It’s like old times, or at least like the Before Times. Every Fourth of July, the San Francisco Mime Troupe premieres a new musical comedy political satire that tours Bay Area Parks for the rest of the summer, with donations encouraged to keep the show going.

Only for the last couple of years that hasn’t happened. Though SFMT has kept its hand in during the COVID-19 pandemic with a few radio serial podcasts, the theater collective has held off a return to parks until now.

Now the Mime Troupe is back in parks with a new show appropriately titled “Back to the Way Things Were,” though, of course, the nostalgic title is tongue in cheek. It’s the troupe’s first touring show in Bay Area parks since 2019’s “Treasure Island.”

Written by Michael Gene Sullivan with Marie Cartier, “Back to the Way Things Were” does feature a family attempting to go out and do things after being cooped up at home because of the pandemic, but the show’s not really about COVID at all. It’s about voracious capitalists profiting off human misery and destroying the environment, and basically everything being terrible and getting worse.

Small wonder that Zoe, the teenager at the center of the play, has become so nihilistic. Played with scowling exasperation by Alicia MP Nelson, Zoe volunteers at an unhoused placement center, but she also doesn’t believe there’s any hope for the future and doesn’t pretend otherwise.

By contrast, her parents are blithely optimistic, cheerily singing that things are at last getting “back to the way things were.” Norman Gee and Lizzie Calogero keep up a comically sunny, old-timey mom-and-pop demeanor as Ralph and Alice — yes, like “The Honeymooners.” Ralph is even an ex-bus driver who’s now an Uber driver, while Alice just got a new job as a package sorter at a fulfillment center. Of course, the world outside their door turns out to be a parade of horrors giving just a small sampling of how messed up our society is today.

Aside from Nelson as Zoe, all of the actors play multiple roles. Calogero portrays a harried but dedicated social worker, while Gee shows up as a patient but endlessly delayed client waiting for housing help with his volumes of paperwork.

Andre Amarotico is a smooth and smarmy venture capitalist looking to privatize social services, the glad-handing guy who’s obviously going to become the villain of the piece. He also plays an overworked fast food employee, a helpful street protestor, a predatory cop and a shattered idealist.

Like 2018’s Mime Troupe show, “Seeing Red,” this one involves time travel. Keiko Shimosato Carreiro appears as Book, a seemingly crazed visitor from who-knows-where in a cowboy hat, long duster and coveralls (fun costumes by Brooke Jennings). Book is jumpy and paranoid about all the surveillance devices that we all routinely carry and install that allow a mysterious “Them” to track our movements. (The show’s weakest running gag is about whether to call them “They” or “Them,” as if that were a point of legitimate confusion.) And she keeps trying to draw Zoe into her mission to save the future.

Directed by longtime collective member and frequent performer Velina Brown, it’s a lively show showcasing the Troupe’s trademark quick shifts of scene and character, aided by Carlos Aceves’ versatile set. With music and lyrics by Daniel Savio, who leads the three-piece SFMT Band, the songs in a variety of styles are fairly catchy, especially the chipper title tune.

At 100 minutes without intermission, it’s actually one of SFMT’s longer musicals, as some other recent ones have been just a little over an hour. It’s fast-paced enough that it doesn’t feel overlong so much as meandering, less focused on a particular issue than sampling a smorgasbord of social woes that capitalism has wrought. Like Zoe, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by it all and conclude that we’re doomed — at least in the absence of fanciful sci-fi solutions like the ones she stumbles into. But even so, kudos to the Mime Troupe for calling out America’s broken and sabotaged systems and demanding that we somehow collectively do better.

Sam Hurwitt is a Bay Area arts journalist and playwright. Contact him at shurwitt@gmail.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/shurwitt.

IF YOU GO

What: “Back to the Way Things Were”

When: Through Sept 5; various locations and times, including at 7 pm July 20 at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley

Admission: Free, donations accepted

Information: 415-285-1717; sfmt.org

Rating (out of five stars): ★★★★

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Tony Bennett won over generations of fans singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. And on his 95th birthday, the beloved singer left his heart on the stage of Radio City Music Hall. Six months after Bennett and his family announced that he had Alzheimer’s disease, Bennett sang with Lady Gaga to a sold-out audience in a two-concert series billed as his last New York appearances in early August. Related video above: Lady Gaga struggled to “stick together” when Tony Bennett remembered her name Now the rest of the world has a chance to watch the August 3rd moving show in a TV special, “One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, “which aired on Sunday. In addition to his signature song, Bennett played standards such as “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Steppin ‘Out With My Baby” and duets with Lady Gaga including “Love For Sale” and “Anything Goes”. His family members have said that sometimes Bennett doesn’t know where he is or what is going on around him. But on the stage in the TV special, the legendary actor didn’t miss a beat. When Lady Gaga shouted “New York, New York” before Bennett took the stage, Lady Gaga burst into tears when she paused to talk about him. “He’s my friend. He’s my musical companion. And he’s the greatest singer in the whole world. And I’m counting on you, New York, to make him smile. So you better cheer. You better scream. You laugh.” better. You better cry. You better give your soul. ” The Radio City Music Hall audience honored the end of the deal. Bennett got his first standing ovation before he even sang a note – and garnered at least a dozen more cheers over the course of the night. At one point the camera panned to a viewer who shouted, “We love you!” Bennett, whose singing career spanned eight decades, is no stranger to performing in front of throngs of enthusiastic fans. Still, before the concert, family members told “60 Minutes” that they weren’t sure what would happen during the show, knew everything would be fine. “It became himself. It just turned on. It was like a light switch,” she told “60 Minutes” on a segment that aired last month. That’s because music and gigs are so deeply rooted in the singer. According to Bennett’s neurologist Dr. Gayatri Devi. “People react differently depending on their strengths. In Tony’s case, it’s his musical memory, his ability to be a performer. It’s an innate and hardwired part of his brain,” Devi said on “60 minutes.” “Even though he doesn’t know what the day might be or where his apartment is, he can still sing the entire repertoire of the American Songbook and move people.” Bennett released his first album in 2014 with Lady Gaga collaboration which became a Cole Porter- Tribute album entitled “Love For Sale” released. It received six Grammy nominations last week. Following the nominations, Lady Gaga told BBC Radio 2’s “The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show” that it was heartbreaking to see what Bennett is going through. She told “60 Minutes” that Bennett had called her “Sweetheart” every time she saw him since the pandemic started, and she wasn’t sure he knew who she was. But when she got on stage to join him on the radio during the City Music Hall concert, Bennett seemed in no doubt. “Wow,” he said as she swirled around in a shimmering gold dress. “Lady Gaga!” An expression of joy crossed Lady Gaga’s face. She leaned forward, her head in her hands, before making another whirl. “I had to hold it together because we had a sold out show and I had a job to do,” Lady Gaga told 60 Minutes. “But I’m telling you when I went on stage and he said, ‘Lady Gaga’, my friend saw me and it was very special.” After the successful shows at Radio City Music Hall, Bennett said the future tour will stop performing. His son and manager Danny Bennett told Variety that these New York concerts would be his last. “This was a tough decision for us as he is a capable artist. However, this is the direction of the doctors,” said Danny Bennett. “It’s not the singing aspect, it’s more the traveling. Look, he’s getting tired. It is decided that it’s just getting too much for him to give concerts now.” Lady Gaga told 60 Minutes that she was in Bennett’s final appearance at Radio City Music Hall. “It’s not a sad story. It’s emotional. It’s hard to see someone change. I think the beauty of it and what was the challenge is to see how it affects them in some ways, but to see you how it doesn’t affect his talent, “she said. “I think he really pushed through something to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change and you can still be great.”

Tony Bennett won over generations of fans singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. And on his 95th birthday, the beloved singer left his heart on the stage of Radio City Music Hall.

Six months after Bennett and his family announced he had Alzheimer’s disease, Bennett and Lady Gaga sang to a sold-out audience in a two-concert series in early August that was billed as his final New York appearances.

Similar video above: Lady Gaga struggled to “hold together” when Tony Bennett remembered her name

Now the rest of the world has a chance to see the moving August 3rd show in a TV special, “One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga,” which aired on Sunday.

In addition to his signature song, Bennett played standards such as “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Steppin ‘Out With My Baby” and duets with Lady Gaga, including “Love For Sale” and “Anything Goes”.

His family members have said that sometimes Bennett doesn’t know where he is or what is going on around him. But on the stage in the TV special, the legendary actor didn’t miss a beat.

Lady Gaga belted out “New York, New York” before Bennett took the stage and burst into tears when she paused to talk about him.

“He’s my friend. He’s my musical companion. And he’s the greatest singer in the world. And I’m counting on you, New York, to make him smile. So you better cheer. You better scream. You better laugh.” You better cry. You better give your soul. “

The Radio City Music Hall audience honored the end of the deal. Bennett got his first standing ovation before he even sang a note – and picked up at least a dozen more over the course of the night.

On “Fly Me to the Moon” when he sang the line “Let me sing forever more” the audience burst into jubilation. At some point the camera panned to a viewer who shouted: “We love you!”

Bennett, whose singing career spanned eight decades, is no stranger to performing in front of huge crowds. Still, family members told 60 Minutes before the concert that they weren’t sure what would happen during the show.

But Ms. Susan Benedetto said that when she saw him on stage that evening, his eyes sparkled and her arms were outstretched towards the crowd, she knew everything would be fine.

“It became himself. It just turned on. It was like a light switch,” she told “60 Minutes” on a segment that aired last month.

That’s because music and gigs are so ingrained in the singer, according to Bennett’s neurologist Dr. Gayatri Devi.

“People react differently depending on their strengths. In Tony’s case, it’s his musical memory, his ability to be a performer. It’s an innate and hard-wired part of his brain,” Devi said on “60 Minutes”. “Although he doesn’t know what the day might be or where his apartment is, he can still sing the entire repertoire of the American Songbook and move people.”

Bennett released his first album with Lady Gaga in 2014. Their latest collaboration, a Cole Porter tribute album entitled “Love For Sale”, was released in October. It received six Grammy nominations last week.

Following the nominations, Lady Gaga told BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show that it was heartbreaking to see what Bennett is going through. She told “60 Minutes” that Bennett had called her “sweetheart” every time she saw him since the pandemic started, and she wasn’t sure he knew who she was.

But when she came on stage to accompany him during the concert at Radio City Music Hall, Bennett seemed in no doubt. “Wow,” he said as she swirled around in a shimmering gold dress. “Lady Gaga!”

An expression of joy crossed Lady Gaga’s face. She leaned forward, head in hands, before turning again.

“I had to hold it together because we had a sold out show and I had a job to do,” Lady Gaga told 60 Minutes. “But I’m telling you when I went on stage and he said, ‘Lady Gaga’, my girlfriend saw me and it was very special.”

After the successful shows at Radio City Music Hall, Bennett canceled future tour appearances. His son and manager Danny Bennett told Variety that these New York concerts would be his last.

“This was a tough decision for us as he is a capable performer. However, this is the doctors’ direction,” said Danny Bennett. “It’s not the singing aspect, it’s the traveling. Look, he’s getting tired. It is decided that it’s just too much for him to give concerts now.”

Lady Gaga told “60 Minutes” that she heard a powerful message in Bennett’s last appearance at Radio City Music Hall.

“It’s not a sad story. It’s emotional. It’s hard to see someone change. I think the beauty of it and the challenging thing is to see how it affects you in some ways, but see how it does not work. ” his talent, “she said.” I think he really pushed through to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change and you can still be great. “

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