As the early-aughts country anthem “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” by Big & Rich blasts and fog rolls across the stage, a man dubbed Texas Tax Evader loses his jacket, then his shirt, and, finally, his pants. Soon enough, he’s gyrating in nothing but 49ers-themed socks and underwear.
Texas Tax Evader — played by PJ Crowell — is just one of the stereotypical San Francisco men encountered by Chloe, the main character in “How to Find a SF Apt in 30 Days,” a “live comedy strip show” that’s running at the SoMa venue The Foundry. The story follows Chloe (broke, unemployed) as she searches for a well-endowed (read: apartment-owning) boyfriend before she’s evicted.
It’s also part of San Francisco’s latest initiative to bring a bit of liveliness to evenings downtown.
The show’s executive producer, Michael Perez, and The Foundry received one of the city’s 14 recent grants to fund entertainment and nightlife downtown. The Downtown ENRG initiative dispersed $500,000 in total — recipients included The Stud, Oasis, Mr. Tipples, and 620 Jones — as part of its quest to make it easier to have fun in the city.
Getting the grant was “really, really special and validating,” Perez said. He funded the show himself during its initial run this year at Public Works and applied for the ENRG grant to make the production “bigger and better.”
Getting the call from officials “told us that we were onto something and that the city sees value in us,” he said. “And that what we’re doing really brings joy to the community and makes our city better.”
The show’s premise stemmed from a free-flowing conversation with close friends (turned co-producers) that hit on a random equation: dating woes plus the joys of the “Magic Mike” movie franchise. Each person had enough stories of the former, but could they be spiced up with the addition of a strip tease or two?
“We just spiraled out of control with all these funny ideas, even incorporating real stories from our own dating lives in the past,” Perez said of his collaboration with co-producers PJ Crowell, Dakota Gruener, and Lauren Kunze, who also wrote and helped direct the script. The show’s first run had crowds both cackling and turned on: “I’ve gotten feedback that this is like a new wave of ‘Beach Blanket Babylon’ meets ‘The Empire Strips Back,’” he said. “It’s a wild ride of a show.”
The production combines his love of theater with his professional experience in event marketing production. Perez’s résumé includes work with the Heineken House at Outside Lands, the Dogpatch’s ultraluxe RH (formerly known as “Restoration Hardware”), and Beyonce’s Ivy Park apparel line.
“I treat this show at the same caliber of production level as I did with Beyonce and Adidas,” he said.
The first post-grant performance is Thursday; there are plans for four other performances at The Foundry before the end of the year. (Perez hopes to keep updating the script and running the show indefinitely.)
The grant money is earmarked for infrastructure that The Foundry will be able to keep, including lighting improvements and new table seating, as well as stipends for the stage crew.
The ENRG program was spearheaded and funded by Mayor Breed through the Office of Economic and Workforce Development which is partnering with the nonprofit SF New Deal to administer the grants. SF New Deal also runs the “Vacant to Vibrant” initiative to fill empty storefronts downtown.
Simon Bertrang, the nonprofit’s executive director, said the initiative is “opening up this window into what downtown San Francisco can be, evolving beyond the 9-to-5, five days a week office district into a neighborhood which has culture, arts, and entertainment at its core.”
For Bay Area-born Perez, the strength of the initiative lies in shining a light on local talent and ideas and funding events that celebrate the area. For all his production’s playful skewering of San Francisco stereotypes, “the ethos of the show is how iconic and special our city is,” he said.
Chloe, the character played by Meghan Baciu, has a similar realization, even after going on dates with a handful of cringey bachelors.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” Chloe says, “than in the land of bold ideas and even bolder people.”
“How to Find a SF Apartment in 30 Days,” Thursday at The Foundry (1425 Folsom St.). Tickets are $39-$65 (use promo code ILOVESF for a discount).
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify how the Downtown ENRG program is administered.