A new vinyl mural has appeared in the basement of the San Francisco Public Library's Main Branch.
It was created by the legendary local costume designer Debra "Beaver" Bauer, where a retrospective of her work has opened for a six-month stay.
She started her career in the 1970s with the Angels of Light Free Theater, a breakaway offshoot of The Cockettes, which founding member Hibiscus thought was too commercial.
I arrived in San Francisco in 1974 and actually saw one of their shows,
Paris Sites Under the Bourgeois Sea, at the fancy Herbst Theater in the Veterans Building. I remember being intrigued by the young, sexy countercultural audience, bored by the play itself, and astonished by the elaborate costumes designed by Beaver Bauer.
She then became a freelance costume designer for A.C.T. and Berkeley Rep, smaller experimental theaters, and the odd celebrity like ice skater Brian Boitano and singer Joan Baez. She recently retired after outfitting Teatro ZinZanni for years, the circus dinner shows set in Seattle and San Francisco tents. Whenever her name appeared on a program, you could be assured that even if the show wasn't all that interesting, the costumes certainly would be.
At Thursday evening's opening at the Main Branch library, surprisingly good wine from Santa Cruz's Stirm Wine Company was being poured for free...
...while upstairs there was a large crowd assembled for a performance/fashion show in the lobby.
A longtime veteran of Teatro ZinZanni, Frank Ferrante was the emcee, and he picked a pair of men from the audience to don "Caesar" coats and do silly dancing.
One of them was an acquaintance of mine, Dusty Porn (in the gold), and he did himself proud.
Hovering everywhere was the maestra herself, Beaver Bauer (above left), who radiated joy the entire evening.
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