Reports of the passing of the Summer of ’22 have been greatly exaggerated.  Despite accepting that fall was upon us, I stubbornly needed one last hurrah.  Back to Provincetown I went – damn the chill in the air and those elongated shadows.  My last official outing was seeing Steven Brinberg’s Simply Barbra at the Provincetown Art House (PtownArtHouse.com).  As always, Brinberg is a delight replicating every vocal inflection, tic and nuance of the diva.  But he doesn’t stop with Streisand – he evokes at least a dozen other luminaries, including Eartha Kitt, Bette Davis, Ethel Merman, Lena Horne, Bea Arthur, and even the great Anthony Newley.  A highlight was his tribute to Hello, Dolly!, which turned into a duet…and then a trio.  You have to see it to believe it.  The special guest appearance of crooner Nicolas King was just the icing on an already rich cake.  Check him out if he comes to your locale – the full schedule is at SimplyBarbra.com.

I was both tickled and humbled by the many people who came up to me after the show to say they’re fans of the column or of Billy Masters LIVE (we’re currently on a hiatus).  It really touched me – which also happened later at Velvet’s underwear party.  Come to think of it, I was also tickled there…among other places.