“Cacophony is all about enjoying the moments we have,” Courter Simmons says of his drag persona, Cacophony Daniels. “I’ve always wanted her to be the kind of person you get a feeling of love and acceptance from, someone who will make you laugh.”
Daniels is back at Pilgrim House in Provincetown, following a successful 2019 debut, with a new show, “So Close and Yet So Far,” which Simmons says is “Cacophony’s guide to surviving the pandemic.” Performances, which are held outdoors and are socially distant, run daily at 7 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 1.
“Last year was the first time I dipped my toe in the water of P’town, and I loved it,” he says. “The audiences are very discerning. They know good entertainment and a night of fun when they see it. If you can do well here, then you can do well anywhere, because everywhere else in the world pales in comparison to Provincetown.”
David Burbank, the events and entertainment manager at Pilgrim House, invited Cacophony back to town as soon as it was possible to launch an outdoor summer series. “The audience loved Cacophony when she was here last year,” Burbank says. “I’ve been watching her virtually throughout the quarantine. She offers some great vocals from Broadway to ballads with such strength and joy. Our patrons can use some of that now.”
Cacophony has been performing live on Facebook every Tuesday at 8 p.m. and intends to continue throughout the pandemic. “It’s important to remember to take time out of our lives to recharge our batteries,” Simmons says. “Especially now, when we’re all worried about tomorrow.”
Simmons started performing very young and went professional at age 12. “I grew up in a small town in California that had a children’s theater program,” he says. “That’s where I was bit by the theater bug. In 2001, I moved to New York City to pursue acting and singing.”
Cacophony was born to fill a vacuum. “Being a stage performer means that you go through times when you are unemployed,” Simmons says. “And when we think of an unemployed actor, we think of financial hardship, but, really, the saddest thing is that you have nowhere to express your creativity.”
Developing Cacophony not only fit Simmons’s stage talents, it matched his stature and the unusual timbre of his voice. “It is higher in pitch than that of most men,” he says. “I discovered that singing as Cacophony allows me to belt way up there in the stratosphere, and that’s where my voice naturally sits.”
It didn’t take long for Simmons to realize that, as Cacophony, he was more independent, career-wise. “As a theater or screen actor,” he says, “you’re relying on casting directors, directors, choreographers, and producers to hire you. As a drag queen, I’m able to do what I want to do. When I have a song I’d like to sing, I choose that song. And when people enjoy my show, which is the experience I’ve had, more and more audiences will want to see it. Cacophony has gone from performing at a couple of bars in New York City to traveling the world.”
Cacophony’s appearances have also become a way for Simmons to support LGBTQ pride, a mission that is close to his heart. “It’s important to make use of the voice you have been given to speak out for others, who may not have a voice themselves,” he says. “I am blessed that I grew up in a family that was always accepting and supportive of me, but not everyone is that lucky.” Simmons’s father, a minister, married Simmons and his husband, Jason Cianciotto, a gay rights activist and co-author of the book LGBT Youth in America’s Schools.
The couple recently welcomed their son, Derrik, into their lives. “We knew that we wanted to adopt an older kid out of the foster system, maybe three to seven years old,” Simmons says. “We started to look at profiles of children who have no family to go to, and we came across Derrik’s video. Even though he was only 10 when it was shot, there were clues about who he might grow up to be. He talked about playing with dolls, talked about singing, and there was a moment when he crossed his legs in a very fabulous kind of way. There was no way of knowing for sure, obviously, but my husband said, ‘He is older than we were planning on, but I think if we take this kid in, we’re probably going to save his life.’ So many LGBT kids struggle through adolescence, but kids in the foster system have an even harder time.”
As soon as they met Derrik, Simmons says, “There was never any question that he was always supposed to be a part of the family. Derrik needed parents to usher him through the rest of his life, and that’s what we are privileged to do.”
When Derrik moved in with them in 2018, they “gave him the full crayon box of anything that he wanted to play with and experiment with as far as who he was and wanted to be,” Simmons adds. “Derrik took an immediate interest in Cacophony. He started to ask, ‘Can I have a dress? Can you put makeup on me?’ ”
That same year, Derrik attended RuPaul’s DragCon in New York City with Simmons and Cianciotto, wearing a dress that Simmons, who creates his own wardrobe, made to match Cacophony’s. “Bringing Derrik to the convention was a great way for him to see that there are thousands of people just like him, and that he doesn’t have to feel shame or isolation because of who he is. Doing drag and being in drag means being oneself and celebrating whatever that is.”
Broadway Baby
The event: Cacophony Daniels in “So Close and Yet So Far”
The time: Daily at 7 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 1
The place: Pilgrim House, 356 Commercial St., Provincetown
The cost: $35 at pilgrimhouseptown.com
