Phoenix, Arizona: stop number 10 on REPO Road Tour 3. There are 2 REPO! screenings tonight (a 9:00pm and a midnight) at Chandler Cinemas. And hopefully good things come in 2s in AZ, because this is our 2nd tour stop at the Chandler—the 1st being in December on RRT2. Since this is the only venue/city that we're visiting twice, we'll find out tonight whether our road tour efforts have started a raging REPO! fire in Phoenix, or if our spark is already burning out. 

January 23, 2009.: Phoenix was not originally on the RRT3 schedule. We were set to visit Milwaukee instead. But when a last-minute scheduling conflict forced us to find a replacement venue, and fast, Chandler Cinema seemed the natural choice; not only was REPO! well received here last month, but the theatre's managers, Matteo and Andrea (who are also behind "Come As You Are", Phoenix's Rocky Horror cast), are super cool people who have promoted the hell out of REPO! 

Another added benefit of this unexpected scheduling change, is that we're in town for the opening day of Phoenix's Comicon. As such, Chandler Cinemas has arranged a REPO! booth at the convention where director Darren Lynn Bousman, actor Bill Moseley, & I, will pop in this afternoon to sign a few REPO! posters and promote tonight's screenings.

It's 2:00pm when we land in Phoenix. Our plan is to rush to our hotel (a 45-minute drive), drop our stuff off, quickly shower, & then zip over to the convention by 3:30. My speedy shower plans are undermined by the fact that I've unwittingly been checked-in to a handicapped room at this Best Western. It's really not all that different from a typical hotel room, expect that there's no base to the shower—i.e. the bathroom floor is the shower. Although I'm not handicapped, I end up getting down like syndrome, and completely flood the bathroom. 

It's 4:00pm when we arrive at the convention. Andrea meets us in the parking lot and escorts us to our booth. Seated across from us at another booth is Gates McFadden (The Next Generation's Dr. Beverly Crusher). Adjacent to us is none other than Lou Ferrigno. I've never been on this side of an autograph table at a convention before, so it feels a little weird. But this awkwardness ceases as a crew of friendly REPO! fans show up to greet us. Amongst them are some familiar faces: fans we met during our RRT2 tour stop, including the lovely Tori ("LuxInterior") who later shadow casts a Bling Mag scene during tonight's 9:00pm screening.

We work the convention table for about 2 hours. At some point, I break away to explore the rest of the con. I can't help but notice that there's a whole lot of manga going on here. It makes me think about how easy it would be to adapt some of REPO!'s characters—and stories—into this style. 

It's 6:00pm. We head back to our hotel rooms for a much needed breather before our very long, double-screening tonight. I open up my email account and gaze at the pages of unopened, unanswered inbox messages. I should start going through these, but I don't. I work on this blog instead. Penning these road tour journals has been 1 of the few creative endeavors I've allowed time for of late, so I'm naturally drawn to writing over work. I write a bit, but then end up taking a nap. I've been averaging about 4-hours of sleep a night on this tour, and it's starting to catch up with me.

It's 8:00pm. Tour manager Spooky Dan, DLB, Bill, & I, meet in the hotel's lobby, and then make our way to the Chandler. 

The weather is nice tonight. Not too hot, not too cold. It's sweltering, however, in the auditorium where REPO!'s screening (heavy neo-Victorian costumes & makeup and no air conditioning, a bad combination burrito doth make!).

We enter the Chandler's lobby and are greeted with huge amounts of REPO! love. It seems that whatever seed we planted during our 1st tour visit has blossomed into something bigger, something more outrageous; the 9:00pm screening is already sold-out, and there's a mob of eager fans congregating in the lobby. At the front of the line are some familiar faces: a family of hot REPO! sisters—a welcomed form of déjà vu!—all dressed up in REPO! costumes: Blind Mag, "17" Shilo, Henchgirl, & Amber Sweet. A young woman dressed as Single Mother accompanies them. She flashes me (Be heeald!).

I also see a young couple who I met in July of last year at REPO!'s San Diego Comic Con panel, Sabrina ("Harley") and Jeremy ("JokerX"). When I met them they were dressed as Harley Quinn and the Joker. Tonight, they've come dressed up as Amber Sweet and Luigi Largo. Sabrina and Jeremy have been amazing supporters of REPO! and it's great to chat with them again.

Also in attendance are 3 cross-dressing women costumed as REPO! characters: an eccentric Rotti Largo, a wiry Pavi Largo, &, get this, a Darren Lynn Bousman. Her name is Elise ("sonietta") and she's playing DLB from his cameo that was cut from REPO! The Movie. All 3 of these ladies, and several others, are planning a caravan to Los Angeles tomorrow night to attend our final road tour stop.

And Arizona has other tricks up its sleeves planned for tonight: members of Chandler's Rocky Horror troupe will be performing an elaborate REPO! pre-show, as well as shadow casting several scenes from the film—a presage to the full Phoenix REPO! shadow cast, which is in the works! They've also filmed several choreographed vignettes to "Bravi!", a scene/song that was cut from REPO! These clips play on a loop on a large monitor positioned just outside of the theatre.

It's 9:15pm. Spooky Dan begins his pre-show costume contest. There are so many people in attendance tonight wearing REPO! costumes, that the contestants cause a mild traffic jam on stage. It's awesome!

Did I mention that it's hot inside the theatre? It's so hot that during our post-screening audience Q & A, Matteo sets up a fan on stage. It's aimed directly at me. The cool air feels great, but it's causing my hair to blow like an '80's music video, so I move. 

The Chandler's lobby again becomes a madhouse as we relocate there for an autograph-signing session. I am presented with several really awesome fan-made gifts, including a leather GraveRobber banner and a flask sleeved in leather REPO Man art.

It's well after 3:00am when Darren, Spooky, & I, finally get back to our hotel. Since tonight is the last night of the road tour that's actually on the road (tomorrow's L.A. stop doesn't count because we live there), I was looking forward to the prospect of hanging out tonight and partying. But, due to the booking of the midnight show, our night at the Chandler runs late, really late. Everyone has cleared out, and all of the bars are closed. I have one airplane bottle of whiskey tucked away in my luggage. Darren and I split it, and then call it a night.

REPO! Road Tour Diary: Phoenix

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