The super-talented TV, film and Broadway actor, singer and part-time Provincetown resident Lea DeLaria is taking over Provincetown’s super-storied Pied Bar.
On Jan. 8, reports The Provincetown Banner, “the Provincetown Licensing Board approved the transfer of the common victualer and alcohol licenses to DeLaria’s company, which is called A Lea DeLaria Joint LLC. The bar will apparently be renamed ‘The Club.'”
The Banner article goes on to say:
For decades, the waterfront property nestled in an alley at 193A Commercial St. has served as a social center for lesbian life. In the 1950s it was the Ace of Spades, in the 1970s it morphed into the Pied Piper and in the 1980s became today’s Pied Bar. What was once a hotspot has lately become more low-profile. But its new owner, actress, singer, comedian and “professional lesbian” Lea DeLaria, is anything but. …
The 3,074-square-foot property has been on the market for about a year with a price of $1.95 million, according to real estate listings. As of Tuesday, it was not clear if DeLaria plans to purchase or is renting the property. Longtime owner Susan Webster could not be reached for comment.
“There will be no change in any aspect of the operation,” DeLaria’s lawyer, John Connell, said last week. “We look forward to livening the space up and making a go of it.” Following the licensing board meeting, DeLaria said she wasn’t ready to disclose details yet but is looking forward to unveiling her plans in the near future.
DeLaria’s most recent stardom stems from her Screen Actors Guild award-winning role as Carrie “Big Boo” Black in the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black.” But her career as a comedian, actress and jazz musician goes back decades. Select Board Chair Cheryl Andrews said she first saw DeLaria perform at the Pilgrim House in Provincetown in 1986.
DeLaria became the first openly gay comic on U.S. television in 1993 when she appeared on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” She has acted in over a dozen hit TV shows and films such as “Cars 3″ (in which she is the voice of Miss Fritter) and “Edge of Seventeen.” She has performed on Broadway and at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and was the featured vocalist at the 50th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival.
During the licensing board hearing, Frank Christopher, who will manage the new club, said people can expect to see live shows and performances as well as a variety of instruments. Christopher is a co-founder of Smoke, a well-known New York jazz club on Broadway near Columbia University.
“I’m not a big jazz fan,” Andrews said, “but when you’re sitting there listening to someone who is very talented, it doesn’t matter the genre. She’s a very gifted musician. I’m glad she’s had success. Her willingness to invest that in Provincetown, to see that kind of energy come into town, is pretty darn exciting.”
