Now in its second year in Provincetown, Closet Cases continues to offer poignant and amusing coming-out stories that will appeal to every audience member, whether they themselves have actually come out or not. (I say that because a straight couple sitting next to me on opening night seemed to be having the best time of anyone in the room!) The format is simple: storytellers (comedians, writers, actors) are on hand to tell their own coming-out stories—the good, the bad, and the hilarious—and it’s hard to leave this show without a smile on one’s face.
Every night the performers are different, although host and producer William Mullin is consistently on hand to open the show with his own tale of his mother, an Easter Sunday, a large box of wine, and a dog named Frisbee. Don’t ask: just go and find out for yourself!
Mullin moves the show along with special trivia questions (complete with prizes!) between each act, and one audience member is interviewed by Mullin to tell his or her coming-out story—with, of course, a prize for bravery!
But it’s the performers themselves that make the show unique. Every show features two lesbians and two gay men, thus reaching out beyond the typical one-gender appeal that many of Provincetown’s shows seem to have. The audience is as mixed as the performers, and while it often laughs hardest at different sections of the show, it comes together in a kind of poignant sympathy for and identification with the stories being told.
Not all of the performers are gay. This year one actress will be telling her father’s coming-out story, and how it affected her as his daughter. Others tell the requisite parent stories—possibly the most difficult ones of all—and stories of friends’ reactions (“I knew you were gay; I was wondering when you’d figure it out.”).
Closet Cases is the brainchild of NYC comedian Shawn Hollenbach, who was on hand for opening night, contrasting his own growing-up with that of his twin straight brother. “What’s the difference between us?” Hollenbach asks his father in a film segment he showed the audience. The man onscreen chuckles. “He’s a redneck, and you’re gay.”
Stories ranged from “I had no idea I was gay,” to “I was a lesbian from about the second trimester of my mother’s pregnancy,” and everything in between. “I told my babysitter I was in love with him,” said one performer, “and he was very kind and told me he was already married. I never knew whether or not he told my parents about my declaration…”
If it’s true that our stories are the way that we become community, then Closet Cases is one of the strongest community-building factors alive and well today. The last show will also be the Vixen’s last show, as it is closing for the season and new ownership will take it over this fall, so make sure you get over to see this show.
“Closet Cases” is performed Wednesday - Sunday through September 4 at 9 p.m. in the Madeira Room at Vixen, 336 Commercial St., Provincetown. Call 508.487.6424 or visit www.ptownvixen.com for tickets and information.