San Francisco Theater Festival to Feature Beach Blanket Babylon 8/8

The seventh annual San Francisco Theater Festival, a free, fun, one-day extravaganza of 120 shows under 30 minutes on 15 stages will be held on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010, from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm, featuring a performance by the cast of San Francisco's smash hit musical, Beach Blanket Babylon.

Also featured are the Lamplighters Music Theatre, a stage adaptation of The Big Lebowski, and Shakespeare, plus drama, comedy, solo performances and 25 shows for children from The Buddy Club Children's Shows, the Bay Area's longest-running shows for families.

The festival is held at the Yerba Buena Gardens, YB Center for the Arts, Zeum, Metreon, and in other nearby venues: SPUR Urban Center (654 Mission St.) and the California Historical Society (678 Mission St.).

The festival is an amazing showcase of local theater attended by more than 10,000 enthusiastic theatergoers and theater-curious.

New weekend additions to the festival include a free, no-host opening night reception with musical and comedy performances on Friday, 6-9 pm, Aug. 6th at 111 Minna Street. On Saturday, Aug. 7th a preview of festival performances will be presented at venues around the city, including Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (2868 Mission St); Eureka Valley Recreation Center (100 Collingwood St); Café Royale (800 Post St); and the North of Market CDB Theatre (134 Golden Gate Ave). VIP-Skip the Admission Line-wristbands are offered through Goldstar.

Festival performers also include: Arclight Repertory, Artis Mundi, Atmos Theatre, BATS Improv, Big City Improv, Blue Blanket, Bruce Pachtman, Crisis Hopkins, Enzo Lombard, Exit/Fringe Festival, Libby Skala, Lyric Theatre of San Jose, Mugwumpin, Multi-Ethnic Theater, New Conservatory Theatre, No Nude Men, Pi, PianoFight, Playground, Pocket Opera, Ray of Light, SF Free Civic Theater, SF Recovery Theatre, SF Boylesque, Stagebridge, One Act Players, Ross Valley Players, Bindlestiff Studio, Youth Speaks, and many others.

The festival shows cover the gamut of subjects and settings: from Alice in Wonderland to Hamlet to Bernie Madoff, and two shows from Mexico in Spanish. There is something for everyone at the SF Theater Festival.

Yerba Buena Gardens (760 Howard St., SF 94103) is located between Mission & Folsom, Third & Fourth Streets in San Francisco.

Public information: 415-543-1718.
www.SFTheaterFestival.org