12/28/2022 0 Comments Beach blanket babylon![]() The performance the royal couple witnessed in 1983 featured an actor wearing one of the show's huge signature hats, decorated for the occasion with a scaled-down replica of Buckingham Palace. VELTMAN: As were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Politicians and celebrities - from California Governor Gavin Newsom to David Bowie - were fans. VELTMAN: The show soon became a San Francisco institution, with its own theater and a street named after it - Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Christmas tree, singing) Me and my shadow. VELTMAN: Grainy black-and-white footage from an early performance reveals a singing, tap-dancing Christmas tree. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Christmas tree, singing) Me and my shadow strolling down the avenue. From the get go, the show was unapologetically silly. ![]() The following year, "Beach Blanket Babylon" was born. VELTMAN: Silver and his buddies made 25 bucks that night. Let's go back to my house, put some costumes on that I had from Rent-A-Freak and come back and do an act, see if we can make some money. STEVE SILVER: And I said, hey, wait a minute. VELTMAN: In a KQED TV documentary from the mid-1980s, the late impresario Steve Silver says he got the idea for "Beach Blanket" in 1973 after watching a busker ply his trade outside a San Francisco restaurant. I got to drag Clarence Thomas all around the stage singing "Respect." That was a blast. LUBIN: I had no idea how funny it was going to be. VELTMAN: And jumping into the role of Anita Hill when the news broke in 1991 about the sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. (As Anita Hill, singing) What you want, baby, I got it. LUBIN: (As Tina Turner, singing) What's love got to do, got to do with it? VELTMAN: Like playing Tina Turner in a feral, two-and-a-half-foot-tall wig. RENEE LUBIN: (As Tina Turner, singing) What's love got to do, got to do with it? Here's Chloe Veltman of member station KQED.ĬHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: Renee Lubin has many fond memories of performing in "Beach Blanket Babylon" night after night for 34 years. It's called "Beach Blanket Babylon," famous for its goofy send ups of the rich and famous, costumes and hats. One of the country's longest-running live comedy revues is closing down in San Francisco on December 31.
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