2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Arts Project of Cherry Grove’s (APCG) 1948 founding, celebrating, as APCG President and first—and second—Homecoming Queen Panzi put it, “70 years of continuous LGBT theatre.” On May 27, APCG held its annual Membership Party, at the historic Community House, and selected the Grove Homecoming Queen for season 2018, in a contest hosted by Panzi and Bella. In an unanticipated upset, veteran Grove and Pines thespian and Fire Island newspaper columnist Rose Levine, of Cherry Grove and Manhattan, was chosen by the membership as the new Homecoming Queen, beating runner-up and hopeful Victoria Falls and perennial contestant Mother, and crowned by beloved Homecoming Queen 2017 Ginger Snap, who stepped down that night.
Mother introduced herself to the assembled with the Queen of Hearts’ song “Off with Their Heads.” Victoria gave us an expansive “Never Enough,” from “The Greatest Showman.” Rose entered, using a walker, as Ida Nohouami, from Far Rockaway, singing a cappella “(I’m just) A Lady with a Song,” complete with a high kick, and segueing directly into “(I’m) Rose of Cherry Grove Fame.”
Ginger took leave of us, saying, “This past summer was the best summer of my life, all because of Cherry Grove … I was honored to be your Queen … I hope the next Homecoming Queen has as much fun as I did.” Her step-down song, a proud and vigorous “This Is Me,” from “The Greatest Showman,” given a standing ovation, accompanied a slideshow of past Homecoming Queens at their Invasions of the Pines.