Jawbreaker is setting up shop at the Fillmore in San Francisco for three nights, March 24-26.

The New York City Post-punk act — featuring vocalist-guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach, bassist Chris Bauermeister and drummer Adam Pfahlerwhose — is making the rounds in celebration of the 25th anniversary of 1995’s acclaimed “Dear You” album.

“Dear You” marked the band’s major label debut on DGC Records, following a string of influential indie albums — 1990’s “Unfun,” 1992’s “Bivouac” and 1994’s “24 Hour Revenge Therapy.”

It also happens to be the last studio album that the band has recorded — at least to date. Jawbreaker ended up breaking up in 1996, although it reunited in 2017 to the delight of its many fans.

Many consider “Dear You” to be a masterpiece. Rolling Stone, for one example, ranked the offering at No. 4 on its list of “Top 40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time.”

Details: 7:30 pm March 24-26, Fillmore, San Francisco; $45, livenation.com

The post Jawbreakers celebrates ‘Expensive You’ at Fillmore San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Wenn Abigail Munn neuen Bekanntschaften erzählt, dass sie in einem Zirkus auftritt und einen Zirkus leitet, stößt sie normalerweise auf eines von drei Stereotypen: „Die Leute denken, dass Sie Tiere missbrauchen, Sie gehen zu Burning Man oder Sie sind Cirque du Soleil“, sagte sie lachend nach einer kürzlichen Probe zu Circus Bellas „Humorous“.

Aber ihr Unternehmen passt in keine dieser Kategorien. Auch die meisten Zirkusse in der Bay Area tun dies nicht – ein seit langem bestehender Zustand, der jedoch durch die Entwicklung der Zirkusindustrie und der Kunstform noch stärker hervorgetreten ist.

Vor Ort ist eines der sichtbarsten Symbole dieser Entwicklung die Weltpremiere von „Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story“, die am Mittwoch, den 22. September, in der Vorschau beginnt und am 12. Oktober im Club Fugazi, dem ehemaligen, offiziell eröffnet wird Heimat von „Stranddecke Babylon“. Die Show der Bay Area-Eingeborenen Shana Carroll und Gypsy Snider, Mitbegründer von Montreals The 7 Fingers, vermeidet “ta-da!” razzmatazz für die düstere, kantige Ästhetik des modernen Tanzes oder der Performance-Kunst, aber ohne die echte oder wahrgenommene Hochnäsigkeit und das esoterische Bewegungsvokabular dieser Formen.

Seit der Gründung der 7 Fingers im Jahr 2002, sagte Carroll gegenüber The Chronicle im Mai, versuchten die beiden, die distanzierende Wirkung des Spektakels zu vermeiden. „Unser Ziel, sagten wir immer wieder, war es, es auf einen menschlichen Maßstab zu bringen. Wir hatten das Gefühl, dass die Leute auf der Bühne Menschen waren, mit denen wir verwandt waren, Menschen, die wir kannten.“

Dieselbe Vision treibt „Dear San Francisco“ an.

Im Circus Center probt Jérémi Levesque Reifentauchen in Erwartung der Weltpremiere von „Dear San Francisco“ von Club Fugazi Experiences. Foto: Jon Bauer / Club Fugazi Experiences

Andere Zeichen für den Wandel des Zirkus sind Schließung und Kürzung. Im Jahr 2020 beantragte der kanadische Mischkonzern Cirque du Soleil Insolvenzschutz. Das Unternehmen steht jetzt dank einer Infusion von 375 Millionen US-Dollar von Investoren auf solider finanzieller Basis, sagte CEO Daniel Lamarre gegenüber The Chronicle.

„Gleichzeitig“, sagte er, „werden wir aus dieser Krise lernen und das Unternehmen konservativ führen. Das Unternehmen wird in Bezug auf Personal, Ausgaben und auch die Anzahl neuer Shows schlanker.“

Vor der Pandemie präsentierte Cirque du Soleil 44 Shows auf der ganzen Welt; derzeit laufen nur etwa ein Dutzend oder haben geplante Eröffnungstermine.

Emily Tucker tritt 2016 in Cirque du Soleils „Luzia“ in San Francisco auf. Der Cirque du Soleil erholt sich, nachdem er während der Pandemie Insolvenz angemeldet hatte. Foto: Beck Diefenbach / Special zur Chronik 2016

„EWir waren schon vor der Krise an einem Punkt, an dem wir unser Show-Portfolio wirklich optimieren und in einem anderen Rhythmus produzieren wollten“, fügte Lamarre hinzu. „Im Moment wurden wir von der Krise dazu gedrängt, dies umzusetzen, was bedeutet, dass wir unsere bestehenden Shows wiedereröffnen und neue Shows in einem Tempo produzieren, das es uns ermöglicht, den Inhalt nicht zu beeinträchtigen.“

Lamarre schätzt, dass Cirque du Soleil frühestens 2023 wieder in der Bay Area auftreten wird.

Das fusionierte Unternehmen Ringling Bros. und Barnum & Bailey war vielleicht der amerikanische Zirkus, der am ehesten mit dem Image eines reisenden Zirkuszeltes mit drei Ringen voller exotischer Tiere verbunden war. Im Jahr 2017 schloss das Unternehmen nach einem katastrophalen Versuch mit „Out of This World“, Erzählungen zu integrieren, sowie nach Jahren rückläufiger Besucherzahlen und Protesten von Tierschützern.

„Out of this World“ von Ringling Bros. und Barnum & Bailey Circus in der Oracle Arena in Oakland im Jahr 2016. Das Unternehmen wurde 2017 geschlossen. Foto: Scott Strazzante / Die Chronik 2016

Der amerikanische Zirkus sei einzigartig für seine Wandershows und seinen Ursprung im Spektakel, sagte der Zirkushistoriker Dominique Jando, der im Beirat des Circus Center in San Francisco sitzt und die zirkusgeschichtliche Site Circopedia betreibt. Aber diese ersten amerikanischen Zirkusse waren vom Profit getrieben, nicht von Kunst oder Schönheit, erklärte er.

“Die drei Ringe kamen aus rein wirtschaftlichen Gründen. Um mehr Leute in das Zelt zu stopfen, musste man nur das Zelt vergrößern“, sagte Jando und bemerkte, dass der „Ring“ selbst weiter zurückreicht, auf die Ursprünge des Zirkus in Reitshows; der Ring war für Pferde, um darin herumzulaufen. „Damit jeder etwas sehen kann, haben sich PT Barnum und WC Coup dazu entschieden, die Ringe zu vervielfachen, sodass man überall im Zelt etwas zu sehen hatte.“

Aber all dieses Getümmel hätte es dem Publikum möglicherweise unmöglich gemacht, Zirkus als nuancierte bildende Kunst zu schätzen. In Europa unterstützen einzelne Städte das ganze Jahr über einen oder mehrere Zirkusse, wobei das Programm jeden Monat wechselt. Zirkusartisten gelten dort nicht als Spinner, sondern als angesehene Künstler.

In den USA, stellt Munn reumütig fest, gibt es nicht einmal eine „Zirkus“-Box, um die Anträge auf Stipendien der National Endowment for the Arts zu überprüfen.

Wade Burck und weiße Tiger mit den Ringling Bros. Barnum und Bailey Circus im Oakland Coliseum am 23. August 1984. Foto: Michael Maloney / Die Chronik 1984

Jetzt jedoch, mit so vielen Veränderungen in der Branche, hatte der Zirkus die Chance, sich neu zu definieren und zu erheben, Zirkus-Stereotypen zu verbannen, indem er das tat, was er schon immer getan hat. Und oft haben kleinere Zirkusse wie der von Munn die Nase vorn.

Es gibt den Flynn Creek Circus an der Küste von Mendocino, der mit einem Zelt in ländliche Gebiete reist, das die gesamte Firma vor jedem Auftritt aufstellt. „Fairy Tale“, dessen letzte Aufführung vom 30. September bis 3. Oktober in Boonville stattfindet, richtet sich an Erwachsene, ist aber nicht unbedingt für Kinder ungeeignet.

„Wir haben die Seltsamkeit und Nostalgie eines Zirkus der alten Welt, aber das Material ist sehr neu“, sagte der künstlerische Leiter Blaze Birge.

Vivianne Keene (links) und Eka Malbeouf in Flynn Creek Circus „Märchen“. Foto: Leori Gill / Flynn Creek Circus

„Märchen“ handelt von einem Weber, der ein Märchenland baut, aber ein Loch darin hinterlässt, durch das ein Jüngling fällt. Ein Einhorn, gewebt mit dem letzten Faden des Webers, muss den Tag retten – aber nur mit seinem hinteren Ende. (Es wird von zwei Darstellern gespielt.) Unter der Komödie befindet sich jedoch eine Erkundung des Verlusts der Unschuld.

Auch die geplante Winterproduktion im Circus Center nutze das Märchenformat, um eine erwachsene Geschichte zu erzählen, sagte Felicity Hesed, die neue künstlerische Leiterin des Centers.

“Es wird ‘Alice in Winterland’ sein”, sagte sie. „Alice ist jetzt eine erwachsene Frau mit Kindern und sie fällt zurück ins Wunderland“, wo die anderen beliebten Charaktere der Geschichte ebenfalls ein mittleres Alter erreicht haben.

Im Circus Center proben die Darsteller Isabella Diaz (seitlich an der Stange), Jérémi Levesque (hält Isabellas unteren Fuß) und Kalani June (hält Isabellas oberen Fuß) chinesische Stangen in Erwartung der Weltpremiere von Club Fugazi Experiences’ „Dear San Francisco .“ Foto: Jon Bauer / Club Fugazi Experiences

Als Zeichen dafür, wie eng der Bay Area Circus vernetzt ist, schreiben Carroll und Snider dem Circus Center und seinem emeritierten künstlerischen Leiter, Meistertrainer Lu Yi, der die chinesische Akrobatik in den Vereinigten Staaten eingeführt hat, die Beeinflussung der 7 Finger zu. Der Pickle Family Circus wiederum trug wesentlich dazu bei, Lu Yi in die Staaten zu bringen. Währenddessen debütierten sowohl Carroll als auch Snider als Performer bei den Pickles, und die beiden leiteten die Proben für „Dear San Francisco“ im Circus Center.

Dann gibt es die Vau de Vire Society, die Zirkus, Tanz, Kabarett und Nightlife-Party in Events wie dem begehbaren Edwardian Ball in San Francisco oder der Dinnershow „The Soiled Dove“ in Oakland vereint.

Rebecca Feller (links), Sandia DeLavibora, Stephanie Bailey in „The Soiled Dove“ der Vau de Vire Society. Foto: Daisy Rose Coby / Memento Moda 2018

„Wir machen keine Sit-Down-and-Watch-Shows“, sagte Mike Gaines, Produzent der Vau de Vire Society. “Es ist kein ruhiges, gefangenes Publikum.”

Einige seiner Darsteller könnten einen immersiven Kampf zwischen den Tischen der Gäste inszenieren, zum Beispiel zwischen traditionelleren Luftakten.

Dann gibt es Circus Bella, der dem Zirkus der kollektiven Vorstellungskraft am ehesten ähnelt. In „Humorous“ tragen Clowns übergroße Schuhe. Rutschenpfeifen und Geräuschmacher unter den Instrumenten einer sechsköpfigen Live-Band akzentuieren Stunts. Ein Darsteller, Toni Cannon, wird sogar als „starker Mann“ bezeichnet.

Toni Cannon hebt Calvin Kai Ku während Circus Bellas „Humorous“ im DeFremery Park in Oakland hoch. Foto: Santiago Mejia / Die Chronik

Doch selbst inmitten all dieser erkennbaren Signifikanten hat Circus Bellas neueste kostenlose, kinderfreundliche Outdoor-Show ihre eigenen künstlerischen Akzente, die in den Zirkussen vor einem Jahrhundert unbekannt waren. Musik, komponiert von Rob Reich für die Circus Bella All-Star Band, wird oft jazzig und stimmungsvoll. „Humorous“ enthält auch eine Lesung eines Gedichts des Circus Bella Poet Laureate Elliot Simon.

“Zirkus hat etwas so Unprätentiöses, leicht zugängliches”, sagte Munn und merkte an, dass es keine gemeinsame Sprache oder gemeinsame Kultur erfordert. „Ich liebe verrückte Kostüme und die Magie. Für mich ist das ein Teil dessen, worum es im Zirkus geht – Eskapismus und die Vorstellung, jemand anderes zu sein.“

Sie weist darauf hin, dass bei der „Humorous“-Probe, als der Performer Garrett Allen ein paar Stühle in einen prekären Turm stapelte und auf die Spitze kletterte, „wir alle mit ihm da oben waren“.

Garret Allen stapelt Stühle und klettert auf sie während Circus Bellas „Humorous“. Foto: Santiago Mejia / Die Chronik

Dennoch hat der traditionelle Zirkus eine dunkle Seite – die Ausbeutung von Tieren, die Exotisierung sogenannter Freaks. Bill Irwin, ein gefeierter Performer im Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco, erinnert sich daran, wie die Veteranen der Branche ihre Kunstform beschrieben haben, als er in den 1970er Jahren das Ringling Bros. und das Barnum & Bailey Clown College besuchte. „Zirkus ist zweierlei: Es sind Tiere für die Kinder und eine sexy Show für die Erwachsenen.“

Katherine Hutchinson, der neue künstlerische Leiter des Kinetic Arts Center in Oakland, beschreibt die historisch begrenzten Ansichten der Zirkusproduzenten darüber, was ihre Shows sein müssen: „Das Publikum will hübsche, dünne, weiße Damen sehen, die Spagat in der Luft machen.“

Katherine Hutchinson in „Corps de Ballet“. Foto: Leah Marie / Elle Aime Photography

Im Kinetic Arts Center, das in erster Linie eine Schule ist, aber auch Künstlerresidenz-Shows präsentiert, hofft Hutchinson, einen Zirkus zu schaffen, bei dem es nicht darum geht, Fremdheit oder Schönheit zu objektivieren.

„Seltsamkeit um der Fremdheit willen ist etwas anderes, als menschliche Eigenschaften zu betrachten und sich von dem inspirieren zu lassen, was ein Mensch tun kann“, sagte sie.

Sie ist besonders daran interessiert, Zirkus zu nutzen, um Charakter, Emotionen und Geschichten zu entwickeln. In einem ihrer eigenen Stücke, „Corps de Ballet“, ging es um „Wie Ballett mein Körperbild beeinflusst hat und Zirkus mir geholfen hat, mich zu erholen.“

Ein weiteres verräterisches Zeichen für den Wandel der Zirkusbranche war die Gründung der American Circus Alliance im März 2020. Mitbegründer Serenity Smith Forchion aus Vermont glaubt, dass diese neue Gruppe der erste landesweite Zirkusverband ist (obwohl es frühere Versuche gegeben hat). Zu seinen Prioritäten zählen Munns und Hutchinsons Knackpunkte, wie das Befürworten des Zirkus als Kunstform und die Einführung von Diversität, Gerechtigkeit und Inklusion.

„Die Leute schreiben auch heute noch Sinfonien. Die Leute schreiben auch heute noch Opern“, bemerkte Munn. „Wir stehen immer noch in dieser Zirkustradition. Können wir diese Nostalgie für die Vergangenheit einbringen und sie heute relevant machen? Können wir die Essenz und die guten Teile nehmen?“

Abigail Munn moderiert Circus Bellas „Humorous“ im DeFremery Park. Foto: Santiago Mejia / Die Chronik

„Liebes San Francisco: Eine hochfliegende Liebesgeschichte“: Erstellt von Shana Carroll und Gypsy Snider. Vorschauen bis 10. Oktober. $25-$39; $35-$89 ab 13. Oktober. Club Fugazi, 678 Green St., SF 415-273-0600. www.clubfugazisf.com

“Märchen”: Erstellt und inszeniert von Blaze Birge. Donnerstag-Sonntag, 30. September-Okt. 3. Pakete beginnen bei $76 für zwei Personen. Anderson Valley Brewing Company, 17700 Boonville Road, Boonville. 707-684-9389. www.flynncreekcircus.com

“Humorvoll”: Regie: Abigail Munn. 14.00 Uhr Sonntag, 3. Okt. Kostenlos. Heron’s Head Park, Jennings Street am Cargo Way, SF 415-480-4239. www.circusbella.org

• Lily Janiak
  Lily Janiak ist die Theaterkritikerin des San Francisco Chronicle. E-Mail: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

The post New present ‘Expensive San Francisco’ opens at a turning level for circus as artwork kind appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Club Fugazi has grown into a jazz and poetry cabaret, with performers reading rousing lines from the beats before diving through a dangling hoop, each acrobat doing the twists and turns of the jump with his or her unique showmanship and aura zhushing leaves.

In another moment, the newly renovated North Beach venue has turned into a playground for someone with insect skills when a performer hops around the inner perimeter of the gleaming white proscenium – up the wall, then upside down, supported by fellow cast members.

“Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story” has taken the place of the longstanding “Beach Blanket Babylon”. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

In yet another scene, the former home of “Beach Blanket Babylon” became a place of performance art. Audio from a “Maltese Falcon” scene is played while the actors Devin Henderson and Natasha Patterson dance out the sexual tension with full-body affairs and convulsions that Mary Astor and Humphrey Bogart limit in the film to glances and trembling voices – all while juggling up to five sparkling pearls the size of a crystal ball.

This is the next chapter in the Bay Area circus heralded by Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story, the new show from Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider, co-founders of Montreal’s famous The 7 Fingers.

San Francisco Mayoress, London Breed, greeted the audience on Tuesday October 12th, which was only exposed to hold the introduction of what she quipped that she had received permission from the Department of Health – and hailed the opening night as a turning point in the city’s fight against COVID-19.

“That will be a long time coming,” she said. “We have been in the house for almost two years.”

The Mayor of San Francisco London Breed speaks to the audience ahead of the premiere of Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story at Club Fugazi in San Francisco. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

Dear San Francisco is a suitable flagship for the reopening of the arts. Presented as Valentine’s to the city, the show includes readings of actual love letters to the city, some anonymous, some from celebrities, others from the viewers each evening. Often these charming missives skilfully turn into action. A letter that says, “Thank you for being the place I felt safe to come out of,” doesn’t inspire a hand-to-trap (short for hand-to-trapezoids, a shape Carroll invented) with not -heterosexual pairings and groups.

But sometimes the potted homages to the city feel better for the tourist crowd, who may be trying to validate their pre-existing stereotypes of San Francisco, than for the fine art that the rest of the show aspires to. There are filler lines about how expensive the city is, how hard it is to find a parking space; it’s about psychedelic drugs, how many types of milk there are, and the fearful people trying to choose between them.

“Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story” premiered. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

In any case, the athleticism, precision and inventiveness of the actors quickly overshadow any brick.

Enmeng Song on the diabolo, which is derived from the Chinese yo-yo, can create the illusions of floating and locomotion; he can tear the axis of his device off the cord and then lasso it again in midair.

Junru Wang, who balances upside down on very tall stools, each as wide as the palm of a hand, appears to have radial symmetry, like a starfish; You’re looking directly at them, of course, but it’s like seeing them swimming in the ocean from a bird’s eye view.

The lavishly structured sound design by Jake Rodriguez only amplifies this effect; You can practically imagine how individual waves comb.

Melvin Diggs (below), Devin Henderson, and Natasha Patterson in Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

When you see circus in an intimate setting, you can see again how much power, discipline and grace there is in every effect – the way acrobats do with seemingly little more than a breathless breath, a look up and a wish then climb a trapeze; the way pectoral and even facial muscles twitch when one performer lifts two others onto their shoulders; how diaphragms pump in search of more oxygen.

You can feel the effects too. When artists land, with a boom or a pop, the reverberation sometimes ripples all the way to your seat.

Performers show their strength and agility in “Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story”. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

Ultimately, “Dear San Francisco” is a love letter not only to the city, but also to the human body, reminding even the less supple among us that our arms and legs are tools and shapes that we may forget to use creatively .

As sleek and smart as Alexander V. Nichols’ production design is with its frequent use of projections, “Dear San Francisco” is refreshingly low-tech, with performers often contributing their own singing voices and instruments – accordion, banjo, drum. They express art and life in everything they touch: a pole, a teeterboard, a straw hat set, a unicycle, a telephone booth become small miracles.

n“Dear San Francisco: A Soaring Love Story”: Created and directed by Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider. Constantly. One hour 45 minutes. $ 35- $ 89. Club Fugazi, 678 Green St., SF 415-273-0600. www.clubfugazisf.com

• Lily Janiak
  Lily Janiak is the theater critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

The post Evaluation: New circus present ‘Pricey San Francisco’ is love letter to metropolis and the human physique appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story, opens Tuesday night at Club Fugazi (678 Green Street) and marks a new life for the venue that was home to Beach Blanket Babylon for 45 years. The new show was announced last year and in June we learned that there would be some sort of revue with acrobatics, choreography, spoken word, video projections, shadow plays and original music.

The show is designed as a love letter to the city and offers many moments, tableaus and spoken pieces that celebrate the history of the city or represent its peculiarities and charm. But by and large, this is a show that uses the loose framework of the city’s identity – with its historical earthquakes, fires, free love, poetry, drugs, tolerance, and technology – as the backdrop for some sometimes stunning stumps and kinetic dance sequences that Combine aerial work, juggling, pole work and acrobatics of various kinds. Think Cirque du Soleil, but with more words and less makeup, in an intimate setting with some hefty splashes of San Francisco’s pizzazz.

The opening number, which revolves around the earthquake and fire of 1906 and features an original song by composer Colin Gagne, is surprisingly moving – the entire ensemble moves both in tandem and in all directions, symbolizing a collective that survived the disaster and comes out of the other side.

The show is the creation of two women with San Francisco in their blood who have spent the last two decades building a circus troupe and style of performance with Montreal’s acclaimed group The 7 Fingers. Gypsy Snider, who was born in SF’s iconic Pickle Family Circus, is the co-artistic director of The 7 Fingers and co-creator of Dear San Francisco, while Shana Carroll is the daughter of longtime Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll and is also co- Artistic director and co-designer. Both are considered directors of the show.

The troupe who run the show includes two San Franciscans – acrobats Devin Henderson and Natasha Patterson, who are both Bay Area veterans and veterans of the local Cricus scene. But the rest of the cast is an international mix of talent from China, Australia, Canada and elsewhere in the US

Ruben Ingwersen (left) and Jérémi Levesque. | Photo credit: Kevin Bern

Impressive talents include Melvin Diggs, who came to the 7 Fingers through Circus Flora in St. Louis and Cirque du Soleil. As an amazing acrobat and graceful performer, Diggs does some incredible aerial stunts and also gives some formidable muscle support to his stage mates. The Australian Ruben Ingwersen and the Canadian Jeremi Levesque play a death-defying teaterboard number in the middle of the show, which vaguely addresses an earthquake. And Junru Wang’s talent at hand balancing is being saved for the penultimate act on the show – and the directors also created a poignant vignette that matches her talents.

Junru Wang | Photo: Kevin Bern

The kinetic pace and general thrust of Dear San Francisco is contagious, and after a brisk 90 minutes it’s hard not to want to stop. But the show is mind-blowing and is likely to appeal to a wide audience in the style of Stomp and the Cirque du Soleil franchise, while also playing the role of cultural cheerleaders and odists for the City by the Bay. Over time, the team intends to evolve and modify the show, much like Beach Blanket Babylon has done, to allow for repeated viewings over the years.

A quick foray satirizing SF’s recent tech boom falls a little flat – though it’s not without a laugh – and a sequence celebrating the poetry of the beat generation in North Beach, with short lines from Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane Di. Prima, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and among others the recently deceased Jack Hirschman is serious, but could perhaps do without the Beatnik berets.

Whatever you’re looking for from this show, you’re likely to be surprised, amazed, and a little out of breath like the seemingly tireless performers themselves.

Keep in mind that the food and beverage service hasn’t started yet – and it will likely only be available before and after each performance – cups and plates don’t really work in a room where the performers are often everywhere at the same time, riding a unicycle across the bar in front of you.

Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story runs at Club Fugazi for an indefinite period. Tickets are available for as little as 39 US dollars.

The post ‘Pricey San Francisco’ opens in longtime ‘Seaside Blanket Babylon’ venue appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Shana Carroll and Gypsy Snider heard the same complaints about San Francisco over and over again when they returned home to the Bay Area.

“Every time we came back, the friends and family we stayed with so often said, ‘Oh my god, it’s not like it used to be. The soul of the city is gone. It’s changed so much, ‘”says Carroll, who co-founded 7 Fingers, the Montreal-based circus arts company, in 2002 with Snider.”

“The important things about it were still the same. The soul was still there. We really felt the same affection and joy to be back in town and just had this incredible love for it. We always tried to convince everyone when we came back: ‘No, there are still so many beautiful things here. Don’t give it up. ‘”

“Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story” serves Carroll and Snider as a refutation of these comments. It’s her theatrical love letter to the City by the Bay that combines acrobatics, shadow play, juggling, spoken word, video projections, original music and much more into a circus art production that honors the history of San Francisco.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 21: The cast of “Dear San Francisco” will hold their final production meeting on the Club Fugazi stage before a rehearsal on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 in San Francisco, Calif. For the first time since Beach Blanket Babylon closed on December 31, 2019, the live theater returns to the famous North Beach Club. (Karl Mondon / Bay Area News Group)

And it sounds like a natural decision to become the first resident production at Club Fugazi in town as Steve Silver’s record breaking 45-year series “Beach Blanket Babylon” ended in 2019.

“Dear San Francisco” will celebrate its world premiere on October 12th at the legendary North Beach Club. Previews now run until October 10th for those who want an early look. (Tickets are $ 35 to $ 89 for regular shows, $ 25 to $ 39; clubfugazisf.com.)

Carroll grew up in Berkeley and started the legendary Pickle Family Circus in San Francisco as a teenager. There she met Snider, the daughter of the co-founder of the Pickle Family Circus, Peggy Snider.

In 1991 she moved to Montreal to attend a circus school. She spent 10 years as a trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil before founding 7 Fingers with Snider and other circus artists.

The opportunity to produce a resident production at Club Fugazi was a welcome one for the Bay Area locals. It enabled them to take their work home with them to the town they grew up in, says Carroll, and perform for their loved ones.

David Dower, General Manager of Club Fugazi Experiences, shares this opinion. He moved back to San Francisco to run the landmark.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 21: Junru Wang will perform in a rehearsal of “Dear San Francisco” at Club Fugazi in San Francisco, Calif. On Tuesday, September 21, 2021. It is the first show at the famous North Beach club since December 31, 2019, when the curtain fell on Beach Blanket Babylon. (Karl Mondon / Bay Area News Group)

“It was an incredible gift of grace – for me, but also for Gypsy and Shana,” says Dower, who spent 20 years in the Bay Area before moving to the east coast. “An opportunity for all of us to come home and do something that shows what we did while we were away.”

Showcasing a variety of different circus arts, from tire jumping to Chinese pole climbing, the show touches on historical moments like the gold rush and the 1906 earthquake.

“We wanted to honor the city and show that it has this indestructible soul. That always kept it going, ”says Carroll. “In a kind of kaleidoscopic cubism, we’re trying to honor and relate to the history of San Francisco. But I think it’s more of a metaphor for the constant rebirth (of the city), the different waves of innovation and inspiration and how it shines through again and again. “

Club Fugazi has its own connections to local lore and history – perhaps far more than many people know.

“What a lot of people miss about this venue is that it had an amazing story even before Beach Blanket,” said Dower, former artistic director of Boston’s ArtsEmerson. “Beach Blanket was a perfect thing, and this run will forever be considered an era of San Francisco. (But) before that Thelonious Monk recorded albums here, the first album release party of the Grateful Dead was here, the Beat Poets read from the same stage and all the Italian pop stars and classical musicians played in this room. It has had this incredible story since 1914 that we feel connected to. “

Carroll says she feels incredibly honored and privileged to be in the same place Beach Blanket Babylon has lived for so many decades and feels “a great responsibility to live up to it and live up to her legacy”.

“They were sitting on something that felt very authentic to the locals and loved by the locals, and yet tourists could come in and feel like they were experiencing San Francisco,” she says. “And it wasn’t so esoteric that the tourists would say, ‘Well, I don’t get that.’ We hope we have a similar stride – really doing justice to the city for the locals and making them feel like they really represent the San Francisco they know and love, and have them too, if their uncle dies Visited town, let’s say, ‘Oh my god, you have to see this. You really get a very good feeling for what the soul of the city is. ‘”

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 21: For the first time since Beach Blanket Babylon closed on December 31, 2019, viewers enter the famous North Beach Club for a rehearsal of “Dear San Francisco.” (Karl Mondon / Bay Area News Group)

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In North Beach, there is currently a lot of activity at Club Fugazi, the long-standing former home of “Beach Blanket Babylon” – and there are no huge hats in sight.

“It’s a work in progress at every level,” said David Dower in the still-renovated theater that will premiere “Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Adventure” with contemporary circus troupe The 7 Fingers next month.

Dower, a veteran local theater producer, founding director of Z Space and executive director of Dear San Francisco presenters Club Fugazi Experiences, recently gave a taste of the show and the venue as the cast rehearsed under Artistic Director Gypsy Snider slid down bars and balanced on his hands.

Club Fugazi Experiences Executive Director David Dower and Artistic Director Gypsy Snider gave a foretaste of their new show at Club Fugazi. (Leslie Katz / The Examiner)

Visitors who are familiar with “Beach Blanket Babylon”, the wacky musical revue that occupied the room for decades, noticed a change in the house: the missing balcony, which was removed to improve visibility.

“You can’t do a circus if you can’t see the air, so we took out the balcony. We also left the floor flat, “Dower said as he unveiled new swivel chairs at varying heights that allow viewers to easily see the show as it” moves around the room. “

There will be nearly 340 removable seats and 40 standing room for Dear San Francisco, just a slight decrease in the capacity of Beach Blanket. However, due to COVID security concerns, the audience will initially be limited to 175.

Ticket prices start at $ 35 ($ 29 for previews) per seat and go up to $ 2,500 or $ 3,500 for the 35-person tiara area on the mezzanine that was created for Queen Elizabeth of England was to see “BBB”. (The Queen never sat there as the show was at Davies Symphony Hall during her 1983 visit to The City; but Prince Charles and Camilla did in 2005.)

Dower and the show’s producers say the cost of seating and standing on the lower level will always remain affordable.

“We want to hold the price so people can see the show,” he said.

This notion correlates with Club Fugazi Experience’s mission to be a neighborhood and Bay Area booster.

And that’s one of the main reasons the building’s owner, Italian Community Services, a nonprofit that has been helping Italians and Italian Americans since the 19th century, is renting the theater to the group.

“Their approach was all about community,” said Steve Leveroni, vice president of the ICS board of directors, who negotiated what all parties would recognize as good business and whose father signed a similar original lease with the father of BBB inventor Steve Silver arranged Lou Silber.

“The theater became iconic for what Beach Blanket Babylon did for the community,” said Leveroni, noting that Dower and Snider, whose family started the Pickle Family Circus, have strong ties to San Francisco; and, equally important, that their show would be dedicated to North Beach and the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

After Leveroni only considered a few potential tenants, the ICS board thought, “This one seems to be the best fit for the venue. We all have the same end goal. “

To this end, the creators of Dear San Francisco ask people to write them letters with comments, impressions, and memories of The City that will be woven into an evolving 90-minute production.

And with its constant cast and content changes, and various excellent vantage points from every seat in the house, the show’s producers hope that audiences will want to watch “Dear San Francisco” repeatedly and drink, eat, and hang out for a while they do.

Rehearsals for “Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Adventure” will take place in Club Fugazi, which is being converted for production. (Leslie Katz / The Examiner)

This community spirit is also reflected in the menu that is offered before each performance (to protect the flying and jumping acrobats, there is no food and drink service during the show), with many items from local suppliers.

In the historic common room of the ICS above the theater, guests of the latest preview enjoyed tastings of the delicious snacks, including: Fried Fava Beans “Popcorn”, Liguria Bakery Focaccia, Mee Mee Bakery Cow Ear Snackers, Rustic Bakery Crackers, Bohemian Creamery Cheese, Smoked Sardines and Mackerel from Jose Gourmet and the signature Sacripantina cake from Stella Pastry & Café, a creamy, almond-like treat to die for.

Preview performances of Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Adventure are September 22nd through October. 10 at Club Fugazi, 678 Green St., SF The premiere is on October 12th. For tickets, visit clubfugazisf.com.

Bay Area NewsSan FranciscoTheater

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