The Eclipse Jazz Club was the spot in the Harlem of the West in the 1950s.
But behind the late night jams and good times, something is lurking that threatens generations of descendents.
The Fillmore Eclipse is an immersive theater experience set in the Bebop Jazz scene of the 1950s. The show explores the uncertain fate of a club, a confluence point for San Francisco’s thriving African Americans community and Japanese Americans rebuilding their lives after internment, during a time when Urban Renewal was sold by city governments as a "cure-all" for America's slums.
Step into the Eclipse, (modeled after Bop City, a historical after hours jazz joint), and enjoy the Bebop tunes of the house band while sipping on a cocktail or two from our full bar. Follow characters throughout the club as regulars of the Eclipse offer their perspectives on the plans for the "New City" and what really needs fixing.
The show is an intimate experience for a small audience and hopes to illuminate a deeper, hidden history of San Francisco’s struggles to support artistic and racial diversity. Catch this limited 11-show run, only from April 26 to May 12, 2024.
The Fillmore Eclipse is the first immersive theater project for Walking Cinema, an SF based innovative storytelling studio. For those familiar with the Museum of the Hidden City walking tour, this can be considered a prequel.
Produced in partnership with Z-Space and funded through grants from the Haas Creative Work Fund, Rainin, Zellerbach, and the California Arts Council.
GoFundMe - Community Training
Walking Cinema is working to make this show a truly community-based experience. We are partnering with two Fillmore community organizations to make training opportunities for local youth part of our production process. Specifically, we plan to partner with Honey Art Studio and Success Centers to cast and work with local community members on both the creative and technical sides of the production. We see this as both beneficial to the community and raising the storytelling stakes of performance. Director Michael French notes that immersive theater is often disconnected from its surrounding community and neighborhood. This production aims to take a new tact, “"If immersive theater is to become the mainstream genre in 21st century theater,” French notes, “it has to take us beyond fantasy. It has to be able to transport the audience in a fully realized way to where the time, place, and relationships truly matter. Otherwise it's all dress-up." To achieve such impact we’ve set up a GoFundMe for the show where your tax-deductible donations can get you tickets, bonus immersive activities, and help underwrite these innovative community training programs. Please click below for more info.
About the Experience
Step into the Eclipse where Bop and a neighborhood fight for their existence
The show is styled after immersive experiences such as Sleep No More and The Nest in which audiences follow a central storyline, but have the option to step into side rooms, explore key artifacts, and also just enjoy a night of drinks and Bop in a 1950’s styled club. Costumes are options, bringing instruments encouraged, and people are all ages and economics are invited to our Sunday matinee show.
Photo Gallery
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Art Tatum, Bop City Regular, 1950’s.
Jimbo’s Bop City had a house band and regular featured players such as Art Tatum who would session in when not on tour.
Photo Credit: William Gottlieb
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Bop City’s Building, 2020
Bop City’s building was moved to escape he wrecking ball, but the club eventually closed due to lack of audience. The space is now a hair salon.
Photo Credit: Michael Epstein
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Bop City, 2am Start Time, 1952
Jimbo’s Bop City attracted musicians who would play at the white clubs then head to a more diverse audience at Jimbo’s afterwards.
Photo Credit: The San Francisco Chronicle
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Jimbo Edwards, 1998, from The Legend of Bop City
Carol Chamberland’s 1998 film explores the rise and fall of Bop City.
Photo Credit: Carol Chamberland
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Jimbo Edwards on Post Street, 1993
Here Jimbo stands in front fo the club’s original location, recalling, “When a musician would walk in the door, he’d just start to blowing his horn.”
Photo Credit: The San Francisco Chronicle
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Bop City Flier, 1954
“I think in the early dawn of the civil rights movement, it was 3:00 a.m. at Jimbo’s.” - Patricia Nacey, Bop City fan.
Photo Credit: The San Francisco Chronicle
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Musicians Jam at Bop City, 1950’s
”The jam sessions that unfolded at Bop City between 2 and 6 a.m. were legendarily hot and ferociously competitive.” - SF Chronicle
Photo Credit: Found SF
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Sarah Vaughan, 1946.
”Whenever jazz heavyweights came in, Jimbo would paint their names on the back of the chairs where they had sat.” - SF Chronicle
Photo Credit: William Gottlie
Talent
Michael Epstein, Artistic Director
Michael is founder of Walking Cinema and the Artistic Director of the project. He discovered the story when conducting interviews for Museum of the Hidden City.
Cleavon Smith, Writer
Cleavon is the writer of the project. He has extensive experience writing historical plays focusing on the African American experience, creating "a space of dynamic, interactive inquiry, engagement, and meaning making.
Michael French, Director
Is originally from London, England, has been a director, writer, and actor for over 25 years. He is currently writing his first collection of short stories entitled, “Babble.”
“Pete The Cat” Fitzsimmons, Advisor and Actor
Pete is a native San Franciscan and the Founding Executive Director of the Jazz Heritage Center and is currently a Documentarian and member of the Fillmore Jazz Ambassadors ( FJA), performing as their Jazz Historian. He is the FJA's Executive Producer of the documentary.
Elizabeth Pepin Silva, Dramaturgy
Elizabeth Pepin Silva a writer, and former day manager and historian of the historic Fillmore Auditorium. She was the associate producer of KQED's Fillmore documentary, and in 2006 she wrote "Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era.”
Kelyn Crapp, Musical Director
Kelyn Crapp is a freelance musician from Dallas, TX living in Oakland CA. He plays Sonny, the band leader and wrote original music for the show. Follow @kelyncrapp to learn about upcoming performances.
Janel Chanté, Actor
Janel Chanté was born and raised in California. She found her passion for the arts in her adolescence prompting her performances in music, theater, and film. Additionally, she is a teaching artist, choreographer, Academy of Art University alumni, and private coach based in the Bay Area. She plays activist and vocalist Berniece.
Monica Miklas, Advisor
A storyteller at heart, Monica Miklas is an experienced immersive artist and the co-founder of the Los Angeles-based radical theatre collaboration Capital W, specializing in transformative immersive experiences for intimate audiences.
Sarah Kasuga, Actor
Sarah is a fourth generation Japanese American and is honored to play the role of Paula. She would like to express her deep gratitude to the Eclipse team and her family and friends for their immense support.
Enkidu Khan, Stage Manager
Enkidu Khan is a multi-discipline artist, having worked in a variety of positions, including as an actor, a playwright, a director, and a designer to name a few. Enkidu is a graduate of Oklahoma City University where they studied theatre and performance, with emphasis in new and devised work.
Jax Blaska, Production Manager
Jax (they/them) is a San Francisco-born-and-raised creative maker, theater director, producer, and new-work collaborator. They make art that celebrates process, curiosity, and the unconventional, and incorporates interdisciplinary performance, immersive exploration, and a healthy dose of the absurd.
Jay Krohnengold, Actor
Jay brings an array of credits as actor, singer, and vocal music director, performing throughout California, New York, and Europe in theatre, concerts, commercials, and film—most recently Sly Sylvester, winner of three national film festival awards. He plays Abe, the local record store owner.
Press & Articles
Creative Work Fund Announces $700,000 in Grants
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Experiential Theater Revives Age of Speakeasy, Bop
“We want to tell the story of the Black experience [here] from multiple viewpoints within the community,” he explains, “the challenges, the opportunities for some….”