When They Can Let Their Hair Down

It’s after midnight on a Friday, and a theater full of moviegoers fervently shouts out the opening lines of last year’s rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”--”Don’t you know me? I’m the new Berlin Wall! Try and tear me down!”--as, on screen, Hedwig launches into the electrifying opening number, “Tear Me Down.”

On the fourth Friday of every month, devoted “Hed-heads” and curious newcomers line up--many in costume--around the block at Laemmle’s Fairfax theaters on Beverly Boulevard for the communal experience of Hedwig’s journey from his childhood as Hansel in East Berlin to--after a botched sex-change operation (hence the “angry inch”)--universally unacknowledged co-writer of rock superstar Tommy Gnosis’ hit records and restaurant chanteuse.

Hoping to turn “Hedwig” into the next “Rocky Horror Picture Show” midnight cult phenomenon, a group of fans who call themselves Rainbow Carnage (after a line in the film) act out most of the film in front of the screen in full costume and with an array of clever props, while the audience sings along by heart.

Other fan-generated, interactive “Hedwig” screenings have been popping up around the country, from New York to San Francisco to, last week, Long Beach. The film’s love story about finding one’s other half, its transgender chic and its soundtrack mix of punk rock and wistful ballads have inspired a following that continues to grow.

Rainbow Carnage likes to involve the audience as much as possible, from pulling moviegoers out of their seats to help in a scene to passing out candy during the song “Sugar Daddy.” The audience is encouraged to shout out responses, which, if the fans take to them, may become part of the “Hedwig” routine in the way the “Rocky Horror” call-back lines were improvised by fans and codified over time.

But “Hedwig” fans also keep quiet during the dramatic scenes. As the emcee says when introducing the screening, “To our ‘Rocky Horror’ fans: We like this movie.”

“‘Rocky’ is camp. ‘Hedwig’ is a story,” says Devri Richmond, 17, one of the makeup artists for the stage show. “You can cry at ‘Hedwig.’ You can’t cry at ‘Rocky.’”

Trace Ferris, the Los Angeles show’s production coordinator, remembers that she couldn’t get any of her friends to come with her to “Hedwig” on opening night last July after telling them what it was about. She went by herself and loved the film so much that she started dragging people along to see it again and communicating with other “Hedwig” fans on the message board at the official Fine Line Web site.

The fans began e-mailing one another and decided to meet at weekly Saturday night showings at the Laemmle Sunset theaters, where they would sit in the front rows and sing along. Afterward, over meals at an all-night diner, the group would muse about having a midnight screening where they could be freer to sing, dance and act out. “I just saw how this film really meant something to people on a deeper level,” says Ferris, who lives in Simi Valley and says she’s “over 25.”

Ferris approached Laemmle Theatres with the idea and found that vice president Greg Laemmle was a big fan of “Hedwig.” He suggested the chain’s recently leased and renovated Fairfax theaters, which, with the main theater’s small stage and backstage area and stairways off to the side, was ideal.

The first screening, a test run to see if “Hedwig” could play monthly, was organized for January in celebration of John Cameron Mitchell’s Golden Globe nomination and was originally just going to be a sing-along. Mitchell, “Hedwig’s” director, co-writer and star, who was going to be in town for the awards, caught wind of the screening and told them he would attend.

Excited, Rainbow Carnage threw together in a week what’s called a “shadow cast” that included several experienced “Rocky Horror” performers, who struggled to figure out the complicated blocking and scene and costume changes. Initially they performed only the musical numbers, but with each screening Rainbow Carnage has added more scenes, so that now about 75% of the film is being performed, says athletic trainer and “Rocky Horror” alumnus David Berck, 32, who directs the Rainbow Carnage show.

“I loved it,” says Mitchell, who also came to the third screening and plans on returning when he is in town. “I love that do-it-yourself aesthetic,” which, he says, goes back to “Hedwig’s” roots as a club act with a group of friends in New York that evolved into an off-Broadway show and then a film.

Unlike “Rocky Horror,” which has a small cast and takes place in one location, “Hedwig” has frequent shifts in setting and time, with flashbacks to Hedwig’s childhood and even some animation. The group has come up with inventive ways to mimic the on-screen action, such as wheeling Hedwig through the aisles on a restaurant cart to simulate the character’s imagined flight in the film. They are open to suggestions, says Lea Nave, 19, who helps with the costume changes: “Whatever someone comes up with within the month, we’ll try it.”

The January screening sold out the 426-seat theater, and subsequent shows have been well attended. Fans have come from as far away as San Francisco and Canada, and the audience spans all demographics, from drag queens to college students to grandparents.

Naturally, Ferris says, “a lot of the guys dress like women,” some of whom are dressing in drag for the first time. “It’s their chance to see what it’s like to wear high heels.”

Rainbow Carnage is consciously limiting the screenings to once a month, hoping to avoid the flash-in-the-pan fate of would-be “Rocky Horror” heirs. “They play it every week, and you get a really great turnout the first two or three weeks, and then by the eighth week everyone’s tired of it,” Berck says.

United Artists, for example, tried to relaunch the notorious flop “Showgirls” several years ago as a midnight cult film, but it never caught on.

And to avoid the staleness of even “Rocky Horror,” Rainbow Carnage tries to come up with different pre-show entertainment, from costume and dance contests to a fashion show by an underground designer and campy trailers.

Tonight’s screening will feature a karaoke contest. Future ideas include a drag king star search and a “Hedwig” quiz contest. The group would also like to have the band actually play live at some point.

Sing-along screenings have become popular in the last few years. Disney’s El Capitan Theater in Hollywood has screened limited runs of “Mary Poppins,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Evita”--which ends a six-show run this Saturday night--with lyrics and instructions (boo, clap, cheer) printed on screen to packed houses, says Lylle Breier, senior vice president of special events for Disney. The three films will return, and other Disney films may join them.

Sing-along prints of “Grease” have been shown at several gay and lesbian events around town, and “Sing-a-Long Sound of Music” returns to the Hollywood Bowl July 6 for a second year, inspired by the event’s wild success in England. Only “Hedwig” and “Rocky Horror,” however, have a live cast performing simultaneously.

Though “Hedwig” won numerous awards and had a successful art house run, grossing $3 million, the release was limited to big cities, and many fans have only discovered the movie at midnight showings or on DVD. “On stage, off-Broadway, it skewed older because of the ticket prices,” Mitchell says. “I was always disappointed because I knew that young people would really get into it and couldn’t afford it until it became a movie.”

He is delighted that “Hedwig” has taken on a life of its own. “It’s a dating service, it’s a self-help group, it’s a disco, it’s a rock club and it’s hopefully a lasting thing. I think it actually will last because there’s always new people discovering it, and since they’ve discovered it on their own, it becomes more precious.”