Dreamlanders are the cast and crew of regulars whom
John Waters has used in his films. The term comes from the name of Waters'
production company
A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...
, Dreamland Productions.
Many of the original Dreamlanders were friends of Waters from his native
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
. They included the "bad
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
kids" he knew from
Towson and
Lutherville: Bob Skidmore, Mark Isherwood, and
Mary Vivian Pearce. This crowd was drawn to downtown Baltimore by the gay scene, where
Divine
Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...
introduced Waters to
David Lochary.
History
The original Dreamlanders also included denizens of the
Fells Point neighborhood where Waters' art director,
Vincent Peranio, a recent graduate of
Maryland Institute College of Art, had rented an industrial space that once housed a commercial bakery with seven other Maryland Institute graduates, to use as cheap studio and living space. They called it the Hollywood Bakery. In Fells Point, the Dreamlanders were regular customers at Pete's Hotel, Bertha's, and Jimmy's. In addition to Peranio, the Fells Point Dreamlanders included
Mink Stole,
George Figgs, Bob Adams,
Susan Lowe,
Paul Swift, Chris Mason, and
Peter Koper.
Although Waters has attempted to include many of the same actors and production team members in every film, not every Dreamlander is used in each of his films. This is frequently the result of the death of an actor, as was the case with
Maelcum Soul,
Edith Massey, Divine, and David Lochary. Other actors such as
Jean Hill and
Ricki Lake have not been used in every film, but appear occasionally.
Typically Waters would discover an actor and continue to use them in subsequent films. Most notably,
Mary Vivian Pearce is the only Dreamlander to appear in every one of Waters' films, although her scenes in ''
Cry-Baby'' were cut. Mink Stole has appeared in all of Waters' feature films, but does not appear in the early short films ''
Hag in a Black Leather Jacket'' (1964), ''
Eat Your Makeup'' (1967), and ''
The Diane Linkletter Story'' (1969). Although many Dreamlanders have a prolific history with Waters, the distinction of being a Dreamlander is generally bequested upon anyone who has made more than one Waters film, such as
Traci Lords
Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...
who appeared in ''
Cry-Baby'' (1990) and ''
Serial Mom'' (1994). Danny Mills is sometimes considered a Dreamlander despite only appearing in the 1972 film ''
Pink Flamingos''.
The Dreamlanders
References
* ''All the Dirt on "A Dirty Shame"'' 2004
* ''John Waters DVD Scrapbook'' 2005
* Curley, Mallory. ''A Cookie Mueller Encyclopedia,'' Randy Press, 2010
External links
Dreamland websiteDreamland's archive of articles
Performing groups
John Waters
Groups of entertainers
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