Star Wars Phantom Menace Small-Town Local Premier: By the way, the owner of the theatre, and Mayor, was greeting us all outside the theatre last night at eleven, dressed in full regalia, as The Princess. (The New One.) White okiban face make-up, with the red "Princess" arcs and spots; a fabric and tassle-bandoliered full red gown; a splayed and woven fan-tail headdress made from a fine straw broom; and pointy filed russet red fingernails, with little dots. She offered me her hand, and I was quite flattered. Techie was impressed too.
It was quite an evening. The pre-festivities were awesome. It was a very hooty, excited, un-tangled bunch. The cool part is it's all locals; all very, amazingly, safe and friendly. Family style; believe it or not. PG; but funny. I mean he and it are kookie, without a doubt, I mean without a doubt; but well-loved. And everyone gets into it. Well, all the extroverts, which seems to be everyone but me. (You should see the local hat contest. Wow.) Lots of parents had their kids take naps, including Techie, and took them to the Midnight Premier.
The librarian's girlfriend was there, reading the raffle ticket numbers. (I gave Techie mine; no way I'm going up there; the last goddam time I won, in front of the whole freeking town, and had to walk up there, at a benefit, to get ten "A and W Root Beer Bucks." It was the most embarrassing, most eternal two minutes of my life.) She's smooooothe as hard liquor, boy is she, but scary; the most ambivalent intrigue, very interesting, very exciting; handing out the door prizes up front, dressed as the sexiest alien I've seen in weeks. I can't tell what parts of her outfit are see through, and what are see me. (Yet discrete. Just hot. Shame to waste all that make-up black satin, honey. I just bet they didn't. Damn librarian. How come he gets that stuff?)
"Wow. She.....looks....good," says Copy Boy.
"Sounds good. Too."
"Yah."
"Uh-huhm."
One of the door prizes was a door.
It was a small door, though. "Yodasized."
People are yelling and clapping and everytime Princess Leia comes on the screen, and squealing and hissing at Darth, in the re-run previews of the original films. Plus, the Mayor is a bit of film historian, and he ran the original previews of It Came From Outer Space and Creature From The Black Lagoon. I don't know if they did that at other theatres, but it's what he does every week, along with a totally archaic "Let's go out to the lob-bee" refreshement filler and cartoons. Classic stuff, with dancing soft drinks and hand-holding.
The Bow-maker is on my right, and he says, "I had a Creature doll when I was a kid. It scared the hell out of me."
There was a costume contest, em-ceed by Princess, and as he waved his light sword over different contestants, factions of the audience, who were supposed to clap, would jump up and wave their arms and cheer riotously. It was hard not to laugh. They were a couple of great Skywalkers and another Princess, but the black-hooded guy with red eyes won.
Techie is giggling, and he leans to me and says, "This isn't Northern Exposure, it's Paradise."
Second time I've heard that word about this place in a week.
By the way, the Mayor's name is Trixie. Well ~ it's Trixie in sequins. Princess, in red. |
