{"id":4078,"date":"2018-07-15T22:40:17","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T05:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=4078"},"modified":"2018-07-15T22:40:17","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T05:40:17","slug":"more-ptown-nights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2018\/07\/15\/more-ptown-nights\/","title":{"rendered":"More Ptown Nights"},"content":{"rendered":"

During my Fourth of July sojourn in Provincetown, I saw several shows.  This time, I\u2019ll start with the Ptown Art House<\/em> and three shows running all season.  I don\u2019t know the last time I enjoyed a show as much as Varla Jean Merman<\/strong>\u2019s Under A Big Top<\/em><\/strong>.  I laughed so hard, I was exhausted by the end!  The clever lyrics (worthy of Sondheim<\/strong>), the psychotic bits (including a mind reader), the swing, the costumes, even the unscripted tumble from the stage \u2013 it was all perfection.  This may be my favorite Varla show ever – which is good since it is her 20th<\/sup> anniversary in show biz.  Don\u2019t miss it.<\/p>\n

I was then lucky enough to see Steve Grand<\/strong>\u2019s opening\u2026well, his opening night in Provincetown.  We all know he\u2019s gorgeous and has a great voice.  What impressed me most was how he\u2019s grown as a performer.  Listen, kids, it\u2019s not easy to stand in front of a hundred queens and keep them entertained for an hour \u2013 especially fully dressed!  If I had any criticism, it\u2019s that my focus was drawn to his erect right nipple.  But, I chalked it up to the fact that I was sitting up front.  You\u2019re welcome.  By the by, his new CD just came out and you can grab it at SteveGrand.com<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Then I saw Well-Strung<\/em><\/strong>\u2019s new show, A Night at the Movies<\/em><\/strong>.  From the slick opening credits (a la Hitchcock<\/strong>), to the first song (\u201cScience Fiction \u2013 Double Feature\u201d from Rocky Horror<\/em><\/strong>), to the men playing various instruments, I knew this was not gonna be your usual Well-Strung <\/em>show.  First off, everything tied into movies \u2013 and what doors that opened up.  We got an evocative John Williams <\/strong>medley (with accompanying film clips), a beatific \u201cMoon River\u201d, and even some Titanic<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 which included leaning!  The boys conceived and directed the show, and I think grasping control of their professional destiny has brought them to the next level.  It was bold, creative, and slick.  If you think you\u2019ve seen Well-Strung<\/em>, you ain\u2019t seen nothing yet.  Get tix for all these acts at PtownArtHouse.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile at the Crown & Anchor<\/em>, I managed to take in Star Boys<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 well, not so much take them in as peruse the goods.  When they called the show a burlesque, they weren\u2019t kidding.  Yes, it\u2019s a high-concept evening centered on outer space.  But these \u201cboys\u201d spend the majority of their time outta their clothes!  Not only are they handsome, but they have lots to show \u2013 if you catch my drift.  Aside from their hot bodies and their bouncy bits, they\u2019re also incredibly limber.  Two of them are acrobats and aerial artists.  Here\u2019s what I learned \u2013 one doesn\u2019t need to look up to watch an aerial act.  The silks and rings were roughly a foot off the ground \u2013 the worst that could have happened was a chipped nail.  But that didn\u2019t take away from the incredible body control, the sensual routines, or the jubilant audience who cheered every gyration and every inch\u2026oh, did I mention they\u2019re naked?  And they don\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n

I know I previously mentioned that The Skivvies <\/em><\/strong>would be at the Crown <\/em>on August 6 and 7.  But now we know that their special guest will be Randy Harrison<\/strong>, formerly the twink on Queer as Folk<\/em><\/strong> (US).  And Ptown will have him in his underwear?  Talk about a must-see!  Get tix to all the Crown & Anchor <\/em>shows at OnlyAtTheCrown.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile at the Provincetown Theater<\/em>, the new artistic director David Drake <\/strong>has programmed Love! Valour! Compassion! <\/em><\/strong>by Terrence McNally <\/strong>(which will also star Mr. Drake and his fabled phallus dangling betwixt his legs).  Not only that, but Mr. McNally is flying out to be honored on July 20th<\/sup> with the first-ever Provincetown American Playwright Award<\/em>.  The ever-quotable McNally quipped, \u201cI am honored beyond all measure to be the recipient of the first PAPA award.  Since I turn 80 in November, maybe you want to make it the GRANPAPA award.\u201d  That Terry is such a scamp!  L!V!C!<\/em> runs through August 30th<\/sup>.  Get your tix at ProvincetownTheater.org<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During my Fourth of July sojourn in Provincetown, I saw several shows.  This time, I\u2019ll start with the Ptown Art House and three shows running all season.  I don\u2019t know the last time I enjoyed a show as much as Varla Jean Merman\u2019s Under A Big Top.  I laughed so hard, I was exhausted by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4079,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions\/4079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}