Jinkx Monsoon, Courtney Act & Judy Gold Coming to Provincetown

While Provincetown's Art House has become known as the East Coast's hot spot for Broadway's biggest musical stars (think Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, all of whom are headlining there this summer), the venue has an equally long and famous (or infamous as the case may intentionally be) reputation as the right coast's breeding ground for cutting-edge comedy. Varla Jean Merman and Ryan Landry already have brand new hits just birthed at the venue in June and selling out summer-long runs nightly. And the floodgates for hilarity have opened wide in July. This past weekend Jinkx Monsoon, season 5 winner of RuPaul's "Drag Race," opened an all-new show with her cohort Major Scales, running July 9 through September 17. Courtney Act, the breakout star of Australian Idol and RuPaul's "Drag Race" debuts a brand new show this week, "The Girl from Oz" with John Thomas at the piano, running July 12 through August 25. And Emmy-winning comedian Judy Gold returns to take up residence on the Art House stage from July 14 through September 3. For tickets and information please visit www.ptownarthouse.com or call 800-838-3006.

Jinkx Monsoon's recent off-Broadway hit "The Vaudevillians" was a critical smash hit, about which the New York Times raved "Straight or gay, everyone leaves this show with sides aching from laughter" and called it "a pure delight," while other press hailed it as "comedic genius" (Show Business Weekly), "hilarious" (BroadwayWorld), and "intelligent and entertaining" (TheaterMania). Even RuPaul proclaimed the performance "a triumph!" Jinkx is the creation of Jerick Hoffer, a native of Portland, Oregon and a graduate of Cornish College in Seattle. It was at Cornish as a fifteen-year-old theater major that Hoffer traces the early manifestations of Jinkx Monsoon, whom he refers to as a "zany, off-the-wall, irreverent, gorgeous anachronism." In 2006, Hoffer made the Guinness World Records as lead dancer in the world's largest drag queen chorus line. By 2012, the young performer was starring at top Seattle theaters - Moritz in "Spring Awakening" (Balagan Theatre), Angel in "Rent" (The 5th Avenue Theatre), and most recently, Hedwig in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" with the Seattle Theatre Group. Extraordinarily real, some audiences have not yet decided whether Jinkx is a woman or a drag queen. Combatting humble beginnings, struggling for social status, raising a homosexual son striving for fame as a comedian, this well-developed character has attained more than acclaim, but a life of her own.

Courtney Act's "The Girl From Oz" celebrates Australian hits that were made popular in the US like "Xanadu," "Shook Me All Night Long," "I Am Woman," by artists like Sia, Men At Work, Savage Garden, Peter Allen, Air Supply, Bee Gee's, Iggy Azalea and Gotye. She has become known as an artist who breaks the rules and lives life on the gender divide, sometimes as a girl, and sometimes as a boy - a pop star in the making for the new generation that is beyond labels. This summer Courtney Act is releasing her debut EP, Kaleidoscope, which she has 'teased' with 6 previous single releases, including entries in the Billboard, ARIA and iTunes charts. Her videos have racked up over 12 million views on YouTube. Courtney Act broke out of the box in 2003 when she was the first openly queer and gender diverse contestant on a talent reality show in the world. Sydney boy, Shane Jenek, auditioned for the first season of Australian Idol. Not quite making the cut he bent the rules and his gender, returning the next day as Courtney Act and made it through to the semifinals. She was signed to Sony/BMG and embarked on a national arena tour with her fellow Idols. Growing up in Australia, Courtney now lives in Los Angeles and has spent the last year touring North American, Australian the UK & Europe in the wake of being top 3 on RuPauls "Drag Race."

Judy Gold has written and starred in 2 critically acclaimed, Off-Broadway hit shows: "The Judy Show - My Life As A Sitcom," nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award, and 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother," which won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding NY Theater, and a Drama Desk Nomination. The book with the same title based on more interviews with Jewish Mothers was nominated for the prestigious Quill Award. Judy received rave reviews as Gremio in the all female "The Taming Of The Shrew" for NYC's 2016 season of The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park. She has co-starred in the Off-Broadway productions of "Clinton! The Musical," "Disaster! The Musical," "Love Loss & What I Wore," and "The Vagina Monologues." Her most recent TV appearances include guest-starring roles on "Louie," "Broad City," "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," "The Jim Gaffigan Show," "Inside Amy Schumer," "Difficult People," "30 Rock," "2 Broke Girls," "Melissa & Joey," "The Big C," and the upcoming new series on TBS "Search Party." She appears regularly on "The StEve Harvey Show" and has made numerous appearances on "The View," "The Today Show," "The Wendy Williams Show," "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore," is an original cast member of Tru TV's "World's Dumbest" and a frequent contributor for CNN, & MSNBC. Judy can be seen doing stand-up regularly at NYC's top Comedy Clubs including The Comedy Cellar, Carolines on Broadway and Eastville Comedy Clubs, and recently had a sold-out run at Feinstein's 54 Below. Judy Gold has had stand-up specials on HBO (Cable Ace Award), Comedy Central and LOGO and was twice nominated for The American Comedy Award for Funniest Female Comedian. She has guest written articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, CNN.com, and more. She is an ambassador for The HetRick Martin Institute, and on the board of GMHC. Judy won 2 Emmy Awards for writing and producing, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show."

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