Convey on the vacation entertainments!
We turned the corner for the holiday season so Out There attended shows last week that are perfect for this time of year. On Saturday night we made a long overdue visit to the Christmas edition of Beach Blanket Babylon, and earlier that week we were in the house to open the night of “Mary Poppins” from the San Francisco Playhouse.
I’m sure you know the BBB story by now. Snow White (sometimes called Snow Tire) searches the world for her Prince Charming, hot guys available to young ladies who are in short supply in San Francisco. Pop culture is sent courtesy of musical riffs, outrageous cartoons, flamboyant costumes, and sky-high hats. As always, there are plenty of current references, from Keebler elf Jeff Sessions, who are still convinced of its shameful end, to Vladimir Putin (“at the Ritz”), Kim Jong Un and other global villains. The Trump Crime Family also gets a number, a la the Von Trapps; The Supreme Criminal remembers golden showers as Melania repeats her famous Marie Antoinette line: “I really don’t care, right?”
There’s Kanye, there’s Kim, there’s tired old Caitlyn Jenner, but the most topical event of all is the holiday season, and year-end BBB has lots of Christmas cheer, including Christmas King Louis, Mr. Peanut Santa, and a line of Tap-Dancing Xmas choirs Trees. The gigantic Christmas hat is a winter wonderland with a chugging toy train. The SF skyline hat now features a Salesforce tower, but it’s still the Transamerica pyramid that makes all the excitement an ascent.
Mary Poppins (El Beh), Bert (Wiley Naman Strasser) and parking cars (Rudy Guerrero, Sophia LaPaglia) in Mary Poppins at the San Francisco Playhouse. Photo: Jessica Palopoli
It has been a while since OT visited BBB and we are happy to report that the old girl still has what it takes to amuse, please and surprise, much like SF itself. Treat yourself to Out -of-Towers, family members and loved ones a fail-safe vacation fun. “Steve Silvers Beach Blanket Babylon Holiday Extravaganza” will host the Club Fugazi stage through December 31st. Tickets ($ 30 to $ 155): www.beachblanketbabylon.com, (415) 421-4222, or at the box office at 678 Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd. ., formerly Green St., SF.
Oh mary!
SF Playhouse’s “Mary Poppins” is a musical based on both the stories of the openly bisexual writer PL Travers and the Walt Disney film she resisted and berated. As Artistic Director Bill English points out in his program note, “The original Mary, like Ms. Travers, an immigrant from Australia, was from the lower class of deplorable Londoners,” not as chic as Julie Andrews’ version. The musical offers an intriguing and fairly disney-like critique of the English class structure. The heroes are lower class sorceress Mary and working class chimney sweep Bert. It takes more than a spoonful of sugar for the upper class banker, Mr. Banks, and the contactless Mrs. Banks to get a clue about parenting.
The show, with its elaborate stage design typical of the Playhouse and the high production values, inspires again and again. Bay Area stage veteran El Beh is a formidable Mary, Wiley Naman Strasser is a lively and engaging Bert, and the entire cast, including two very playful child actors, fill their characters with life and song. Particularly noteworthy is the trouper Katrina Lauren McGraw, who prepares a meal from two very different parts: the evil nanny Miss Andrew, who is always ready to add toxic “sulfur and treacle” to badly behaved children; and the crumpled pocket lady Bird Woman, who sells her crumbly crumb packages for “Tuppence a Bag”. Call out to the Banks kids, “Oh, there’s that awful woman Daddy warned us about!” But she, too, becomes a lower-class heroine in this Passion Play.
A populist Mary Poppins and all sorts of awesome San Francisco Beach Blanket characters are waiting for you this holiday season. Dive in and book tickets! sfplayhouse.org
