San Francisco Mime Troupe Serves Up World Premiere Musical Comedy
The San Francisco Mime Troupe, the only touring ensemble to ever win a Tony Award for Excellence in Regional Theatre, opens its 2006 season with the world premiere of Godfellas, a musical comedy that takes aim at religion in America. The play will be performed primarily in Bay Area parks from July 4 to October 1-with tour stops as far as
Sacramento, Santa Cruz, and Southern California (at Tim Robbins’s famed Actors’ Gang Theater in Culver City). Most performances are free, with indoor shows priced between $15 and $20.
Godfellas imagines a country swept up in religious rhetoric. The Reverend C.C.B. De Love embarks on a personal crusade to ensure that the military-industrial God complex rules the nation. But the good reverend finds a foil in Angela Franklin, an atheist and activist who fights to defeat the coming theocracy-only to find herself falling prey to her enemies’ zealous tactics.
The Troupe is no stranger to hot-button issues, and courts controversy every summer by presenting ensemble-created plays that cast a critical eye on such topics as the Bush administration, the war on terror, and corporate America. Playing to liberal audiences mainly in the Bay Area may be preaching to the converted, but the Troupe aims to reframe social and political discussion in new and entertaining ways. Perhaps that’s why the company has staying power (46 years and counting) and plays to large crowds in parks and packed auditoriums.
The San Francisco Mime Troupe admittedly discusses changing its name on a regular basis, due to many people’s misperceptions about what the company does. Most folks connect the word “mime” immediately to an image of a skinny, pasty-faced man in a beret, pressing his hands against imaginary walls. This is far from what the Troupe is all about. The company uses the term “mime” in the ancient sense-that is, exaggerating the big topics of the day through story and song. With its many awards and prestigious history, the San Francisco Mime Troupe is hesitant to let go of the name that made it famous.
After two preview performances on July 1 and 2 in San Francisco, the opening day of Godfellas will be celebrated at Dolores Park at 2 p.m. (Live music begins at 1:30 p.m.) The show’s final performance will be on October 1 at San Lorenzo Park
in Santa Cruz. (See complete schedule below.) For more information, call (415) 285-1717 or e-mail info@sfmt.org. Visit www.sfmt.org.
GODFELLAS 2006 TOURING SCHEDULE
2006 Free Park Shows and Indoor Venues
July 1 PRECITA PARK
(Sat) – Preview
Precita & Harrison – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July 2
DOLORES PARK (Sun) – Preview
18th & Dolores – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July 4
DOLORES PARK (Tues) – World Premier/Opening Day
18th & Dolores – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July 8 & 9
CEDAR ROSE PARK (Sat & Sun)
1300 Rose Street, a block from Cedar & Chestnut – Berkeley
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July 15
PEACOCK MEADOW – GOLDEN GATE PARK (Sat)
JFK Drive, bet. McLaren Lodge & Conservatory – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July16
LAKESIDE PARK (Sun)
Lakeside Drive at Lake Merritt- Oakland
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July 20
ARENA THEATER (Thurs)
214 Main Street – Point Arena
Music 7:30 p.m., Show 8:00 p.m.
Ticket info Call: 707-882-3272
July 21
MATEEL COMMUNITY CENTER (Fri)
59 Rusk Lane – Redway
Music 7:30 p.m., Show 8:00 p.m.
Ticket info Call: 707-923-3368
July 23
MILL VALLEY COMMUNITY CENTER (Sun)
180 Camino Alto near
E. Blithedale-MillValley
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
July 29
MOSSWOOD PARK (Sat)
MacArthur & Broadway – Oakland
Music at 1:30 p.m., Show at 2:00 p.m.
July 30
YERBA BUENA GARDENS (Sun)
Mission & 3rd – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
August 5
GLEN PARK (Sat)
Bosworth & O’Shaughnessy – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
August 6
BOLINAS COMMUNITY CENTER (Sun)
Mesa Park – Bolinas
Music 2:00 p.m., Show 2:30 p.m.
Ticket info Call: 415-868-2128
August 12 & 13
LIVE OAK PARK (Sat, Sun)
Shattuck & Berryman – Berkeley
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
August 18
TOWN HALL COALITION (Fri)
To be announced -Sebastopol
Music 7:00 p.m., Show 7:30 p.m.
Ticket info Call: 707-824-4371
August 19
MITCHELL PARK (Sat)
600 E. Meadow Drive- Palo Alto
Music 4:30 p.m., Show 5:00 p.m.
August 20
WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK (Sun)
Columbus & Union – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
August 26 & 27
WILLARD PARK/HO CHI MINH (Sat & Sun)
Hillegass & Derby- Berkeley
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
September 2-4
DOLORES PARK (Sat, Sun & Mon)
18th & Dolores – San Francisco
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m.
September 9
COMMUNITY PARK (Sat)
F Street btw. 14th & Covell – Davis
Music 3:30 p.m., Show 4:00 p.m.
September 10
SOUTHSIDE PARK (Sun)
6th and T Street Bandshell – Sacramento
Music 3:30 p.m., Show 4:00 p.m.
September 12
CHABOT COLLEGE (Tues)
Performance Arts Center, Hesperian Blvd. – Hayward
Music 6:30 p.m., Show 7:00 p.m.
September 14 & 15
CENTER FOR THE ARTS (Thurs, Fri)
314 W. Main Street-GrassValley
Music 7:00 p.m., Show 7:30 p.m
Ticket info Call: 530-274-8384
September 16
CEDAR GROVE IN BIDWELL PARK/KZFR (Sat)
1968 East 8th Street – Chico
Music 6:00 p.m., Show 6:30 p.m.
Ticket info Call: 530-345-8136
www.chicotickets.com
September 20-24
ACTORS’ GANG THEATER (Weds-Sun)
at the Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd – Culver City
Music 7:30 p.m., Show 8:00 p.m., Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat
Music 1:30 p.m., Show 2:00 p.m., Sat, Sun
Ticket info: TBA
September 28
SEBASTIANI THEATER (Thurs)
476 First Street East (on the plaza) – Sonoma
Music 7:00 p.m., Show 7:30 p.m.
Ticket info Call: 707-996-9756
September 30 & Oct 1
SAN LORENZO PARK (Sat & Sun)
Dakota Avenue (downtown) – Santa Cruz
Music 2:30 p.m., Show 3:00 p.m.
