Provincetown rolls out the red carpet for blockbuster world celebrities

Little did the Pilgrims, who first landed in Provincetown Harbor, realize that their first step in the New World would create a magnet for visitors during 400 years to come. The idyllic vacation town, which locals call Ptown, represents the perfect vacation destination for picturesque beaches, cool days by the pool and smoldering nights on the town. What many don’t know is that Ptown may be the nation’s best-kept secret for stellar entertainers who find time to sidestep Las Vegas, New York and LA’s mega venues for the intimate venues in Provincetown.

While summer brings the sameness to some vacation spots, Provincetown celebrates both a summer and a second summer, a wild and entertaining ride after Joan Rivers lights up a Fourth of July followed by Cape Cod’s largest carnival celebration and parade the third week of August each year. Second Summer in Ptown is a very special extending of America’s favorite time of early summer into October and Halloween.

Be a part of the excitement in 2014 as Provincetown attractions offer up top-flight entertainment, with over 40 acclaimed performers on the calendar, many of who are Tony, Emmy and Oscar award winners. In addition, many of Cape Cod’s most acclaimed festivals and annual events will be taking place in the coming months. Hurry up and find your seats up-close and personal with you favorite stars:

An Evening with ANA GASTEYER, July 12-13, The Art House: Ana Gasteyer is best known for her incomparable work on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. During her six-year stint, she created some of the most famous SNL characters. Ana Gasteyer is best known for her incomparable work on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. During her six-year stint, she created some of the most famous SNL characters.

An Evening with ARMISTEAD MAUPIN, July 13 & 18, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: Warm, engaging, surprising and entertaining, Armistead Maupin returns to The Crown & Anchor’s Paramount Room for 2 nights. Hear readings from his latest works along with anecdotes and insights from his years as a prolific writer. Always a crowd favorite, Armistead captivates his audiences.

JOHN WATERS: This Filthy World Volume 2, July 14, Town Hall: Part-time Ptown resident and iconic director/entertainer John Waters is back with this rapid-fire comic monologue celebrating the joyously appalling taste of America’s most notorious filmmaker.

MATT ALBER: Songs by the Sea, July 16-17, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: San Francisco singer/songwriter and 2-time Grammy® Award-winning recording artist. Fans of Eva Cassidy, Rufus Wainwright, and Whitney Houston feel right at home at Alber’s shows, which feature guitar and piano arrangements of his original songs and sometimes an unlikely cover of female pop hits.

An Evening with HELEN REDDY, July 21-22, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: Best know as a recording artist, Helen Reddy had more than a dozen Top 40 hits in the United States. She was the first Australian to win a Grammy Award and to have 3 #1 hits in the same year.
An Evening with DAVID SEDARIS, August 1, Town Hall Auditorium: Sedaris made his comic debut recounting his strange-but-true experiences of being a Macy’s elf, reading his “Santaland Diaries” on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition in 1992. His sardonic humor and incisive social critique have made him one of NPR’s most popular and humorous commentators. In 2001, he was named Humorist of the Year by Time magazine and received the Thurber Prize for American Humor. On April 23, 2013, Sedaris released his newest highly anticipated book entitled Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls.

CAROL CHANNING & TOMMY TUNE, August 7, Town Hall Auditorium: Tony Award winners Carol Channing and Tommy Tune come together and make their Ptown debut for an evening of conversation and stories. The performance will chronicle Ms. Channing’s phenomenal career, moderated by nine-time Tony Award winning song and dance man Tommy Tune.

An Evening with PENNY ARCADE, August 8, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: An evening of dangerous ideas and radical inquiry by the undisputed Queen of Underground Performance into what it means to be human, right now! Right here!

An Evening with KRISTIN CHENOWETH, August 10, Town Hall: Emmy and Tony Award winning actress and singer, Kristin Chenoweth, takes the lead in a career that spans film, television, voiceover, and stage, effortlessly. Though Kristin has often come into our living rooms on hit shows such as The West Wing and as a guest judge on both American Idol and Project Runway, she may be most remembered by Broadway lovers everywhere for her origination of the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, which earned her a Tony Award Nomination, as well as her Tony-winning performance in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

An Evening with SANDRA BERNHARD, August 10-11, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: The always entertaining Sandra Bernhard has been wowing, and sometimes shocking, audiences since starting her career at LA’s famed Comedy Store in the 1970’s, going on to become a favorite on the live-show comedy circuit nationally, while also forging a career in film, television and on Broadway.

“THE LEADING LADIES OF BROADWAY,” August 24-25, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: Andrea McArdle was the youngest Tony Award nominee ever when she charmed audiences as that lovable orphan in Annie-beginning a fabled career. Donna McKechnie’s “bright and brassy” voice (The New York Times) lit up the stage with Music and a Mirror in A Chorus Line. And Faith Prince breathed new life into Broadway revivals of Guys & Dolls and Bells Are Ringing with “sublime vocal virtuosity” (Newsday).

An Evening with LINDA EDER, August 18-19, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: Showcasing one of the greatest contemporary voices of our time, Linda Eder’s diverse repertoire spans Broadway, standards, pop, country and jazz.

LIZA MINNELLI and ALAN CUMMING, The Event of the summer in Provincetown for all who want to see Tony, Emmy and Academy award winners in an intimate setting mega performance.The revered entertaining family sends Liza to Ptown for a very special evening at the Crown and Anchor August 4.

An Evening with MICHELLE LEE, September 5-6, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: Tony Award nominee and star of the television series Knots Landing, makes her Provincetown debut for any evening of memorable songs and stories. Stephen Holden of The New York Times writes: “Ms. Lee’s show belongs to the old school of knock’-’em-dead entertainment! Don’t miss it!

An Evening with JANIS IAN, October 12-13, The Crown & Anchor/Paramount: The highlight of the 30th Anniversary of Women’s Week! American songwriter, singer, musician, author and multiple Grammy-winning writer Janis Ian comes to Provincetown to celebrate her life through music, singing her trademark song “At Seventeen” amongst many others.

In addition to all the celebrity attractions, some of the most creative and alluring special event weeks dot Ptown’s second summer calendar, including:
Bear Week 2014, July 12-20: This unique sect of gay culture hosts their annual celebration during this time with food, boating, pool parties, live acts, and late night dancing.
Girl Splash 2014, July 22-26: A chance for the girls to let their hair down during this week dedicated exclusively to them with dance parties, bike tours, beach bonfires, schooner sailing.
Tenth Annual Provincetown Jazz Festival, August 16-18: Swing to some of the best Jazz on the east coast at this annual celebration of the most American of music.
The Fourth Annual Afterglow Festival, September 8-14, The Crown & Anchor: The festival is a gathering to Provincetown of both renowned and under-the-radar innovative stage artists evolving the world of live performance which this years features artists such as J. Stephen Brantley, Quinn Cox, and Frank DeCaro, to name a few.
Mates Leather Weekend, October 2-5: A kick-back, have a good time, meet some hot new friends weekend for those who want to hang out, socialize, relax or party with other like-minded people in Leather, Rubber and Uniforms.
Women’s Week, October 13-19: A festival that celebrates women with performers and comics in lesbian culture. So bring that special someone and bask in the autumn sunlight and take in the natural beauty of Provincetown.