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John Waters teases ‘Polyester’ reissue
Baltimore native claims no children were hurt making his films
John Waters, Divine and Tab Hunter on the set of ‘Polyester’ in 1981. The camp classic will be reissued in a deluxe DVD and Blu-ray edition by The Criterion Collection in 2019. (Blade archives photo courtesy New Line Cinema)
“Polyester” is the next John Waters movie that will be released on DVD and Blu-ray and the Baltimore-based filmmaker is hoping an updated version of his Odorama card will go along with it.
“I want to add the 11th Odorama odor: Wig odor,” Waters told an audience in New York City at a Q&A last month. “glue and sweat.”
Appearing at the IFC Center for sold-out screenings of “Hairspray” and “Female Trouble,” Waters confirmed that “Polyester” will be restored and distributed in 2019 as part of The Criterion Collection, following re-releases of “Multiple Maniacs” and “Female Trouble.”
“They are going to do ‘Polyester’ next year, so I am excited about that,” Waters said. “They are a Class A company. I think they do an absolutely beautiful job.”
“Polyester,” starring Divine and Tab Hunter (sadly, both now dead), tells the story of suburban house frau Francine Fishpaw (Divine), stuck in a dreary marriage, and how her life changes after she meets dashing Todd Tomorrow (Hunter). Filmed in Greater Lutherville for $300,000 and released in 1981, it was part of Waters’ suburbia-based “Trash Trilogy,” along with “Hairspray” and “Cry Baby.”
“Polyester” became known for its Odorama card, which contained 10 scents that movie goers could scratch and sniff as they watched. They ranged from air freshener and roses to smelly sneakers and flatulence. Inspired by the Smell-O-Vision device from the 1960 movie “Scent of Mystery,” the Odorama card was touted with the lines: “It’ll blow your nose!” and “Smelling is Believing.”
Other original smells were: model airplane glue, pizza, gasoline, skunk, natural gas and new car smell. Glue was taken off the card when a LaserDisc version was released.
“Polyester” received positive reviews from critics such as The New York Times’ Janet Maslin.
“Ordinarily, Mr. Waters is not everyone’s cup of tea, but ‘Polyester’ … is not Mr. Waters’ ordinary movie,” Maslin wrote. “This time, the comic vision is so controlled and steady that Mr. Waters need not rely so heavily on the grotesque touches that make his other films such perennial favorites on the weekend Midnight Movie circuit. Here’s one that can just as well be shown in the daytime.”
Known as the “Pope of Trash” and “Sultan of Sleaze,” the openly gay filmmaker came to New York to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Hairspray” and the 2018 re-release of “Female Trouble.” He had appeared the week before at a “Hairspray” screening and cast reunion in Los Angeles.
At the New York event, moderated by the entertainment writer Michael Musto, Waters was joined by Leslie Ann Powers, the actress who played Penny Pingleton; Joann Havrilla, who played Prudence Pingleton; and Holter Graham, who played I. Q. Jones. Waters said he hadn’t seen Powers in decades and thought she was hiding in the “‘Hairspray’ witness protection program.”
The filmmaker said “Hairspray,” which follows teenager Tracy Turnblad’s efforts to integrate a TV dance show in the 1960s, is “the gift that keeps on giving,” because there have been so many versions of it.
“I say it’s radical because it snuck up on Middle America,” Waters said. “Even racists like it. I’ve been paid to write the sequel two times. There’s been talk of ‘Hairspray on Ice,’ ‘Hairspray in Space.’ What’s left?”
The running joke in the movie is that the 300-pound drag actor Divine, who died in 1988 and played Tracy’s mother Edna, is actually a man but no one knows it except the audience.
In real life, Divine “had no desire to be a woman,” Waters said. “He wanted to be Godzilla. …We created Divine to scare hippies.”
Born Harris Glenn Milstead, Divine off-screen was nothing like Divine onscreen, Waters noted. “He was a kind, gentle man who was a pothead and liked to eat.”
Though he and Divine were good friends, Waters said, Divine eventually wanted to do more than John Waters movies, especially after the scene in “Pink Flamingos” where he ate dog poop.
“He got weary of being with me … because people couldn’t get over the whole eating-shit thing,” Waters said. “He got so sick of talking about that. … He wanted to get away from me and do things without me.”
During a separate Q&A session following the “Female Trouble” screening, Waters reported that none of the child actors in his movies was traumatized by the experience.
“All the kids in my movies turned out fine,” he said. “The little girl that I locked in a refrigerator (in Desperate Living)? She’s fine. … There was nothing weird or anything. They memorized their lines. They’re fine.”
“Female Trouble” focuses on Dawn Davenport (Divine), who turns to a life of crime after she didn’t get cha cha heels for Christmas, kills her daughter Taffy and ends up frying in the electric chair.
Waters said he originally wanted Divine to play both the mother and daughter but concluded it wouldn’t work because of Divine’s age. Instead, he had Divine play both the mother and the father, which means Divine rapes himself.
The famous line delivered by the late Edith Massey: “the world of the heterosexual is a sick and boring life,” had a double purpose aside from its comedic punch, Waters said.
“That was market testing. I wanted to see how many gay people were in the audience.”
Ever the name dropper, Waters said he loves the director Ingmar Bergman because “he had the first puke scene.” He said he met Elizabeth Taylor toward the end of her life and “she looked like Divine.” He said he considered casting Roseanne Barr as the lead in “Serial Mom,” back when she was “a complete liberal,” but eventually chose Kathleen Turner.
Waters said he used to visit courtrooms during criminal trials but can’t anymore “because people recognize me.” He disclosed that Dawn Davenport’s character was inspired in part by Alice Crimmins, a New York woman and Casey Anthony forerunner who was convicted of killing her two children in 1965.
Musto said he had a treat for Waters. “Big surprise,” he said. “Alice is here with us tonight!”
The conversation eventually came down, as it often does, to cha cha heels and Christmas.
Musto asked Waters if the dialogue about them — “Those aren’t the right kind. I told you cha cha heels, black ones!” and “Good girls don’t wear cha cha heels” — aren’t the most quoted lines from a John Waters movie.
Waters said the scene in which the Christmas tree falls over on Dawn’s mother was inspired by a time when a Christmas tree fell on his grandmother.
“I remember the handyman screaming, the maid crying and me being, ‘Is my present hurt?’ She wasn’t injured, but I was obsessed by it.”
He said a lot of his fans seem to have stories about falling Christmas trees.
“It’s usually dogs or liquor.”
Waters said his family always had real trees when he was growing up, never artificial, and his mother frowned on those who decorated with multi-colored lights.
“She was all white lights,” he said. “She would go around the neighborhood and look in windows” and make disparaging remarks about families with multi-colored lights.
Waters marvels that his movies are so embraced today since mainstream studios shunned them initially.
The Criterion Collection, which will distribute “Polyester,” is affiliated with Warner Brothers, one of the largest entertainment companies in America.
“Warner Brothers distributes all of mine now,” Waters said. “Who would have imagined?”
More John Waters fun!
Michael Musto, left, with John Waters in New York on July 27. (Photo by Ed Gunts)
He’s no longer making new movies but there are still ways to enjoy the John Waters sensibility.
“John Waters: Indecent Exposure,” billed as the “first major retrospective of Baltimore native John Waters’ visual art,’ opens Oct. 7 at the Baltimore Museum of Art (10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore) and runs through Jan. 6. The show will “examine the unapologetic cultural force’s influential career through more than 160 pieces of his work dating back to the early 1990s.” Details at artbma.org.
Waters makes his annual trek to the Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria) on Thursday, Dec. 20 for “A John Waters Christmas,” his comedy stand-up show. Tickets are $55. Details at birchmere.com.
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Award-winning D.C. chef reaching new culinary heights
Anthony Jones of Marcus DC competing on ‘Top Chef’
In Anthony Jones’s kitchen, all sorts of flags fly, including his own. Executive chef at award-winning restaurant Marcus DC, Jones has reached culinary heights (James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, anyone?), yet he’s just getting started.
Briefly stepping away from his award-winning station, Jones took a moment under a different set of lights. Recently, he temporarily gave up his post at the restaurant for a starring small-screen slot on the latest season of “Top Chef,” which debuted in March. (The show airs weekly on Bravo and Peacock).
Before his strategic slice-and-dice competition, however, Jones, who identifies as gay, draws from his deep DMV roots. In the years before “Top Chef” and the top chef spot at Marcus, he was born and raised in Sunderland, Md., in southern Maryland, near the Chesapeake.
Early memories were steeped in afternoons on boats with his dad bonding over fishing, and wandering the garden of his great-grandparents spread with fresh vegetables and a few hogs. “It was Southern, old-school ethics and upbringing,” he said. “Family and food went hand in hand.” Weekends meant grabbing bushels of crabs, dad and grandma would cook and crack them. Family members would host fish fries for extra cash. In this seafood-heavy youth, Jones managed time to sneak in episodes of the “OG” Japanese “Iron Chef” show, which helped inspire him to pursue a career in the kitchen.
Jones moved to D.C. after graduating from college, ending up at lauded Restaurant Eve, and met famed chef Marcus Samuelson, who brought him to Miami to be part of the opening team for Red Rooster Overtown. After three years, Jones moved back to D.C., where he ran Dirty Habit, reinventing and reimagining the menu, integrating West African flavors and ingredients.
Samuelson, however, wouldn’t let a talent like Jones stay away for too long. Pulling Jones back into his orbit, Samuelson elevated Jones to help him open his namesake restaurant Marcus DC, which has been named a top-five restaurant by the Washington Post. Since then, Jones has been nominated as a semifinalist for the RAMMYs Rising Culinary Star in 2026 and won the Eater DC’s Rising Chef award in 2025.
Samuelson’s Marcus is a tour de force interpreting the Black Diaspora on the plate, from the American South to West Africa, along with his signature “Swedopian” touches. Yet it’s Jones who has deeply informed the plate, elevating his own story to date. Marcus DC is primarily a seafood restaurant, which serves Jones well.
“Where I’m from is seafood heavy, and as I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve moved away from meat.” Veggies and fish are hero dishes. His own dish, Mel’s Crab Rice, was not only lauded by the Washington Post, but is framed by his youth carrying home the crustaceans from Mel’s crab truck. It’s a bowl of Carolina rice, layered with pickled okra, uni béarnaise, and crab. Jones also points to a dish on the opening menu, rockfish and brassica, paying respect to a landmark D.C. institution, Ben’s Chili Bowl. Jones reverse engineered a favorite bowl of chili that’s seafood instead of meat forward, leveraging octopus and rockfish along with different riffs of cauliflower: showing his intellectual, creative, and cultural sides.
While “Top Chef” is showing Jones’s spotlight side, he also lets his identity show at work. “In the kitchen, I make sure we’re inclusive. We don’t tolerate discrimination. Everyone that’s here should feel confident to express themselves. There are so many different flags in the kitchen.”
Jones says that he didn’t fully express his gay identity until fairly recently. He felt reluctant coming out to certain family members, “you’re scared to tell them about being different,” he says, and while that anxiety ate at him, “I’m lucky and fortunate to have unconditional love and that weight off my shoulders.”
Today, “I’m me all the time, Monday to Sunday. I’m honest with people, and my staff is honest with me.”
“Being a chef is hard,” he says, “and being a chef of color is even more difficult.”
Yet his LGBTQ identity is a juggling act, he says. “I need to keep that balance, because once someone finds out something about you, their opinion can change, whether you want it or not.”
Being on a whole season of TV cooking competition, however, might mean millions more might have an opinion of him (Jones has appeared on TV already, on an episode of “Chopped”). To prepare, he says, “I’ve just kept a level head. It’s just an honor to be on top chef with amazing people happy to be there.”
Plus, this season is set in the Carolinas, and Jones attended Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s a full story of my life, now a monumental moment for me.”
Jones also recently was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. “JBF has been a north star, a dream for so long. I always had this goal on my wall.”
Being at the top spot at Marcus DC, making waves through his accolades, and cooking on Bravo means that Jones is highly visible. “I think that if someone has a similar background to me, and can see our story, trajectory, and success, they can have more ability to be themselves. This is my goal.”
Back at Marcus, Jones has plenty up his chef’s white’s sleeves. A new spring menu is in the works. He’ll be launching a new tasting menu “dining experience,” he says, and has plans to work on more events and collaborations with chefs and friends to bring in new talent and share the culinary wealth.
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Introducing the Torchbearers Awards honoring queer, trans women and nonbinary people
Meet the Legends and Illuminators lighting new paths
The Torchbearers Awards are more than recognition—they are a continuation of legacy. They honor the quiet architects of progress in our community: those who organize, advocate, build, and protect, often without fanfare but always with purpose. Rooted in a belief in intentional recognition, this honor names those who carry our movements forward—those who make room for others, who remind us that change is both generational and generative. In a time marked by uncertainty and challenge, these leaders push forward with courage, clarity, and an unwavering commitment to expanding opportunity and equity.
This year’s honorees reflect the full breadth of our community, spanning generations, backgrounds, identities, and industries. From Legends, with decades of leadership and having created pathways for others, to Illuminators, who are lighting new paths with creativity and innovation, each Torchbearer represents the power of intergenerational leadership and the strength found in our diversity. They are organizers, advocates, artists, policy leaders, healers, and changemakers whose lived experiences shape a shared vision for equity and liberation.
This award is our love letter to queer and trans women and nonbinary people who carry the flame when it would be easier to let it dim. To those who consistently show up, who use their voice and visibility and stand firm, often without recognition, so that others may live more freely and fully. The Torchbearers Awards celebrates not just what has been done, but the enduring spirit, responsibility, and collective care that ensure the work continues, and that the flame is always passed forward.
Co-Creators of the Torchbearers Awards: Shannon Alston, June Crenshaw, Heidi Ellis
Torchbearers Awards Advisory Board: Aditi Hardikar, Lesley Bryant, Jasmine Wilson-Bryant, Stephen Rutgers
ILLUMINATOR AWARDEES
- Representative Sharice Davids (she/her), (D, KS-03)
— U.S. House of Representatives - Greisa Martinez Rosas (she/her/ella)
— Executive Director, United We Dream - Paola Ramos (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Meagan A. Fitzgerald (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Jessica L. Lewis (she/her)
— Founder / Producer, Play Play DC - Savannah Wade (she/her)
— Founder, OAR Agency - Suhad Babaa (she/her)
— Filmmaker/ Former Executive Director of Just Vision - Ashlee Davis (she/her)
— Global Head of Inclusive Outcomes, Ancestry - Jazmine Hughes (she/her)
— Journalist and Former Editor at New York Times Magazine - Queen Adesuyi (they/she)
— Policy Advisor & Organizer, ReFrame Health & Justice - Michele Rayner, Esq. (she/her)
— Civil Rights Attorney, State Representative (Florida House of Representatives) - Gaby Vincent (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Jenny Nguyen (she/her)
— Founder & Owner, The Sports Bra - Denice Frohman (she/her)
— Independent Artist, Poet / Performer - Vida Rangel (she/her)
— Founder, Our Trans Capital - Roxanne Anderson (they/them)
— Executive Director, Our Space - Ann Marie Gothard (she/her)
— Co-Founder & President, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Diana Rodriquez (she/her)
— Co-Founder & CEO, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Wendi Cooper (she/her)
— Founder / Executive Director, Transcending Women - Toya Matthews (she/her)
— City of San Antonio, Texas - Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Charity Blackwell (she/her)
— Poet, LGBTQ Advocate & Community Leader - Wilhelmina Indermaur (she/her)
— Director of Communications, Tyler Clementi Foundation - Em Chadwick (she/her)
— CMO, For Them & Autostraddle - Kylo Freeman (they/he)
— CEO, For Them & Autostraddle
LEGEND AWARDEES
- Sheila Alexander-Reid (she/her)
— Executive Director, PHL Diversity, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau - Cassandra Cantave Burton (she/her)
— Interim Director of Thought Leadership & Senior Research Advisor, AARP - leigh h. mosley (she/her)
— Photographer / Educator, PhotoFlo Photography - Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (they/them)
— Assistant Professor of Political Science; Author & Columnist, Syracuse University - Jordyn White (she/her)
— COO, Washington Prodigy / VP of Leadership Development & Research, HRC Foundation - AJ Hikes (they/them)
— Deputy Executive Director, ACLU - RaeShanda Lias (she/her)
— Digital Creator, RL Lockhart - Donna Payne-Hardy (she/her)
— Educator, EEO Specialist, Founder of NBJC, Former Leader at the Human Rights Campaign - Courtney R. Snowden (she/her)
— Principal, Blueprint Strategy Group - Gaye Adegbalola (she/her)
— Musician & Activist, Musician / Inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame - Cheryl A. Head (she/her)
— Independent Author, Novelist (Crime Fiction) - Letitia Gomez (she/her)
— The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Board Chair - Lynne Brown (she/her)
— Publisher, Washington Blade - Shay Franco-Clausen (She/Her/Ella/Queen)
— Political Strategist and Organizer - Melissa L. Bradley (she/her)
— Founder & Managing Partner, New Majority Ventures - Meghann Burke (she/her)
— Executive Director, NWSL Players Association - Victoria Kirby York, MPA (she/they)
— Director of Public Policy & Programs, National Black Justice Collective - Joli Angel Robinson (she/her)
— CEO, Center on Halsted - Jeannine Frisby LaRue (she/her)
— CEO, Moxie Strategies - Alice Wu (she/her)
— Film Director (Saving Face, The Half of It) / Screenwriter - Storme Webber (she/her)
— Interdisciplinary Artist / Educator, University of Washington - Kim Stone
— CEO of the Washington Spirit, Washington Spirit - Mickalene Thomas
— American Visual Artist, Mickalene Thomas Studio - Erika Lorshbough (any/they/she)
— Executive Director, interACT - J. Gia Loving (she/ella)
— Co-Executive Director, GSA Network
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D.C. springs back to life with new, returning events
Cherry blossoms, Rehoboth season kickoff, and more on tap
Longer and warmer days are back meaning: It’s time to get out of the house and enjoy Washington D.C.’s many events. Below are a few to check out this spring.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts will host “Making their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” until Sunday, July 26. This exhibition illustrates women artists’ vital role in abstraction, considers historical contributions, formal and material breakthroughs and intergenerational relationships among women artists over the last eight decades. For more details, visit. NMWA’s website.
Art in the Attic will host a pop-up on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. at 1012 Madison St., Alexandria, Va. There will be a variety of vendors selling products across different modes of art. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Play Play will host “Indoor Recess – The art of play” on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. This event will embody classic recess energy, including opportunities to build and experience community and connections through games, movement, art stations, and creative freedom. Tickets are $12.51 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Spark Social will host “Gay Bar Crawl on U Street” on Friday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. This will be a fun night out in gay D.C. with other gay people, whether you’re visiting D.C., new to the area, or just looking to expand your social circle. Many crawlers have formed lasting friendships and even romantic relationships after just one night out. Tickets are $35.88 and are available on Eventbrite.
Creative Suitland Arts Center will host “EFFERVESCENT: House of Swann” on Saturday, May 30 at 7 p.m. This will be a gay, good time where we will celebrate love, joy, wellness, and visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community. Tickets start at $17.85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
SWAG Works DC will host “Unapologetically Her” on Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. at 701 E St., S.E. This event is a powerful celebration of womanhood, resilience, creativity, and self-expression in honor of Women’s History Month. This all-women exhibition highlights the diverse voices, stories, and artistic perspectives of women who create boldly, live authentically, and stand confidently in their truth. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
9:30 Club will host “Gimme Gimme Disco: A Dance Party Inspired by ABBA” on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. There will also be a “Donna Summer Power Hour – The Queen of Disco” segment during this event. It’ll be one hour of music with no skips. Tickets are available on 9:30 Club’s website.
Harder Better Faster Stronger will host “Heated Rivalry Rave” on Friday, March 20 at 9 p.m. at Howard Theatre. This event is open to all ages. Tickets are available on the theater’s website.
CAMP Rehoboth hosts its 25th annual Women’s+ FEST, April 9-12 in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Entertainers include headliner Mina Hartong, a comedian, storyteller, and founder of Lez Out Loud; and singer Yoli Mayor. There are dances, dinners, pickleball, and much more. Details and tickets at camprehoboth.org.
Also in Rehoboth Beach, the Washington Blade’s 19th annual Summer Kickoff Party is set for Friday, May 15 featuring Ashley Biden, who will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau. State Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall will also speak. More speakers and the venue to be announced soon.
The annual D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off March 21 at DAR Constitution Hall and culminates with Petalpalooza on April 4, the day-long, outdoor street party with music and art, stretching across Navy Yard, and ending with fireworks over the Anacostia River.
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