Note: This is a preview of an event John Cameron Mitchell is doing down in Portland. So if you feel like heading south to see a show…
“My joke was I used to be a tour de force. Now I’m forced to tour,” says John Cameron Mitchell—best known as the writer, director, and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch—over a murky phone connection. It sounds a little like he’s in the bath. He seems relaxed and congenial. It sort of feels like I’m talking to an old Hollywood star. His manners are exemplary, but he’s also down-to-earth and ready to discuss everything from Shortbus (a heartfelt, sex-positive indie mission-statement film Mitchell directed in 2006) to his mother’s mounting medical bills which have pressed him into ceaseless work.
“It’s a great privilege to do these concerts,” he says. “But these last few years have just been nonstop raising money for her care. I’m actually with her right now and she’s happy. I just want to keep her happy and cared for, but the amount of money needed for that, in this country, has kind of crippled me.”