story by Kayte Deioma, photos Š SSPI 2005 David Allen
In the beginning there was sand, a lifeguard and some middle aged hula dancers in a back room at the Savoy Tivoli Restaurant. Thirty-three years later the sand and lifeguards are gone, but the name stuck on the ever-changing panoply of characters and grand millinery that calls itself Beach Blanket Babylon. Within its first year in 1974, the show moved to its current digs at Club Fugazi in North Beach where it still plays to a full house for eight shows a week.
What gives Steve Silver’s little musical review such staying power? In part, it’s the quirky way the show matches itself to the character of its home town of San 
Francisco. But much of its longevity can also be attributed to constantly being reinvented to reflect the news of the day. Many long time fans see the show over and over again because the spoofs change from month to month, and because there are always new and bigger hats.
The premise of the show is that home-girl Snow White, played by Shawna Ferris, is looking for her prince, but having a hard time finding him in San Francisco. Enter Renee Lubin as Glinda the Good, a fairly godmother type who sends her off on a round-the-world trip in search of Mr. Right. Along the way she runs into a host of celebrity and political figures parodying your favorite songs from the last five decades. The characters are distinguishable by their gaudy costumes, huge hair and giant hats – from the Carmen Miranda pineapple extravaganza to a grand San Francisco Skyline chapeau that wears Val Diamond, rather than being worn by her.
Diamond, a 27 year veteran of the show, plays a bevy of characters from Rome to Japan and back to San Francisco, belting out classic tunes to fit the moment. In Rome she is a pizza waitress with a giant order pad and pencil on her head dancing with the Chef Boy R D Chefs singing That’s Amore. She’s a Maid in Japan, a Cowgirl and a Jewish Mother. In Paris she entreats Snow White to drop the good girl persona and get trashy as she does the cancan with a bunch of dancing trash cans.
Between appearances as Glinda the Good, Renee Lubin returns as an Italian Oprah, complete with book club on her head; Janet Jackson with a wardrobe malfunction; a blue-clad blues singer with a dynamite version of Ain’t Misbehavin’; and Tina Turner with a wig that looks like she’s wearing Cousin Itt from the Addams Family on her head.
The Monica Lewinsky character has been written out of the show, but Hilary Clinton puts in an appearance as the Statue of Liberty singing You Done Me Wrong while Bill Clinton hangs out with Paris Hilton and the Governator shows up on crutches. A big-eared G.W. Bush appears with a gun-toting Cheney and Condaleezza Rice-a-Roni-head to the tune of Annie Oakley’s You Can’t “Shoot” a Man with a Gun. The political spoof of the week is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as a biker chick in leather toLeader of the Pack.
Some characters, like John Travolta and the Beatles hang around long enough for a song or two. Others, like Ashton and Demi on a tricycle, Tom Cruise, Katie and their alien baby, and the Brokeback Mountain cowboys tucked in giant jeans pockets, appear just long enough for a laugh.
There are probably 90 bits in 90 minutes, leading up to the ultimate makeover by the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy boys and a happily-ever-after wedding-cake-hat ending. Through all the camp and kitsch, the cast give really stellar performances. All the singers are top notch, but Diamond and Lubin really carry the show.
Club Fugazi is set up cabaret style with cocktail tables on the main floor and balcony. Wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages are available for purchase (cash only). Performances are Wednesday through Sunday. You must be 21 or older to attend any of the evening shows. People under 21 are welcome at the Sunday matinees when no alcohol is served. The theatre opens an hour before the show.
Beach Blanket Babylon
Club Fugazi
678 Green Street
San Francisco, CA
www.beachblanketbabylon.com
It’s rare to find a venue that can hold the attention of the younger kids in the family and the teenagers at the same time. The Zeum in San Francisco does this brilliantly and mom and dad can get in on the act too. Billed as a multimedia arts and technology museum, Zeum gets everyone’s creative juices flowing with opportunities to learn about video production and animation by creating your own productions from 
scratch using all the professional tools of the trade.
The rest of the Main Gallery has the components of a live Video Production on one side of the room and basic elements of animation on the other side. To produce a short video you can pick your own starting point. Some people like to get right to the heart of the 
matter by typing a script into the teleprompter, so they know what kind of costumes to look for when they head to wardrobe. Others like to start in the wardrobe department to see what characters they can create and then write them a suitable storyline. There are costumes for young children up to adults, so the whole family can get involved. If you’d like to make a horror film, you can settle into the mask-making department and create your own masks.
No film is complete without its musical soundtrack. You can compose yours in the Sound Lab. You don’t have to be working on a video project to use the Sound Lab. You can also use it to compose a song to perform, or to take home with you.
at the Tech Table; otherwise the staff technician will do that for you. For a small donation, your video production will be saved onto a DVD for you to take home.
simple animations by moving objects around on a white table and taking photos of them with a camera mounted above or in front of the table. Another station is stocked with plastic dinosaurs and other creatures that you can use to create an animation. All of these animation
projects follow the same principle of using a series of still photographs of objects in different positions to create the impression of motion.
You could spend all day and never leave the primary production areas downstairs, but there’s more to do upstairs. The stairway circles around the Roundabout, where you’ll find the MetaField Maze, a virtual board game projected on the floor. You use your weight to tip the virtual play board and move a marble of light around the maze without letting it fall into a black hole. Tip: It helps to read the directions.
from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to pop favorites. Again you can don costumes, choose your digital background and take your music video home with you.
manipulation, was closed on our visit, but a Build a ‘Bot Workshop was going on in the classroom next door. Artist and robot inventor Simone Davalos demonstrated how to build a robot that would mix syrup and carbonated water to make soda. Kids and adults were fascinated with her demonstration of computer programming using the process of making a peanut butter sandwich to illustrate how to give a robot instructions.
The 100-year-old Zeum Carousel, built in 1906 spent time in Seattle, New Mexico and 15 years in Long Beach, CA before returning to San Francisco in 1998. Its giraffes, camels, goats and horses have all been meticulously restored and look like new. One ticket will get you two rides on the merry-go-round.
For a quick “time out” from the hustle and bustle of the city, head up Nob Hill to Grace Cathedral for a peaceful half hour of self-exploration on either of the two labyrinths on site. Labyrinths have been used as a tool for walking meditation in many cultures and religions for thousands of years. The deliberate path of spirals confined within a circle represents the journey of life. Grace Cathedral, the Bishop’s seat of the Episcopal Church of California,
began construction in 1906 after the earthquake and fire and was finally completed in 1966. The Cathedral’s two labyrinths, added in the mid-1990s, replicate the design built into the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France around the year 1220.
There are generally considered to be three phases to the walking meditation. The way from the outside of the circle to its center is the Purgation or releasing, where you let go of the distracting details of your life to quiet your mind and open yourself.
The indoor labyrinth is available only when the Cathedral is open to the public and is not having regular services, a wedding or other special events. There is also an outdoor terrazzo stone labyrinth at the front right corner of the church that is always open.