Colorful, bright, and brassy—that’s Anita Cocktail. For over 20 years Anita has been entertaining crowds throughout Provincetown, eliciting cheers and laughs and a few slacked jaws. Whether it’s a brunch or late-night affair, a roomful of booze-soaked bachelorettes, sassy gay men, or rowdy day trippers, Anita knows how to take command of any room that she’s in. Anita took some time out from preparing for the busy summer season to talk to Provincetown Magazine about her life in heels, where she’ll be performing this year, and her take on whether drag queens should have beards or not.
Provincetown Magazine: Hi Anita! Happy spring! This time of year is a big shift for Provincetown as everyone gets ready for the high season. Looks like your summer schedule is filling up. Where can folks see you this season?
Anita Cocktail: This year, especially, there’s a big shift, so I am grateful to be high this season. My schedule for my 22nd year is crazy! I have a solo show at the Provincetown Inn and Sunday Bingo at Harbor Hotel as part of my sponsorship with the Harbor Hotel. I have Drag Brunch Friday, Saturday, and Sundays at the Bay Cafe (formerly Bayside Betsy’s), a happy hour show Fridays and Saturdays at Helltown Kitchen, and The Anita Cocktail Variety Hourreturns this season at the Pilgrim House. Follow AnitaCocktailPT for all the updates!
PM: Your shows and brunches bring in guest stars from all over. Who are you bringing to Provincetown this year?
AC: I will be using a big mix of local talent and some of my favorite out-of-town guests. Ivy League is going to be here a little more regularly this season, and I am chatting with Lawanda, Tommie, Amanda, and some new performers about this season’s shows!
PM: We’ve noticed Anita’s look has changed a bit. Wigs, makeup, outfits all seem to be coming from a brighter and bolder color palette. Is Anita exploring a new look?
AC: She’s always played with color, but the last few seasons I’ve gotten some really colorful hair from a few of my wig designers and suppliers.
PM: Over the winter you did shows with full glitter beard. In the drag world there can be intense debate over bearded drag queens. What was the response to a bearded Anita, and do you think it’s a fad or here to stay?
AC: Oh, that debate is always going… “all drag is valid.” My bearded drag comes from a place of not wanting to shave in the winter. My face needs a break, so if I can take one, I do. My general rule is if I don’t have anything booked through winter by New Years, anything I do book between New Years and mid-April I do with a beard. Some people love it, some people hate it. I like it because it cuts down on some of the time it takes to get ready. The glitter part is surprisingly easy to get off. Easier than some of my eye shadows.
PM: You do morning brunches and late-night shows. How would you describe each audience and what do you notice that is different, and what’s the same?
AC: Their level of sobriety is the main difference. I can be dirty in the morning brunches, but I will be downright filthy at the night shows. I am, after all, sponsored by the Haven Center.
PM: The world is on fire right now and there is so much uncertainty, which makes it very hard for a town like Provincetown with a tourist-based economy to plan. Also, our population goes up ten-fold in the summer, and the crowds bring their mood with them, good or bad. What’s your vibe for the kind of summer we’re going to have?
AC: Oh, the world is a f—kin’ dumpster fire right now, so my hope is that people will continue to come here and escape their reality with us this season. Ptown is always a great reset and an incredible reminder of what safe places can look like, of what they can be, right? Like, here’s this beautiful magical place and we get to live here? We’re also the reason they come here and the reason they continue to come back. Celebrate that. Celebrate them and that vibe will survive. A lot has changed in my 22 years, but summer has always been a party, even for this California sober gal.
—Steve Desroches
