Hokus Pokus Live Comes to Provincetown for Halloween
by Steve Desroches
As a child of the nineties Ginger Minj was in heaven. The 1993 film Hocus Pocus came out when she was nine and not only did the black flame candle get lit, but so too did the little drag queen inside young Joshua Eads who’d of course grow up to be the red-headed drag superstar she is today. Ever since appearing on season seven of RuPaul’s Drag Race and then season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Ginger Minj has been zipping around the world nabbing roles on stage and screen. But when she heard that indeed the years-long rumor was true and a sequel to Hocus Pocus would be made starring the original Sanderson Sisters trio Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Bette Midler, she was overjoyed. But she really flipped her wig when she heard that Anne Fletcher was hired to direct the film, the same director at the helm of the 2018 comedy drama Dumplin’, in which Minj appeared. She immediately texted Fletcher in the middle of the night saying that she would do anything to just be on set, never mind in the film, even offering to hold broomsticks if need be.
After a period of radio silence Minj’s phone rang. It was Fletcher with orders to get to Newport, Rhode Island, as fast as Minj could be on the set in the Ocean State city made to look like Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. She did, and Minj and fellow RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Kornbread Jeté and Kahmora Hall portrayed drag queens in a Sanderson Sister costume contest as Winifred, Mary, and Sarah, respectively. Their contracts said they had to stay firmly put in one location during the overnight shoots, but whoever drafted the agreement clearly never worked with drag queens before, and the trio continuously wandered around, prompting announcements over the public address systems loudly asking, “Where are the drag queens? Would the drag queens please return to the stage?”
But the biggest thrill came from meeting the stars of the film, who made the cameo queens feel welcome, at home, and like equals, with Midler being particularly caring and kind. “Bette pulled me aside and said I really like what you’re doing with me, I really hope you continue with it and put it into a show,” says Minj. “So I blame Bette Midler for planting this seed in my head.”
This Halloween weekend Provincetown gets to see just what Minj did with Midler’s advice as she, along with Gidget Galore and Aria Hard, brings Hokus Pokus Live, a drag drenched satire of the beloved Halloween cult classic to the Art House. And indeed, it was largely drag queens that made Hocus Pocus a classic as upon its release, it was a critical and box office flop whose popularity came many years later. Midler told Minj that she was aware of the obsessive LGBTQ fans, and when Minj told her “you can’t swing a black cat at Halloween without hitting drag queens doing the Sanderson Sisters,” Midler said she was well aware and that they helped turn the film into the cultural phenomenon it is today.
The show opened in early October with performances in Palm Springs, San Diego, and Los Angeles, with runs scheduled in Orlando and New York City before landing in Provincetown for an opening on Halloween night. And it’s been a hit wherever it’s played propelled by a cultural perfect storm. The popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race and what it can do for a queen’s career, like Minj’s, is evident giving a bit of a Midas touch to those entertainers who not only have the talent, but also the smarts to capitalize on television fame. Then there’s the enduring and growing popularity of the holiday Halloween and the film Hocus Pocus, which to many fans of the high haunted holiday is the gold standard for Halloween cinema and is on heavy broadcast repeat each October. And of course, there’s the significance of Halloween in LGBTQ culture and the longstanding celebrations in queer enclaves like Provincetown.
“Halloween has always been gay Christmas,” says Minj. “It’s a time when we as a community can be ourselves, strangely enough, by dropping the masks you have to wear day to day. Halloween allows us a certain freedom to be ourselves by being fabulous and crazy.”
Minj keeps a dizzying schedule touring and traveling for work, but she’s adamant that there is no where she’d rather be on Halloween than in Provincetown. Minj made her Provincetown debut at the Art House in 2021 and has been a staple of the summer season ever since, most recently with one of her Hokus Pokus Live co-stars Gidget Galore. In fact, Minj and her husband Ceejay Russell did the math recently and they’ve spent more hours in Provincetown this year than anywhere else, including their home in Central Florida. Upon arrival she knew that Provincetown was a place she wanted to become a part of for the long haul. In addition to these Halloween shows, Minj will return with a solo Christmas show this Holly Folly, Provincetown’s annual LGBTQ holiday festival which this year is December 6 through 8.
“As much as I love Halloween, Christmas is my favorite,” says Minj. “It’s my favorite time of year. The weather, the lights, the cookies! I love it all. I’m so happy to be able to be in Provincetown for Halloween and Holly Folly. I just want to be woven into the fabric of the community and find my place there and be there as much as I can.”
Hokus Pokus Live is at the Art House, 214 Commercial St., Thursday, October 31 through Sunday, November 3 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($40/$65) are available at the box office and online at hokuspokuslive.com.
