In 1998, John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask wrote a musical that would become a cornerstone of American underground culture—a rock opera about identity, survival, and the American road that spoke to anyone who’d ever been on the outside. Three years later, he directed the film version, a 2001 Sundance darling that won Audience Award and Best Director in the Dramatic category. Twenty-five years later, Mitchell is on the road with the restored 4K restoration of that film, and August 5 at Emo’s Austin is your chance to sit in the room with him.
What You’ll Experience
This isn’t a standard screening. The evening begins with a costume contest—a nod to the film’s legacy as a midnight-movie phenomenon and its sacred place in LGBTQ+ cultural history. You’ll watch the 2001 film in its 4K restoration, which brings new clarity to the angular Berlin locations, the documentary concert footage, and the intimate confessional moments that made the original so singular. After the screening, Mitchell sits for a live Q&A, the kind of direct exchange that separates a tour like this from a simple revival release. Then comes the special acoustic performance—Mitchell back in character, or perhaps alongside character, playing live at the end of the night.
The tour began June 14 in Orlando and is produced by Jeremy Wein for ThisMyShow Presents, a curation that speaks to the event’s intentionality. This is not a cash-grab anniversary package. This is a deliberate revisiting of work that changed American musical and film culture, led by the artist who created it.
Mitchell’s Journey
The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in Musical or Comedy. In 2015, Mitchell received a Special Tony Award for reprising the Hedwig role on Broadway—recognition of a career devoted to a singular vision. At fifty-three, Mitchell carries the weight of that vision with a kind of earned gravity. The 2001 film captured him as a younger artist still inside the mythology he’d created. This tour invites you to see how he inhabits it now.
Venue & Tickets
Emo’s Austin, at 1700 capacity, sits on East Riverside Drive—a venue built for live performance and artistic risk. The 6 p.m. start time frames the evening deliberately: screening to Q&A to acoustic performance to meet-and-greets that follow. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.
Wednesday, August 5, 6:00 PM. Emo’s Austin, 2015 E Riverside Dr.