by G.W. Mercure
Jane Lynch is a multifaceted actor acclaimed for iconic characters in Glee and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The dynamic Kate Flannery is known for her work on The Office, Magnum P.I., and Young Sheldon. This August, Provincetown audiences will see the two in a fresh context as Lynch and Flannery bring their cabaret collaboration, The Trouble with Angels, to Town Hall on August 13. The show combines classic pop music from the 1950s and ‘60s with quick comedy, tight harmonies, and the kind of onstage chemistry that can only come from years of shared experience.
Though Lynch and Flannery are best known for their work on screen, this production draws on a different part of their artistic lives. The two have been singing together for decades, long before their breakout television roles.
“Kate Flannery is a very good friend,” Lynch says. “We’ve been singing together since, like, the ‘80s, and started in Chicago, and we both have very much the same taste in music.”
That shared taste leans toward mid-century pop—songs their parents played, often marked by strong melodies and vocal-driven arrangements. It’s a blend of styles that falls somewhere in between, grounded in the American pop standards of the pre-rock era.
“We like the stuff our parents like,” Lynch says. “Like the late ‘50s, early ‘60s stuff… the more classic stuff, the more kind of jazzy, poppy type stuff.”
The show includes selections from those decades and incorporates material developed over years of performing together. In addition to past cabaret shows, Lynch and Flannery have toured with a holiday concert since 2015. This latest production draws on some of those arrangements while standing on its own, thematically.
“We’ve just kind of compiled a bunch of our favorite songs from that era,” Lynch says. “We’re both Irish Catholic girls, so it’s a nod to the era and how that movie, The Trouble with Angels, shaped who we are and our taste in music and our taste in being naughty.”
The show doesn’t follow the plot of the 1966 film (directed by Ida Lupino) about two recalcitrant teenage girls struggling through their first semester at an all-girls Catholic school. But its influence is felt in the spirit of the performance: cheeky, playful, and rooted in that particular cultural moment. The format is simple: a sequence of songs performed with a live band, woven together by banter and character work that highlights the contrast between Lynch’s control and Flannery’s energy.
“You know, Kate and I have our own dynamic,” Lynch says. “She’s very impulsive and unpredictable, and I’m much more of a taskmaster, kind of a precise person. So we use that to our advantage. That’s what has always made us kind of funny together.”
Lynch describes the rhythm of the show as steady and varied. Songs move quickly from one to the next, and while the structure is set, the performances leave room for spontaneity, especially in how Flannery plays with the audience.
“It’s fixed,” she says. “Although, if you watch Kate, it’s just gonna look like she was shot out of a cannon and goes any which way… I say to her, ‘You are reckless and imprecise.’ She’s anything but; it just makes it appear that way.”
Backing the duo is a jazz quartet led by Tony Guerrero. The group has worked with Lynch and Flannery for years, and their sound gives the production both polish and warmth. The arrangements are tight, but the overall feeling is loose enough to let the humor and improvisation land naturally.
“We’re using a quartet for this one,” Lynch says. “They are just magnificent. And they’re bright, shiny people… just musical masters.”
While Lynch has performed across film, television, and stage—including Broadway runs in Annie and Funny Girl—cabaret holds a particular appeal. The format lets her set her own pace, choose her material, and build a show that feels personal. That same openness shaped her career from the start. She never built a master plan, and she never tried to chase a specific role.
“I never had any plan for my life,” she says. “I always liked being funny. I always liked doing plays, and it was just kind of a natural progression… I knew I wanted to be on the stage, though I was never questioning that desire. That, in fact, was the only desire I had.”
Even as her resume grew with major television roles and film appearances, Lynch stayed focused on the work at hand rather than trying to shape a larger story out of it.
“We’re all just being battered about in this universe, and at the end, we kind of make a cause-and-effect story out of it,” she says. “But I think once you let go of goals and story and, you know, what’s next, then you enjoy your life much more.”
That mindset shows up in The Trouble with Angels. It’s a show built from experience but not weighed down by it. It’s not trying to impress as much as it’s trying to connect with music, humor, and the kind of presence that only comes from doing the work for a long time.
“You know what? I don’t step outside of myself,” she says. “It doesn’t interest me. And I find that when I try to take stock of where I’m at and where I’ve been… it’s boring. But that’s what journalists do. They go, ‘Oh, she was here and then she was there.’”
What’s clear is that Lynch continues to work because she enjoys it. And in this case, the collaboration with Flannery brings its own kind of joy.
“It’s a love fest for us,” she says. “And usually the audience loves us back.”
Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery perform in The Trouble with Angels at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St., Wednesday August 13, 7 p.m., as part of Payomet Center for the Performing Arts’ Road Show series. For tickets ($55 – 85) and information, call 508.487.5400 or visit payomet.org.
