As Louis de Rougemont, a real-life British adventurer of the Victorian era, Rodney Witherspoon II is an affable storyteller. He struts and frets for 90 minutes on the Garden Stage […]
Theater
THEATER REVIEW
Finding Love Amid the Culture Wars
The Provincetown Theater puts pink icing on The Cake
Della, the North Carolina baker at the center of Bekah Brunstetter’s play The Cake, is a deeply conflicted woman. She’s not a cultural punching bag — a Paula Deen or […]
DRAG REVIEW
Varla Jean Merman Gives Us a Chance to Breathe
And a calendar of drag for this week
The transition to a post-pandemic world happened at such breakneck speed that, to many, it didn’t feel like a transition at all. After spending 14 long months in quarantine, I […]
PERFORMANCE
Timothy DuWhite’s Message for the Hard to Love
The Provincetown Theater re-opens with his one-man show
What does it mean to be — as the poet, essayist, and playwright Timothy DuWhite puts it — “hard to love”? It’s being seen as “an impossible partner for people,” […]
STATE OF PERFORMANCE
As Live Performers Return, Covid Turns Venues Inside Out
Most expect indoor seating to happen, but aren’t sure how or when
The problem, as most producers of live entertainment will tell you, is planning. Though everyone is expecting indoor entertainment to return to the Outer Cape in the next few months, […]
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
As Covid Subsides, Theaters Push to Reopen
Outdoor stages, new approaches planned
Few things in the life of the Outer Cape have been hit harder by Covid than theater. Live outdoor cabaret performances resumed after the lockdown, and the Provincetown Tennessee Williams […]
THEATER
For Sallie Tighe, the Outer Cape Is Both Stage and Salvation
She and a corps of local talent will once again put on ‘The 24 Hour Plays’
The thing that reassures Sallie Tighe the most about “The 24 Hour Plays” — the annual Presidents Day tradition at the Provincetown Theater — is that she doesn’t have to […]
OPERA
Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmélites Has Drama, Nuns, and Guillotines
The martyrs of Compiègne inspired a story of terror and grace
The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming Les Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc for free next Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m. You won’t want to miss it. The opera is […]
COVID UPDATE
Despite New Guidelines, Indoor Venues to Remain Mostly Shut
Phase three, step two changes leave some scratching their heads
Theater and music lovers were overjoyed last week when Gov. Charlie Baker announced that lower-risk communities may move to “step two” of phase three reopening guidelines, as of Monday, Oct. […]
THEATER
Tennessee Williams Fest Stays Live and Distant for 2020
The Municipal Abbatoir to be performed at parking lot drive-in
The view from the Grace Hall parking lot #3 of the dune and water tower above it would not be part of a Provincetown promotional flyer. But the sky was […]
THEATER
This All Happened
The indelible feeling of being part of something great
Wasn’t it a great summer? Like the others before? But this year! There was that first show — remember how thrilling it was to get back to the Harbor after […]
QUEER ‘I’
PAPA’s Got a Brand New Gig
The Provincetown Theater strikes the right note during sustained crisis
In the summer season of Covid-19, there’s more drama playing out in the Capitol and White House than on the stages of the Outer Cape. That role reversal is not […]
DRAG
Cacophony Daniels Celebrates Her Own Family Values
The show-tune belter returns to Provincetown
“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 […]
MUSICAL THEATER
The Sound of Music Was Silenced
But canceled Middle School Drama Club production still sent a message
All through the month leading up to their final realization that The Sound of Music, this year’s musical at Nauset Regional Middle School, would not be performed, the members of […]
LIVE PERFORMANCES
Drive-in Concerts? Honk Once for Yes, Twice for No
Payomet looks at ways to save its summer season
Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, N.H., hosted a public concert last Saturday that was safe enough for a sizable audience to be there live during the pandemic. How was that […]