Beach Blanket Babylon: A Hats-Off Tribute to San Francisco's Most Extraordinary Musical Revue [Paperback]

Janet Lynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

The question is, what did the Queen think of the hats? The longest-running musical revue in American history, Beach Blanket Babylon has taken audiences around the world, from Buckingham Palace to Las Vegas, and the world has in turn come to Beach Blanket Babylon. Known for outrageous humor, great music, fabulous characterizations of the famous and the infamous (from Snow White to John Travolta), and absolutely the biggest hats ever seen on stage, the show still packs the house over twenty years later at its home in San Francisco. Created by the late Steve Silver as an offshoot of his Rent-A-Freak business, with an original script by Armistead Maupin, Beach Blanket Babylon has become a legend. This visual celebration captures all the zaniness of the show and takes the reader behind the scenes, from early sketches and costume design to the ongoing creative genius that keeps Mr. Peanut tap-dancing. For anyone who loves the theater or likes to laugh, this book is the ticket.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bursting onto the theatrical world of 1974 like a breath of fresh helium, the campy San Francisco revue Beach Blanket Babylon established itself as the show that had the courage to put a life-size Mr. Peanut, Glinda the Good Witch of the North, and a tap-dancing Christmas tree together on a stage. Joyously glorifying the detritus of American culture, Steve Silver's monsterpiece has been delighting hip audiences (and thoroughly disorienting others) ever since. This slick paperback is really just a souvenir booklet as extravagantly overblown as one of Silver's signature 33-foot hats. It has lots of photos and history, but, sadly, barely a quote from the show's giddily funny scripts. But it's fun just the same, a window on a countercultural phenomenon.

About the Author

Janet Lynn Roseman is a freelance writer specializing in the arts. She lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811816990
• ISBN-13: 978-0811816991
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,011,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing look at a microcosm reflecting a larger world., January 6, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beach Blanket Babylon: A Hats-Off Tribute to San Francisco's Most Extraordinary Musical Revue (Paperback)

This delightful book examines the unique theater which one man's vision successfully and energetically designed to examine the pain and parody of an evolving, contemporary American society and body politic. May Beach Blanket Babylon spread it's messages both throughout the American stages and through distribution of this panoramic literary exposition. Yes, proudly, Janet Lynn Roseman is my sister!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun!, December 22, 2008

By 

A. Reed (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beach Blanket Babylon: A Hats-Off Tribute to San Francisco's Most Extraordinary Musical Revue (Paperback)

For those who have been fortunate enough to see Beach Blanket Babylon, this provides wonderful pictures, great information about what goes on behind the scenes, how the show got started--almost as much fun as being there--well, not quite. Fans of the show will enjoy very much.