Hot Greeks

It's hard to imagine a more entertaining show on the San Francisco boards right now than the vintage Cockettes musical Hot Greeks, given a new, fully restored version at the Hypnodrome by the Thrillpeddlers under the direction of Russell Blackwood. Original Cockette and composer Scrumbly Koldewyn serves as musical director and plays piano.

The 1972-vintage extravaganza, an original musical by Martin Worman and Koldewyn, was the Cockettes' only other scripted book musical besides Pearls Over Shanghai. Last year the Thrillpeddlers mounted a condensed 70-minute version, but this new production restores three songs from the original show and brings it to full-length.

The spirited cast of 23 pumps life and energy into the campy material, which somehow grafts Aristophanes' Lysistrata onto a campus football saga. The plot's not the point of the proceedings, which run to Peloponnesian priapism and plenty of skin. Big-band rhythms and vaudeville shuffle give flavor to numbers like "Doin' the Campus Rumpus" and "Everybody's Got a Buddy on the Front." Stand-out performers in a thoroughly gifted cast include Rik Lopes as Lysistrata, Tom Orr as star quarterback Pendulum Pulaski, puchritudinous trio Steven Satyricon, Ste Fishell, and Bobby Singer as chorus-boy classical columns, Joshua Devore as a sultry Diameter by way of Joan Crawford, and Jan Adrienne Gilbert as Leda, she of the unfortunate encounter with a swan.

In the end, the animals and gods have spoken - also, the Oracle of Delphi, aka the Hot Twat of Tangier (Blackwood) - and it's time for the Peddlers' patented spooky-effects segment, entirely gratuitous but packed with fun. We were exhausted from pleasure. Hot Greeks runs Thurs.-Sat. through May 5; tickets are at (800) 838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com.

Putting the plus in 'plus one'

This week's column is dedicated to our stellar companion Pepi , with thanks for the enormous reserves of time and energy he has put into being our loyal "plus one" at press events and openings over the years. Why just this past week, Pepi consented to being our p.o. at the opening night of The Caretaker, a reception for the Buckminster Fuller exhibit at SFMOMA, the Thrillpeddlers' Hot Greeks at the Hypnodrome, Miss Coco Peru 's appearance at the Victoria Theatre, and a launch party for the San Francisco Symphony's Black & White Ball at AT&T Park. Boy howdy, that's a full-time job right there!

We've often mused that Pepi could lead an intensive workshop on the ways and wherefores of being a "plus one." Grooming is important, as is wardrobe, and P. gets high marks on both counts. When breaking in a new outfit, he will often remark, "It's very stylish - you would hate it." In our view, he's always the most handsome man in the room - except on one rare occasion, but that's a story for another time.

One night at some function, while chatting up another pressie's "plus one," Pepi made some reference to his own "plus onehood."

"What's a 'plus one?'" asked the other "plus one," clearly new to the role.

"Honey," said Pepi suavely, "you're a plus one."

After opening night of Harold Pinter 's The Caretaker at the Curran Theatre, presenters SHN invited Out There plus one to the cast party, held in the Spanish Suite of the Clift Hotel. The setting was glamorous, the company charming, and the play's full cast - actor Jonathan Pryce in his Bay Area stage debut, Alan Cox and Alex Hassell - attended. Even though a small sitting area was reserved for them, the thespians mingled with the rest of the party just like average Joes. Pepi made sure we thanked our hostess on our way out.

The next night, the Architecture + Design Forum of SFMOMA invited us to an exhibition preview for The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and the Bay Area. The reception afterwards was given in the museum's Schwab Room. After an afternoon spent taking in the Jean Paul Gaultier show at the de Young (thanks to Pepi, a FAM-SF member), OT knew we were seriously courting museum fatigue with the evening event at the Modern. But the exhibit was interesting, and Pepi suggested we remember to bring a glass of wine for a colleague during one of our trips to the bar. He's so thoughtful.

Saturday meant boys' night out at the Hypnodrome, where Pepi was delighted by a performance of the Thrillpeddlers ' Hot Greeks. Sunday night we just had time for a quick repast at our favorite Mission taqueria La Cumbre before making the 7 p.m. show of There Comes a Time by performance artiste Miss Coco Peru, put on by producer Marc Huestis. Coco, a self-described "effeminate, damaged boy from the Bronx," was the real goods, a dragster with real talent and heart.

Doesn't it boggle your mind that Out There attends all these performances and affairs while holding down a full-time job? It sure does boggle ours. But that's why we get the big bucks. LOL. Plussing the one makes it all worthwhile.

Monroe doctrine

42nd Street Moon will celebrate its production Sugar with a tribute to Marilyn Monroe (star of the movie Some Like it Hot, on which Sugar is based) with a Marilyn drag contest. On Wed., April 11, before the curtain rises on the performance at the Eureka Theatre, contestants are asked to give their best rendition of the Blonde Bombshell.?Audiences will decide the winner over the course of the run: photos of the contestants, along with video, will be shown online and at the theatre for all performances after April 11.

Based on Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's Some Like it Hot screenplay, Sugar (book by Peter Stone, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill) premiered in 1972 and was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Moon's version features Michael Kern Cassidy, Tony Panighetti and Riley Krull in starring roles under the direction of Dyan McBride, and runs through April 22. Tickets are at (415) 255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.