S.F. Follies Spoof and Glorify San Francisco’ Past and Present

- By Dr. Jean Lust and Flora Lynn Isaacson

With a blast and a bang the Follies performers greet us with a lively song and dance opening that grabs us from the start as we are invited to revisit the past and present of one of America’s most glorious cities. As quickly we are back in the seventeen hundreds where a couple of Spaniards are commanding two female native Indians who comprehend nada. After the name Yerba Buena is changed to San Francisco a naked gold miner adds another note of humor and scandal as he appears holding his mining plate in front of his parts to spoof the days of the Gold Rush. An attractive Victorian female ventriloquist carrying a baby who talks like an adult captivates our attention. The days of the Barbary Coast, alive with crime and prostitution, are vividly depicted. In the late eighteen hundreds the cable cars climb the hills of San Francisco. In 1906 the earthquake is portrayed as demolishing a good part of the city, rapidly rebuilt and followed by the 1920ties stock market clash.

As we move further into the twentieth century we are offered amusing caricatures of the Beatnik writers of the 1950ties and Patty Hearst in the 1960ties. Next we see cartoon sketches of such notables as movie critic Jan Wahl who appears looking like a robot puppet, Diane Feinstein, George Moscone, Harvey Milk, Wendy Takuta, and an enticing Mayor Newsom. There are vivid portrayals of the city’s favorite spots namely Telegraph Hill and its parrots, Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate Park, City Hall, Davis Music Hall, the Tenderloin homeless, Bart and more. To end this rapid overview of the history and present of San Francisco a number of video projections offer a sentimental look at some of the city’s finest stores of last century such as The City of Paris and Blum’s along with Christmas adorning the city’s streets.

The singers/actors/dancers of this fifteen member cast are alive, energetic and they give their all in this brilliantly developed satire.

Sets under the sharp eagle eye of John Bisceglie (Author, Director, Producer and Costume/Set Designer) are visually appealing and costumes extravagantly stunning to convey the glittering Follies ambience.

The retrospect of San Francisco ends on a touching note as we watch video projections of the landmarks that to those who are familiar with the city can bring tears to their eyes.

This caricature of San Francisco is at once amusing and moving, performed with glamour and humorous affection in an intimate ambience.