“Steve Silver was my best friend, and I threw the opening night party for him, 40 years ago,” said Charlotte Shultz, who joined her husband George Shultz to plan, produce, and write a musical tribute to the beloved “Beach Blanket Babylon” and its creator that took place on Friday, June 6, at city hall in San Francisco. “When I first met him, Steve had a company called ‘Rent-a-Freak,'” she added, while wearing a Wonder Woman costume for the performance (George appeared as Superman). “I love ‘freaks’ and people who are original, so we got along. Then he was launching “Beach Blanket.” He asked me to bring my friends to the show. ‘Don’t worry, it will only be on for two weeks,’ he assured me. And here we are celebrating the show 40 years later. We love you, Steve.” Silver began the musical review, known for its spoofs of pop culture paired with fanciful hats, at the Savoy Tivoli in June 1974, before he relocated the song-and-dance show to Club Fugazi in 1975. The production, now run by Silver’s wife Jo Schuman Silver, continues to charm San Francisco audiences 40 years later, and Shultz’s post-celebration penthouse party brought together Michael Tilson Thomas, Ann Getty, Clive Davis, Denise Hale, Willie Brown, Dede Wilsey, Mark Leno, and a host of other notables to toast Schuman and the performers.

By Diane Dorrans Saeks

 

Pictured: George Shultz and Charlotte Shultz
Photo by Claudine Gossett for Drew Altizer Photography

 

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