The chorus turned 20 with two of its most popular shows and a trip to the other side of the world.
“200 brothers in song”
In August 1997, the chorus advertised auditions in the Bay Area Reporter for its 20th-anniversary season. It was the only chance to qualify to travel with the chorus to Sydney, Australia, for the 20th Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras in February 1998. The ad promised the camaraderie of 200 brothers in song.
The best of the best
Back home, the Examiner carried an ad for “Naked Man & extrABBAganza: The Best of the Best!” on March 14 and 15, 1998, at the Masonic Auditorium. The program revived two audience favorites: “NakedMan,” the Robert Seeley and Philip Littell suite about gay life that premiered in 1996, and “extrABBAganza,” the ABBA show arranged by David Maddux.
From the archives: this post retells reporting by the Bay Area Reporter and the San Francisco Examiner. The original articles survive only in newspaper archives, so we have told the story here in our own words. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
Sources
- Bay Area Reporter, “San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus auditions (advertisement)”, August 14, 1997. ebar.com
- San Francisco Examiner, “Naked Man & extrABBAganza: The Best of the Best! (advertisement)”, February 18, 1998. sfexaminer.com
