars and benefit the entire city.”

PRIDEFEST EVENTS

FRIDAY

8 p.m.: Gay Pride Pageant

The Underground, 110 N. Nevada Ave.

4:30 p.m.: Kick-Off Parties

• Bijou Bar & Grill, 2510 E. Bijou St., bijoubar.com, 473-5718

• Club Q, 3430 N. Academy Blvd., clubqonline.com, 570-1429

• DJ’s Bar & Grill, 1110 E. Fillmore St., djsbarandgrill.net, 473-2425

• The Underground, 110 N. Nevada Ave., undergroundbars.com, 578-7771

Cost: Cover charges vary

SATURDAY

8 p.m.: Family Fun Day & Ice Cream Social

Coburn Library Earle flagpole, Colorado College

Cost: free

8:15 p.m.: Screening of John Cameron Mitchell’s film, with an introduction by Joan Mitchell, the writer/director’s mother

Cornerstone Building, Colorado College, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St.

Cost: free, but seating limited to 115.

SUNDAY

Colorado Spring PrideFest 2009: “1969 Stonewall Revival!”

Acacia Park/downtown

10 a.m.: Special Interfaith Pride Service

11 a.m.: DJ Dance & Parade Line-Up

Noon: 19th Annual PrideFest Parade

1-6 p.m.: Rally, live entertainment, DJ dance

3 p.m.: “Colorado’s Pride Weddings”

Cost: free

Contact: ppglcc.org or 471-4429

After 'Hedwig'

Since directing “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” to much acclaim, John Cameron Mitchell wrote and directed the sexually graphic movie “Shortbus,” an exploration of the culture and mores of a diverse group of sexually adventurous New Yorkers.

Cameron Mitchell was also the executive producer for the award-winning “Tarnation,” John Cauouette’s feature-length documentary about his mother’s mental illness. Cameron Mitchell also directed videos for Bright Eyes and the Scissor Sisters.

He recently finished directing “Rabbit Hole,” a film adaptation of the play by David Lindsay-Abaire about the accidental death of a child and how the mother and family react to it in different ways. The film version stars Nicole Kidman.