Review: TOTALLY '80S : SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN'S CHORUS at Curran Theatre
The concert took place on March 21, 2026.
The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the world's first openly gay chorus, continues it’s forty-eighth season with a concert both cheerful and deeply emotional celebrating the music and events of the 1980’s. For the LGBT community, the 80’s was the apocalypse incarnate - a community devastated by the AIDS pandemic, government abandonment, and social ostracization. But you couldn’t tell anything was amiss with the musical soundtrack of the decade with pop and rock anthems from stars like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, and Bon Jovi. This juxtaposition of joy and tragedy is beautifully realized by the 300-member chorus, outgoing CEO Christopher Verdugo, Music Supervisor Danny Sullivan and Artistic Director and Conductor Jacob Stensburg.
Four words define the theme of this show: Becoming, Belonging, Loss and Liberation. With extraordinary personal anecdotes by longtime SFGMC members, the story of a community coming together to weather the storm and come out stronger are remembered and passed on to a new generation. The pop anthems arranged with the massive sound of the chorus are sweet memories of those times that helped congeal a grieving community into a force for change, self-realization, and change.
Iconic pop, synth-pop, and rock songs told the story of the decade combined with more choreography than previous shows and a stellar band. Norwegian synth pop band a-ha’s “Take on Me,” a plea for love, takes on added significance, as does Pat Benatar’s “We Belong,” another ode to love. Hearing the chorus sing “we belong to the light; we belong to the thunder” was sublime.
Kudos to chorus members Jeff Sinclair, Robbie Frederick, Julian Francis Clift, and Dennis James for sharing their deeply emotional and authentic memories of that period. They highlighted the personal struggles of being closeted, living double lives, and wearing masks to hide their real selves. There is an element of majesty listening to the SFGMC, a tremendous power in numbers. Queen’s “Under Pressure” and Pet Shop Boys campy take on premarital sex “It’s a Sin” are prime examples of elevating a pop ditty into a chorale masterpiece. The featured soloists, dancers, and chorus subgroups (The Lollipop Guild, The Homophonics) add wonderfully to the mix. The SFGMC is a worldwide phenomenon, and its members reflect the variety and richness of their community. Through music they continue a legacy of resilience, power, and artistic excellence.
Photo credit: Stefan Cohen
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