Discord Addams Brings Tricks and Treats to the Pilgrim House
by Steve Desroches
The Pope is pissed. He’s grown tired of the Devil getting all the attention on Halloween and he wants to claim the holiday for the Catholic Church. He’s ready to deck the Vatican out with jack o’lanterns and scarecrows. With the help of Sister Mary Katherine Louise Sassington, the Pope is preparing to conduct an exorcism to take over October 31. That’s the conceit behind drag performer Discord Addams’ new show The Pope’s Holy Halloween Spooktacular at the Pilgrim House. Fans of Addams, and RuPaul’s Drag Race, will of course understand the inspiration comes from season 18’s mash up challenge, The Snatch Game of Love, in which Addams portrayed the Pope. But to be more specific, Addams wasn’t portraying the Pope, but a pope, and a fictitious one at that. Having auditioned 11 times for RuPaul’s Drag Race, Addams had many characters prepared for the beloved celebrity impersonation challenge—Edgar Allan Poe and Ozzy Osbourne, to name a couple. When she came upon the idea of doing a mélange of papal archetypes over the millennia melded into one campy character, it seemed a stroke of genius, even if the timing proved unfortunate.
“I was worried because the Pope died the week before we shot that episode,” says Addams. “I showed up with only that character for The Snatch Game. But when I asked RuPaul if he found it funny, he said, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s hilarious’. So, I went with it.”
While the winner of that challenge was Myki Meeks for her dead-on Drew Barrymore impersonation, Addams received high marks and it proved to be a boost to her career overall for her creativity, delightfully demented delivery, and for just being plain old funny. It’s why when Addams decided to write a Halloween-specific show it was time to bring back His Holiness. For years, Halloween was actually a time that drag queens would take a break and let the masses do for one night what they do all year long. But in recent years there’s high demand for drag shows on the high haunted holiday, sometimes called Gay Christmas, and Addams is there for it. Her birthday is November 1, so for as long as she can remember, her birthday parties were always Halloween themed and costumed events. Halloween is in her drag DNA.
Now based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Addams was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. While Ohio in general may get a bad rap as bland and boring, and Akron in particular dismissed as a relatively inconsequential city, it is a mistake to make the assumption it’s a cultural wasteland. Akron has long had a robust arts scene, specifically when it comes to music, as it has produced bands like the Black Keys, Devo, The Waitresses, as well as Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame may be in nearby Cleveland, but Akron has the rock and roll receipts. Correspondingly, Akron has a drag scene of its own like any other creative community. Inspired by punk and fashion, Addams created a look and presented a viewpoint that was initially out of step in the Buckeye State where pageants reigned supreme. But as drag became more popular in the mainstream it made for more opportunities in the underground to explore a unique vision for oneself.
“Growing up drag was very pageant-orientated, so they didn’t know what to do with me,” says Addams. “Now that I’m older, and Drag Race has given drag such a platform and freedom of self-expression, Ohio loves me again. It’s all expanding everywhere.”
With this show Addams is making her Provincetown debut, another goal now realized. Since appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race, which can, for many, feel like a Midas kiss, the opportunities keep flowing. Her punk band Dame Judy recently played the Austin International Drag Festival in Texas, and on this particular day, she’s on her way to Orlando, Florida, as the Spooky Season has her booked, this time with castmates Mia Starr and Cynthia Lee Fontaine in God Save Us All: Dracula vs Bloody Mary vs the Pope, in which they all revive their Snatch Game characters. However, this Halloween weekend Addams is coming to Provincetown with her drag pal and bandmate Kat Sass as the Pope’s ride or die nun sidekick in a show that is part cabaret and part party as she involves the crowd as they shout at the devil. Addams sighs and lets out a giggle of disbelief that his is her life now.
“I grew up really poor,” says Addams. “I never thought I could live a life in the arts. I never thought I’d get out of Ohio or Florida. I just, yeah, I just…I’m just taking it all in and loving every minute of it.”
Discord Addams presents The Pope’s Holy Halloween Spooktacular at the Pilgrim House, 336 Commercial St., Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 at 9 p.m. Tickets ($40/$50/$75) are available at the box office and online at pilgrimhouseptown.com. For more information call 508.487.6424.
