As I’ve rounded out most summers in the past, I ventured down to Provincetown to see the ageless Marilyn Maye in concert – this time, beyond the confines of a smaller venue and commanding Town Hall.  To call her ageless is actually ridiculous – she’s 97 years old and proud of it.  This marks her 14^th year performing in Ptown (a few years before that, Auntie Marilyn was part of a group I vacationed with).  That she resembles some of the drag queens in town only tickles her: “They used to tell me that people in Ptown only went to see drag queens.  I told them to bill me as a drag queen!”  When many performers get up there in years, reviewer say things like, “She sounds good for her age.”  Make no mistake – Marilyn Maye sounds good for ANY age.  She is suddenly in this refreshed stage of her career, and her Provincetown concert was better than I’ve heard her in over a decade.  She loves performing, and performing has certainly returned the favor and given her a vibrancy that belies her many decades.  This show celebrated her record-holding 76 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and I swear I never heard her sing more than half that material.  It was really a special night, and the capacity audience showered her with love – including vigorous rhythmic foot stomping straight out of a Leni Riefenstahl flick!  I found it all quite emotional and told her I was moved to tears.  “I was that bad?” she quipped.  Hardly!  Some highlights were the theme songs to Cabaret and The Way We Were, a medley of “By Myself” and “Being Alive”, and the entire first-act finale to Hello, Dolly!…to say nothing of a kick-ass rendition of “I Will Survive” (most of which can be found on BillyMasters.com).  Bravo to producer Mark Cortale for bringing her to town each and every year.

Another of my favorite annual events is GayDays Anaheim.  While some continue to debate whether I was a founding father, what is not in doubt is that I’ve always supported this fantastic gathering at Disneyland in Anaheim – and I’m not even one of those Disney Queens (although I certainly enjoy them).  The upcoming event takes place September 12-14 and includes quite a few of my favorite queens – Ginger Minj, Kay Sedia, and even Cheyenne Jackson.  You can check out the full lineup of events and buy tickets in advance at GayDaysAnaheim.com.