1988 - Classics, Pride, Movies and In Memory of Friends

1988 was a busy and important year for the chorus as you will read.  We started with a pair of spring shows, one in San Francisco and one in Berkeley, called A Touch of Classics. We sang the music of Wolfgang Mozart and Gabriel Faure. This was our first full concert of classical music with Pat Parr.  It was also the first time we had performed outside of San Francisco.  

Next up was A Decade of Pride on June 24, 1988. This concert featured us, our subgroups Menage and Fiddlestix, the SFGMC and one of their subgroups, Chamber Singers, and the San Francisco ARCAIDS Theatre. This last group was started at the beginning of 1988 by a group of actors, writers, musicians and other performers with a desire to explore issues pertaining to ARC and AIDS through music and theatre.  Everyone in the performing ensemble has AIDS or ARC.  What a wonderful group of persons to work with in this Pride concert.  

Next up was our big production concert, LGCSF Goes to the Movies held on September 30, 1988 at First Congregational Church. Our special guest was the fabulous Deena Jones who sang The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat. She outdid Carmen Miranda. She also sang Big Noise from Winnetka with a group of dancers behind her in white tuxes and tails. This concert was lots of fun and offered many of our members a chance to shine as soloists, duets and quartets.

The next production we were a part of was In Memory of Friends and in Support of Those Living with AIDS. This was held at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre and was sold out. We were part of a group of local cabaret performers, such as Sharon McNight, Danny Williams, Darlene Popovic, Jose Sarria, the First Empress of San Francisco, as well as the Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps and Flag Corps. This show was one way all of us who were part of it were able to keep the memory of those who had died in our hearts and in the hearts of our audience. At this time in the 1980s, our chorus, along with all other performing arts organizations, had lost members to AIDS. Many in our chorus volunteered in the organizations that formed to take care of them.  These groups were the Shanti Project, Stop AIDS Prevention Group, AIDS Emergency Fund, Project Open Hand and many others.  

...As part of the props for our LGCSF Goes to Hollywood show, we made two big Oscar statutes.  As we were unloading the props from the show, the statues were put on the steps outside the church.  Somehow, someone made off with these big Oscars and they are probably in someone's house....