Tony-Winning San Francisco Mime Troupe Revives 'GHOSTS'

As part of the San Francisco Mime Troupe 50th Anniversary Exhibition Birthday Bash at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Mime Troupe will revive GHOSTS, seen only once at the December 1981 opening of the Moscone Center, adjacent to Yerba Buena. The revival features several members of the original cast, including Arthur Holden, Dan Chumley, and Lonnie Ford in their 1981 roles, and will be followed by music, and anniversary toasts and roasts. The evening begins at 7:30pm, Thursday, December 10 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, and is free and open to the public.

When Kary Schulman, director of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, now Grants for the Arts, commissioned GHOSTS, the Mime Troupe was known more for protesting and getting arrested than for appearing at official venues. Then Mayor Dianne Feinstein deemed sculptor Robert Arneson's commissioned bust of the martyred Mayor George Moscone insufficiently respectful and blocked its placement in the Moscone Center. Shulman's commission, Feinstein's ban, plus Dickens' A Christmas Carol was all the inspiration the Mime Troupe needed to create an acid, hilarious play-within-a-play starring the Mayor, a troupe of evicted Yerba Buena residents, the late Mayor's ghost, and the statue. The original production made headlines, supplying one of the only reminders amidst the grand opening of the Moscone Center that 10,000 people had been displaced.

The one-night only revival of GHOSTS is part of the San Francisco Mime Troupe's ongoing 50th Anniversary celebration, which includes events held at the San Francisco Library, Mill Valley Film Festival, and UC Davis. In addition to GHOSTS and the Birthday Bash, events hosted by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts include: "Engagement, Commitment, and Fresh Air - Celebrating 50 Years of the San Francisco Mime Troupe," "Anti-Capitalist, Anti-Consumption Christmas Street Theater Workshop," and a special screening of the 1968 documentary "Have you Heard of the San Francisco Mime Troupe?"

For more information about the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the 50th Anniversary events, the public may call 415.285.1717, visit www.sfmt.org or www.ybca.org.