^{RuPaul as President Judy Gagwell and Matt Rogers as the White House Press Secretary in Stop! That! Train! directed by Adam Shankman
Photo: Courtesy of Provincetown International Film Festival}

by Steve Desroches

America in the 1970s felt like a disaster movie. The Vietnam War, cultural divisions, rapidly changing mores, cities in decline and a bankrupt New York City, crime on the rise, and an energy crisis. It’s no wonder that same decade produced the Golden Age of the disaster film. Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, Airport, Black Sunday, Hurricane, Flood!, City on Fire, Rollercoaster; the list goes on and on of cinematic storylines of a world gone mad until a white, macho man comes along and saves the day, with the likes of Gene Hackman, Burt Lancaster, Steve McQueen, and Paul Newman representing the restoration of rugged American masculinity and thus social order. Even when Airport 1975 tried a feminist bend, with Karen Black portraying a stewardess screaming, “There’s no one left to fly the plane” and then taking to the controls, everyone is ultimately saved by Charlton Heston jumping into the hole in the cockpit, midair and landing the plane in Salt Lake City. And then he and the flight attendant rekindle a romance that acted as a throwaway side plot. Fifty-plus years later, America is again in deep conflict and turmoil and is in need of a savior. And this time it’s drag queens.

In the new film Stop! That! Train! the disaster flick gets put through a super-gay prism in a spoof homage to the genre, staring RuPaul as President of the United States Judy Gagwell managing a national crisis. The film is the opening night film of the 28^th annual Provincetown International Film Festival, two days before it opens nationwide. Directed by Adam Shankman, who will attend the festival as an honoree, Stop! That! Train! is intentionally silly and stupid in the same vein as its obvious inspiration, the 1980 comedy masterpiece Airplane! In this farce, Tess and DeeDee, two train stewardesses on Stank Rail hit the big time when they switch over to Glamazonian Express only to end up on a train with no brakes and no conductor as it heads straight into an epic Stormaganza. And, of course, wackiness ensues in this really fun film. 

As most good ideas come from, Shankman first learned of this story while appearing as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race several years ago. During a break in shooting, Randy Barbato, one of the co-founders of the production company World of Wonder, mentioned the script to Shankman, adding that RuPaul was very excited by it. Friends since the early 1990s, Shankman and RuPaul talked over the story written by Christina Friel and Connor Wright. Shankman loved it. But there was one problem.

“The original draft was set on an airplane; it was Airplane!,” says Shankman. “I said, ‘I can’t do this.’ It was too much like Airplane! And I love that movie.”

Shankman agreed to direct and produce the film once it was switched to a train, a small change that allowed Stop! That! Train! to be extra stupid, as it’s not that significant of a difference. A fan himself of the late filmmaker Irwin Allen, known as the Master of Disaster for the numerous films of the genre he made, Shankman took on the extra challenge of tapping into a hallmark of disaster films: a gigantic ensemble cast. These films often featured a crowded marquee that at times were the last films for Hollywood giants like Gloria Swanson and Helen Hayes. In Stop! That! Train! in addition to a lengthy list of drag queens like Ginger Minj, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Jujubee, Latrice Royale, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Symone, and Monét X Change, the cast also includes Sarah Michelle Gellar, Charo, Drew Droege, Joel McHale, Jerry O’Connell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and many more cameos. And of course, there’s a random nun, another disaster film trope. Shankman managed to assemble a huge cast and get the film completely shot in 19 days.

Shankman is certainly no stranger to preventing a set from turning into a real-life disaster. He’s had a successful multi-hyphenate career as a producer, director, choreographer, dancer, actor, and writer, being at the helm as director and/or producer of such films as A Walk to Remember, The Wedding Planner, Hocus Pocus 2, and the musical adaptation of Hairspray. In a wildly varied career, Shankman has worked with everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Steve Martin to Tom Cruise to Tracy Morgan. But this past year he became part of two projects that connected him to two seemingly very different actors, RuPaul and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Slated for a December release The Man with the Bag is a Christmas action comedy in which the former governor of California plays Santa Claus. Working with two stars, one arguably the world’s most famous drag queen and the other probably the best-known action star of all time could be a lesson in juxtaposition. Instead, it turns out the two are remarkably alike; both total sweethearts with hardcore work ethics, he says.

“If you had told me that Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to become one of the great loves of my life a year ago… I think he is one of the greatest guys I’ve gotten to know,” says Shankman. “It’s entirely possible I will be the only one who directs RuPaul and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the same year, back-to-back, but that just speaks to my weird choices.”

Stop! That! Train! screens as part of the Provincetown International Film Festival on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. as the opening night film and Friday, June 12 at 1:30 p.m., both at Town Hall, 260 Commercial St. Director Adam Shankman and cast member Marty Lauter (aka Marcia Marcia Marcia) will be at the opening night screening. Shankman will receive a film festival tribute and will be in conversation with writer David Rooney on Thursday, June 11 at 12:30 p.m. For tickets and information  visit the festival box office at 229 Commercial St. or visit provincetownfilm.org.