Pearls Over Shanghai Remounted: A Spectacular Show Made Even More Spectacular

Connie Champagne as Petrushka and Russell Blackwood as Mother Fu

One of the most spectacular shows seen in San Francisco in years, The Thrillpeddlers’ Pearls Over Shanghai is riding a wave of popularity, and it has been sold out for months. Now the Cockettes musical remounting has been held over through April 24, 2010. The show is being presented at The Hypnodrome, which usually presents Grand Guignol productions.

Forty years have passed since the hippie theatrical group known as The Cockettes dazzled The City with their shows, and Pearls Over Shanghai was one of the finest. This journalist and the rest of packed early 1970’s audiences at the Palace Theater in North Beach were pulled into the very un-PC atmospheric version of that Chinese city and its drug and sex underground.

Huge improvements since the 70s — professional costumes, rehearsals, and all of the cast is onstage instead of a handful nodding off backstage on drugs.

Stage director Russell Blackwood and musical director (and original Cockette) Richard “Scrumbly” Koldewyn deserve the highest praise for their production by Link Martin (book/lyrics) and Koldewyn (music). A viewing of the films Shanghai Gesture and The Bitter Tea of General Yen and their bizarre Hollywood filtering of the Orient prepares audiences for the Thrillpeddlers stage production. It is an advertisement for the pleasures of opium and is also a cautionary tale of what can befall young American women trying to break into show business.

Some of the most remarkable scenes include: An beautiful and exotic Kara Emry working over hunky William McMichael with her heels and a whip, sultry Steven Satyricon romancing a curiously appealing Eric Tyson Wertz, amazing Jef Valentine and TJ Ladies and Gentlemen convincingly corrupting some young women, and Russell Blackwood’s, Rumi Missabu’s, and Lanny Baugniet’s masterful command of the stage.

Thanks to San Francisco Bay Times reporter Dennis McMillan the all important display of male frontal nudity was also revived. The Cockettes were unique, even in the 70s, for their sexual freedom inside and outside of their commune, and onstage nudity was an important part of that freedom. One penis in this show is decorated and waved freely. Another is hidden for a Ken Doll look, and the third is flashed at the audience. Also remarkable is that the crowd was very vocal in their pleasure, yelling out and screaming at their favorite scenes throughout the evening.

And to celebrate the Cockettes’ 40 years there will be songs from other shows performed in January 2010, after Pearls shows. For people who miss the Cockettes and their teenage years in the 70’s in San Francisco, this show is a window of awareness and feeling for a time of freedom and rampant sexuality. Pearls Over Shanghai is a primal and beautiful gift symbolized by the giant poppy on Russell Blackwood’s headdress and the gyrating eager-to-please bodies on stage.

Pearls Over Shanghai is currently held over through April 24, 2010.
The Hippnodrome
575 10th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 377-4202

[Photo caption: 6/12/09 — Connie Champagne as Petrushka and Russell Blackwood as Mother Fu in The Thrillpeddlers' "Pearls Over Shanghai," a re-mounting the Cockettes' spectacular show at The Hypnodrome.]

Brokeback Fair in the City

Steven Satyricon and Tod practicing on each other in the kissing booth

The AIDS Emergency Fund (AEF) scored another fundraising success with their County Fair at San Francisco’s County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park on May 31, 2009. The Western theme was picked up and run away with by chanteuses Connie Champagne and Arturo Galster, and of course, studly Bill Holt in his pink cowboy hat. Winslow Associate’s Neil Figurelli expertly coordinated the event with the AEF and a small army of smiling volunteers.

The AIDS Emergency Fund and its affiliated Breast Cancer Emergency Fund assist people who are suffering with disabling illness. Clients, employees, and volunteers joined to make the fair fun and successful.

Singer Connie Champagne thrilled the large, boisterous crowd with her fine rendition of “Stand By Your Man” decked out in a satin cowgirl outfit. She is starring in the upcoming re-mounting of the Cockettes classic “Pearls Over Shanghai.” Arturo Galster as Patsy Cline, beautifully gowned, served up an introduction about the Proposition 8 fundamentalists and then sang “Crazy.”

Sundance Saloon male dancers performed a six-man line dance, and then Christy Cote and Mila Salazar, who also dance at the Sundance Saloon, took a couple close turns around the floor. Then Ron Jenkins and Protis Phiranis showed off their Country-Western moves.

The AEF was very thoughtful in providing a large quantity of food tickets for each guest and the taste treats were extraordinary. The best sweet potato fries, buttered corn on the cob, creamy coleslaw, and onion-covered chicken sandwiches hit the spot for the city guys who imagined that they were out in the California countryside. Blue Angel Vodka, a beverage sponsor, was liberally poured, and it even found its way into the lemonade!

There were booths with games, but the booth that had fair-goers stopped in their tracks was the kissing booth. The stuff that dreams are made of, handsome Steven Satyricon and Tod, were warming up for visitors with two-tongue exercises and deep kissing. Satyricon is a professional dancer and actor, and he is a guest star in the monthly SF Boylesque shows. The leather arm band toss onto dildos was another popular booth, and some guys played Roller Bowler just to get near smoking hot Thomas, who ran the game.

AEF executive director Mike Smith headed a team of pie-tasters, and passersby nervously watched them to make sure that the sampling was not too extensive. When they finished and picked a winner, a horde of diners descended on the pies to devour them and check each other out at close quarters.

Hundreds of desirable men and some women enjoyed the fair and there was heavy cruising around the silent auction items.

Prominent guests included attorney Walter Parsley and his friend MUMC president Steve Adams, District 8 city supervisor contenders Rebecca Prozan and Scott Wiener, San Francisco treasurer Jose Cisneros, Project Open Hand executive director Tom Nolan, San Francisco city supervisor Bevan Dufty and family, and the Health Commission’s Jim Illig.

Honorees included Congressional Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s aide Dan Bernal and generous event soundman Randal Schiller. Mark Paladini, Liz Baldwin, Lance Brittain, and Stacy Aldrich were also honored.

Sister Roma and provocative Rafael Musni kept the event moments moving, and Randal Schiller’s sound brought their commentary to every corner of the vast space.

[Photo caption: 5/31/09 — The AIDS Emergency Fund's County Fair at San Francisco's County Fair Building. Steven Satyricon and Tod practiced on each other at the kissing booth. A rousing city Brokeback experience with dancing, a dildo ring toss, and great food and drink treats.]