Beach Blanket Babylon
Encyclopedia
Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon is America's longest-running musical revue. The show began its run in 1974, at Club Savoy Tivoli and has since moved to the larger Club Fugazi
in the North Beach district of San Francisco. The section of Green Street between Columbus Avenue
and Powell Street was renamed "Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard", in honor of the show.
The show was created by Steve Silver (1944-1995) and continues under the direction of his wife, Jo Schuman Silver with frequent changes and spoof
s of pop
and political culture
. Performers wear disproportionately large hats/wigs and gaudy costumes while performing satirical renditions of popular songs.
in 2010, Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon follows Snow White
as she takes a fast-paced journey around the world in search of her “Prince Charming
.” Along the way she encounters a star-studded, ever-changing line-up of hilarious pop-culture characters, including Lady Gaga
, President Barack
& Michelle Obama
, Charlie Sheen
, Justin Bieber
, Sarah Palin
, Snooki, California Governor Jerry Brown
, Prince William, Kate Middleton
& the Queen of England, Oprah Winfrey
, the Cast of Glee
, Taylor Swift
& Kanye West
, Michael Jackson
, and the San Francisco Giants
. Also present are long running characters such as Glinda the Good Witch, Mr. Peanut
, Louis XIV, Oprah Winfrey
, James Brown
, Tina Turner
, Carmen Miranda
, Elvis Presley
, a band of dancing French Poodles, and Snow White's tour guide, a female narrator who takes on several incarnations from an Italian Pizza Lady to a Japanese Cowgirl.
As the show was created in San Francisco, some of the characters and musical numbers focus on people and political issues directly related to California
and San Francisco, specifically. The San Francisco Giants
winning the 2010 World Series, the election of Governor Jerry Brown
, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
, Senators Dianne Feinstein
& Barbara Boxer
, politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk
, rolling blackouts by PG&E, the legalization of gay marriage in San Francisco by Mayor Gavin Newsom
, and the controversy surrounding Prop. 8 are some of the characters and themes that have been touched upon by Beach Blanket Babylon.
As the show constantly evolves to stay topical with parodies of popular celebrities and events of the day, some characters are phased out as new characters are introduced. Some former characters featured in the show include Bill Clinton
, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore
, George W. Bush
, John McCain
, Arnold Schwarzenegger
, Rod Blagojevich
, Larry Craig
, John Edwards
, Lehman Brothers
, Meg Whitman
, Coco Chanel
, Barbra Streisand
, Madonna
, Whoopi Goldberg
, Tom Cruise
, Donald Trump
, Martha Stewart
, Tiger Woods
, Britney Spears
, Michael Phelps
, Beyoncé, Paris Hilton
, The Jonas Brothers, Amy Winehouse
, Katy Perry
, Susan Boyle
, Bristol Palin
, Levi Johnston
, Kate Gosselin
and Nadya Suleman
.
and Las Vegas
, in celebration of Beach Blanket's 20th and 25th anniversaries. The show also has a smaller touring cast that caters primarily to corporate events and parties around the world.
Club Fugazi
The Club Fugazi is a small theater and nightclub located in the North Beach, San Francisco, California district of San Francisco, California. The address is 678 Green Street although the portion of Green in front of the club has been renamed Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard in honor of the...
in the North Beach district of San Francisco. The section of Green Street between Columbus Avenue
Columbus Avenue (San Francisco)
Columbus Avenue is a diagonal street that runs through the North Beach and Chinatown areas of San Francisco, California, from Washington and Montgomery Streets by the Transamerica Pyramid to Beach Street near Fisherman's Wharf.Avenue This street is home to several notable venues, such as Jack...
and Powell Street was renamed "Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard", in honor of the show.
The show was created by Steve Silver (1944-1995) and continues under the direction of his wife, Jo Schuman Silver with frequent changes and spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
s of pop
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and political culture
Political culture
Political culture is the traditional orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics, affecting their perceptions of political legitimacy.Conceptions...
. Performers wear disproportionately large hats/wigs and gaudy costumes while performing satirical renditions of popular songs.
Plot summary
Hailed as “A constant cascade of showstoppers” by the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
in 2010, Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon follows Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
as she takes a fast-paced journey around the world in search of her “Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...
.” Along the way she encounters a star-studded, ever-changing line-up of hilarious pop-culture characters, including Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
, President Barack
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
& Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
, Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
, Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, Snooki, California Governor Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
, Prince William, Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge , is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The Duke of Cambridge is second in line to the thrones of the sixteen Commonwealth realms and, when he becomes king , she will become queen consort...
& the Queen of England, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, the Cast of Glee
Characters of Glee
Glee is a musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
& Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, and the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. Also present are long running characters such as Glinda the Good Witch, Mr. Peanut
Mr. Peanut
Mr. Peanut is the advertising logo and mascot of Planters, an American snack-food company and division of Kraft Foods. He consists of a drawing of an anthropomorphic peanut in its shell dressed in the formal clothing of an old-fashioned gentleman: a top hat, monocle, white gloves, spats, and a...
, Louis XIV, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, a band of dancing French Poodles, and Snow White's tour guide, a female narrator who takes on several incarnations from an Italian Pizza Lady to a Japanese Cowgirl.
As the show was created in San Francisco, some of the characters and musical numbers focus on people and political issues directly related to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and San Francisco, specifically. The San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
winning the 2010 World Series, the election of Governor Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
, Senators Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
& Barbara Boxer
Barbara Boxer
Barbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....
, politician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
, rolling blackouts by PG&E, the legalization of gay marriage in San Francisco by Mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
, and the controversy surrounding Prop. 8 are some of the characters and themes that have been touched upon by Beach Blanket Babylon.
As the show constantly evolves to stay topical with parodies of popular celebrities and events of the day, some characters are phased out as new characters are introduced. Some former characters featured in the show include Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Hillary Clinton, Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich
Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...
, Larry Craig
Larry Craig
Larry Edwin Craig is a former Republican politician from the U.S. state of Idaho. He served 18 years in the U.S. Senate , preceded by 10 years in the U.S. House, representing Idaho's first district . His 28 years in the Congress rank as the second-longest in Idaho history, trailing only William...
, John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
, Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
, Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman
Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman is an American business executive. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School...
, Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
, Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
, Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
, Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions...
, Beyoncé, Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, The Jonas Brothers, Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
, Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle
Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from ...
, Bristol Palin
Bristol Palin
Bristol Sheeran Marie Palin is the second child and oldest daughter of former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd....
, Levi Johnston
Levi Johnston
Levi Keith Johnston is the former fiancé of Bristol Palin. He first received media attention in August 2008 when U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced that her daughter Bristol was five months pregnant with Johnston's baby and that the two were engaged...
, Kate Gosselin
Kate Gosselin
Katie Irene "Kate" Gosselin is an American television personality. Gosselin achieved national recognition on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, in which she and her then-husband Jon Gosselin are profiled as they raise their atypical family of sextuplets and twins.-Early life:Kate Gosselin was...
and Nadya Suleman
Nadya Suleman
Nadya Denise Doud-Suleman , known as Octomom in the media, is an American woman who came to international attention when she gave birth to octuplets in January 2009. The Suleman octuplets are only the second full set of octuplets to be born alive in the United States...
.
Former Cast and Alumni
- Michael Benbrook - 1986–1993 (Performer) - King Louis XIVLouis XIV of FranceLouis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
- Nancy Bleiweiss - 1974–1977 (Performer) - Carmen MirandaCarmen MirandaCarmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
, Opera Divas, Glinda the Good Witch - Val DiamondVal DiamondVal Diamond is a stage performer and San Francisco icon. She is best known for her role in Beach Blanket Babylon.Diamond grew up in Castro Valley, California, the daughter of Harold and Lilly. Her father is Jewish and her mother is an Italian immigrant. She began her acting career in high school,...
- 1979–2009 (Performer) - Alexis Carrington Colby, GidgetGidgetGidget is a fictional character created by author Frederick Kohner in his 1957 novel, Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas. The novel follows the adventures of a teenage girl and her surfing friends on the beach at Malibu. The name Gidget is a portmanteau of "girl and midget"...
, Ghandi, Queen Elizabeth II, Jewish Mother, Marie AntoinetteMarie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, French WhoreProstitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, "San FranciscoTheme from San FranciscoThe theme from San Francisco, also known as "San Francisco", was a song from the 1936 American film San Francisco. The song had music written by Bronislaw Kaper and Walter Jurmann, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. The film is set in San Francisco before and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake...
" Finale Chanteuse - Chris MarchChris MarchChris March is an American fashion and costume designer best known for his appearance as a contestant on season 4 of Bravo's Project Runway. He was also on the Project Runway All-Star Challenge, and was the third runner up....
- 1990–2000? (Costume/Hat/Wig Designer; Performer) - Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Wonder WomanWonder WomanWonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
, Monica LewinskyMonica LewinskyMonica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996... - Ledisi YoungLedisiLedisi Anibade Young is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba. Ledisi is known for her jazz influenced vocals. In 1995, Ledisi formed the group known as Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major...
- 1990–2001 (Performer)
Tours
Two tours have been produced, in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, in celebration of Beach Blanket's 20th and 25th anniversaries. The show also has a smaller touring cast that caters primarily to corporate events and parties around the world.
- Linda Bulgo (Performer)
- Chris Giroux (Performer)
- Ellen Toscano (Performer)
- Gus Kambeitz (Musician)
- Suzanna Perez (Musician)