{"id":92971,"date":"2024-09-01T22:51:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T05:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=92971"},"modified":"2024-09-01T22:51:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T05:51:12","slug":"billy-and-ptown-divas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2024\/09\/01\/billy-and-ptown-divas\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy and Ptown Divas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy heart is broken that I\u2019ve lost my mother this past weekend. 
\nSadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.\u201d <\/em> <\/em><\/span> <\/em><\/span>
\n\u2013 <\/em>Mariah Carey <\/strong>notes the passing of her mother, singer Patricia<\/strong>. 
\nWhile it may be a tragic turn, Mimi does not say that the death of her estranged sister Alison
\n<\/strong>\u2013 who has been HIV-positive since 1990 \u2013 was particularly sad for her.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After spending so much time overseas, I ended my summer with back-to-back excursions to Provincetown.  Why didn\u2019t I just stay there?  Give a fella a chance to catch his breath \u2013 and get more condoms!  During my first jaunt, I saw the terrific Thirsty Burlington <\/strong>in Cher<\/em><\/strong> 1987<\/em><\/strong>.  Like her previous show (Cher<\/em><\/strong> 1975<\/em><\/strong>), this is locked into a specific era of the diva\u2019s career.  While Cher<\/strong> spent most of the \u201880s focusing on acting, 1987 marked her return to recording such hits as \u201cI Found Someone\u201d, \u201cWe All Sleep Alone\u201d, and \u201cBang Bang\u201d \u2013 all sung live by Thirsty.  What is Cher without spectacular gowns?  Earlier this summer, Bob Mackie <\/strong>gave Burlington his seal of approval, so that\u2019s good enough for me.  Having this talented diva back where she belongs is a gift that keeps on giving.  She\u2019s at The Crown and Anchor <\/em>on Tuesdays through September 17th<\/sup>.  Grab your tickets at OnlyAtTheCrown.com<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I then caught Jamie Morris <\/strong>and his talented troupe at the Post Office Caf\u00e9 and Cabaret <\/em>for The Devil Wears Payless<\/em><\/strong>.  I was curious how he\u2019d turn this flick into an hour show.  Cleverly, he jettisoned several subplots and focused his abundant gifts on the moments we all wait for (he did similar work with Mommie Queerest<\/em><\/strong>).  Morris\u2019 impersonation of Ms. Priestly is a jewel, and the rest of his players provide the perfect setting.  It\u2019s a clever and triumphant evening of high camp in the best way possible.  It runs through October 6th<\/sup>, at which point it will likely trickle down to some tragic dinner theatre in your locale.  Until then, get your tickets at PostOfficeCafe.net<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Later in the week, I returned to Provincetown to see John McDaniel <\/strong>and Liz Callaway <\/strong>\u2013 again at the Post Office Cabaret<\/em>.  There aren\u2019t enough superlatives in the world to describe Liz Callaway.  Strike that \u2013 she revealed that one critic called her the Marni Nixon <\/strong>of animation (look it up).  Quite simply, she is sublime.  If I were someone who believed in God, I\u2019d say he kissed those golden vocal cords, which show no sign of stopping.  That she is as down to earth as anyone with her extraordinary talent only makes me love her more.  The show included a generous portion from her live, Grammy<\/em>-nominated CD, To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim<\/em><\/strong>.  You can still buy it at all good (and not-so-good) retailers.  Credit McDaniel for bringing her to Ptown and collaborating on a delightful show filled with lots of fantastic medleys \u2013 and harmonies!  And there\u2019s dish.  You do know about her filling in for Streisand<\/strong>, right?  There\u2019s only so much she can say, but say it she does.  Thanks, Liz (and Johnny).<\/p>\n

One could say I saved the best for last.  Certainly, it\u2019s hard to top Miss Richfield 1981 <\/strong>\u2013 although scores of people have tried.  Her show, Phony Baloney<\/em><\/strong>, grapples with the AI crisis \u2013 and nobody is facing more of a crisis than Miss Richfield herself.  Armed solely with her Sharp <\/em>cell phone (bought at Radio Shack<\/em>, y\u2019know), she\u2019s had capacity audiences in stitches all summer at the Pilgrim House <\/em>as she tries to tackle technology.  She\u2019s assisted (and sometimes not assisted) by audience members who don\u2019t know what they\u2019re getting into.  That\u2019s all for the best.  Her material is fresh, her mind is lightning fast, and her costumes…well, at least she\u2019s got her mind and material.  Oh, she\u2019s also got shows at the Pilgrim House <\/em>until September 14th<\/sup>.  Get your tickets at PilgrimHousePtown.com<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy heart is broken that I\u2019ve lost my mother this past weekend.  Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.\u201d    \u2013 Mariah Carey notes the passing of her mother, singer Patricia.  While it may be a tragic turn, Mimi does not say that the death of<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92971","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\/92971","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=92971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92980,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92971\/revisions\/92980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}