After 61 years as a summer renter in Provincetown, Massachusetts, John Waters apparently has decided to put down roots.
Turning 80 on April 22, the legendary writer and filmmaker told Baltimore Magazine that he recently purchased a house in the Cape Cod beach town, to go along with his primary residence in Baltimore and apartments in New York and San Francisco.
“What man buys a fourth home at 80?” editor-in-chief Max Weiss quoted Waters as asking in her 10-page cover story. “An optimist.”
Although Waters usually doesn’t pack up for Cape Cod until around Memorial Day, he has already spent some time there this spring. Fans on social media have posted recent photos of him at East End Books, where he once worked, and during a ‘No Kings’ rally in Provincetown on March 28.
One widely-shared photo shows Waters in dark glasses and a red checkered coat, holding a cardboard sign with the handwritten message: “TRUMP RUINED BAD TASTE.”
Waters began spending summers in Provincetown in 1964, when he was 18. After graduating from high school that year, he hitchhiked from Baltimore and rented a room on Bradford Street. The following summer, he lived in a “tree fort” on Bradford Street Extension with Prescott Townsend, Mink Stole and Mary Vivian Pearce.
In an interview with Gerald Peary for Provincetown Arts, Waters recalled that he spent his first “full” Provincetown summer in 1966, living at Aho’s Guest House at 22 Pearl St. with Mona Montgomery and Pearce, the stars of “Hag in a Black Leather Jacket,” one of his earliest movies. He has since become a fixture in the community and strong supporter of the Provincetown Film Society.
“I am proud to be a militant seasonal resident here,” Waters wrote in his 2019 book of essays, “Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder.” “You’ll know it’s really summer if you see me riding my beat-up bicycle down Commercial Street.”
‘Going to Extremes’
While Waters may be optimistic about spending time in Provincetown, he has a few other obligations as well.
On March 17, he received the Frameline Award and led the official reopening of the restored Castro Theatre in San Francisco with a screening of his 1994 film, “Serial Mom.” The Frameline Award recognizes artists in film and television for their contributions to queer media, and Waters was its 35th honoree.
This month, he’s going back on the road and performing in cities from coast to coast in a spoken-word tour called: “Going to Extremes: A John Waters 80th Birthday Celebration.”
Stops include: the UC Theatre in Berkeley, California, on April 11; Uptown Theatre in Napa, California on April 12; Aladdin Theatre in Portland, Oregon, on April 13; Luckman Fine Arts Complex in Los Angeles, California, on April 14; Adler Hall in New York City on April 19; Knight Concert Hall in Miami, Florida, on April 22, his birthday; and The Birchmere concert hall in Alexandria, Virginia, on April 23.
On July 23, Waters will bring his “Going to Extremes” show to Provincetown Town Hall. For fans in the United Kingdom, he’s scheduled to appear at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, Scotland, on Feb. 7, 2027, and at the Bristol Beacon concert hall in Bristol, England, on Feb. 9, 2027.
“P3NTHOUSE’
April is also the month when filming starts for Season 13 of “American Horror Story,” the horror-drama anthology series from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, and Waters is part of the cast. Filming is scheduled to begin on April 6 and end on July 22, primarily in New York City.
The production is expected to have 13 half-hour episodes. Its working title is “P3NTHOUSE.” There has been speculation that the season will be set in a 13-story apartment building, culminating in a “bloodbath” in the penthouse.
Waters told a Valentine’s Day audience at Baltimore Soundstage that he has “a big new part” in the series. While he wasn’t specific about his role, he hinted that it’s on the dark side.
“I’m typecast,” he said. “I’m always either the devil or Chucky’s father…I’ve always been trying to steal Vincent Price’s career.”
“Kevin”
Waters also has a role in an adult animated comedy series that debuts on Amazon Prime Video on April 20.
The eight-episode series is called “Kevin,” and it’s created by Aubrey Plaza and Joe Wengert. It’s about a neurotic housecat named Kevin who breaks up with his owners. Prime’s plot summary states that it was inspired by “a real life break-up and the cat who was caught in the middle.”
In the show, Kevin the Cat moves to a local pet rescue facility in New York City’s borough of Queens after his human owners separate, and meets a band of misfit animals who help him realize what he wants out of life. “Live Like You Only Have Nine Lives,” is the tag line.
Waters plays Armando, “a gorgeous, sarcastic and no-nonsense Persian cat who has sworn off all humans in favor of the freedom he gets out of life as an ‘independent’ cat,” according to Prime’s character description.
Others in the cast include Jason Schwartzman (who provides the voice of Kevin); Amy Sedaris; Whoopi Goldberg; Patti LuPone; Aparna Nancherla; Gil Ozeri; Addison Rae; Joe Locke; Nicole Byer and Plaza. It’s one of the first chances Waters has had to work with Plaza since he disclosed his desire to cast her as the leading lady, Marsha Sprinkle, in the film version of his 2022 novel, “Liarmouth, A Feel-Bad Romance.” Although Waters wrote a script for it, the movie hasn’t been filmed due to lack of funding.
Still more this summer:
On June 23, the Criterion Collection will release restored versions of two Waters movies, the 1977 black comedy “Desperate Living” and the 1988 version of “Hairspray.”
July 17 to 19 are the dates for Mosswood Meltdown, the punk rock festival that Waters hosts every year in Oakland, California. He calls it a “warped Woodstock.”
This will be the last year for Camp John Waters, the gathering for superfans that he’s hosted since 2017 at Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut. The dates are Sept. 11 to 14, and guest counselors will include Mink Stole and Ricki Lake. “Nothing lasts forever,” states a poster prepared for the final season, “except our filthy memories.”
Also turning 80
Other entertainment-world figures who have turned 80 or will turn 80 in 2026 include: Dolly Parton (Jan. 19); Liza Minnelli (March 12); Tim Curry (April 19); Candice Bergen (May 9); Cher (May 20); Sylvester Stallone (July 6); Tommy Lee Jones (Sept. 15) and Susan Sarandon (Oct. 4).
Political figures turning 80 in 2026 include George W. Bush (July 6); Bill Clinton (Aug. 19) and Donald Trump (June 14).
