Review by Steve Desroches
It’s the end of the world as we know it and Miz Cracker feels just fine. Actually, neither part of that statement is entirely true. Let’s face it, these are trying times. What you think might be a charming marine layer of fog is actually the smoke from record-breaking wild fires burning out of control in Canada. Killer whales are attacking boats in coordinated efforts, and the world has never been hotter…ever, not just in recorded human history, but by evidence left behind in nature. It’s only July of 2023 and the 2024 presidential election is already shaping up to be a doozy. Locally, things aren’t much better. Yes, indeed that martini costs $27, the housing crisis has gone from the ridiculous to the absurd, and are those MAGA hats that couple are wearing on Commercial Street?!
Keeping up with today’s headlines is enough to drive you insane. And the interpreters of our times, here in Provincetown each summer, are often the multitude of drag queens who perform throughout town, including Miz Cracker, who returns to the Art House with her sophomore effort after making her Provincetown debut last summer. Through her often-comedic work, Miz Cracker provides both an escape from the real world and a lampoon of the issues of the day, regularly. But this season is a bit different as Miz Cracker and many of her fellow queens, arrived to town with their shoulders above their ears because this is a particularly stressful time for them as Republicans have cynically and hatefully made them a target in an attempt to make drag queens the new scapegoats and boogeymen to distract from real issues, for which they have no real answers, and to frighten enough of the electorate to try and sway votes their way. Miz Cracker takes all of the above and puts it through the prism of drag, making it timely, crisp, and devilishly clever.
Her new show is a delightful stroll through the history of the world, and Miz Cracker’s own life, detailing how we got here, starting with Eve’s bite of the apple, and what we’re going to do about it rather than run around in circles and cry. A stand-out star of season ten of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Miz Cracker combines sly stand-up with the glamorama of drag, adding an intelligent narrative that at times goes “there” with glittery interpretations of everyone from Jesus to Joan of Arc. If you’re looking for an “only in Provincetown” kind of night, Miz Cracker is your queen.
Miz Cracker performs at the Art House, 214 Commercial St., Wednesday through Saturday now until September 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($40/$50/$75) are available at the box office and online at ptownarthouse.com. For more information call 508.487.9222.
