Photo: Joshua giant photo/@joshuagiantphoto
Diva Presents Mess Becomes Her
by Steve Desroches
There are plenty of Hocus Pocus drag shows to satiate the rabid fan base of the Disney Halloween classic each October. That’s why drag trio Diva, comprised of Delta Miles, Qya Cristal, and Roxy Pops, did a deep pop-culture dive to find inspiration for a brand-new Halloween season parody. They explored an encyclopedic amount of cult classics, camp masterpieces, and obscure queer favorites before landing on one in which, in some ways, they saw themselves: Death Becomes Her.
Now a beloved staple of Provincetown’s entertainment offerings, Diva has been slaying it every summer for the past five years with their stage shows at the Post Office Cabaret. They love what they do. As with most every creative endeavor, you’re only as good as your last show. And then there is the added challenge of getting an audience. Walking down Commercial Street in the summer is akin to being inside a pinball machine. There are so many competing attractions of every kind it’s a victory each time a ticket is sold, as that means you won out over all the other bells and whistles. But there’s another thing. As time goes on, as it always does, staying relevant is a continual challenge, especially when a new generation appears in Provincetown, with a new offering. That conundrum, the lengths an actress will go through to stay on top, is at the core of the film Death Becomes Her, and it gets a Provincetown twist in Mess Becomes Her as the queens from Diva tackle the same issue.
“There’s always a kernel of truth in the stories we’re telling,” says Roxy.
With that said Qya and Delta let out a laugh, as does Aria Hard, a new addition to the ensemble for this show. They keep cool heads and a sense of humor about all of it, but indeed it’s not a long time between being the hot young thing to yesterday’s news in show business. And trying to compete with those queens who’ve been on RuPaul’s Drag Race with the major boost being on television provides can be a source of anxiety for a Provincetown-based queen. But with age, comes wisdom. They all know it’s best to turn inward and focus on the talent and intelligence that got them to where they are in the first place. Camaraderie is more helpful than competition, and a sense of humor diffuses doubt. As the members of Diva are all in the gravitational pull of age 40, they in unison sing a tune from the film: “Wrinkled, wrinkled little star…hope they never see the scars.”
In the 1992 cult classic, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn play Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp, aging rivals, while Bruce Willis is plastic surgeon Ernest Melville, who Madeline steals from Helen. Isabella Rossellini is Lisle von Rhuman, a mysterious, beautiful woman who offers each woman a chance at staying young and beautiful forever in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for tale. It’s a classic self-aware look at the pressure of aging in Hollywood on women, much like All About Eve and The Substance, both of which find their way into the script written by Delta and Jacques Lamarre. Mess Becomes Her is set in the competitive drag world of Provincetown, though many liberties are taken as in reality it is a supportive and friendly community, say the cast. Though Roxy and Delta were very young, and Aria not even born yet, Death Becomes Her became a cultural touchstone once they all reached high school attracted by the glamour and camp of the story. For Qya, who was born the year the movie came out, it was a different story.
“Growing up Southern Baptist I did not see that movie,” says Qya. “No, not at all.”
As a professional trio, Diva commits to producing shows where each is allowed to shine equally. In this show, their 17th as an ensemble, Delta takes on Madeline, Roxy does Helen, and Qya is Lisle, while Aria is on “trouser patrol” in man-drag as Ernest. A comedic musical, the easiness of Diva off-stage is key to their success on. Hard-working and focused, they’re smart to make fun of that which might frighten them, in this case getting older. It takes the power away from silly social notions of aging. And it’s the perfect time of year, Halloween, to mock fears, after all. You’d think after how exhausting summer is for entertainers in this town, they’d want a break. But quite the contrary. The Halloween season in Provincetown has grown rapidly in popularity and in turn opportunities for creativity abound. Summer is a different animal, and the shows are tight and crisp. But autumn bring a chiller vibe and as such can be more playful, especially since the tenor of the audience changes in intensity to match the season.
“It might be the most creative time of the year,” says Delta. “Everyone gets in on Halloween, so it’s in the air. The summer shows are for the audience. Our Halloween shows are too, but they’re also for us. Halloween in Provincetown is magical, no doubt about it. I don’t know if any other town anywhere would support us doing a Halloween show every year. It’s part of what makes the season, the Halloween season, so special here.”
Mess Becomes Her is at the Post Office Cabaret, 303 Commercial St., Thursday through Saturday October 22 – 31, with an additional performance on Sunday, November 1, all at 7:30 p.m. Tickets ($20/$45) are available at the box office and online at postofficecafe.net. For more information call 508.487.0006.
