People who celebrated the glory days of Halloween in the Castro can call up any number of memories, from “I puked all over Hartford Street” to “I got shot.” But it wasn’t always an excuse for poorly raised young people to stand dumbly in the street for way too many hours — it took place in queer HQ, and threading through all the binge drinking and hostile gawking was a homegrown celebration of queer culture. Much of that is sure to make it into Halloween in the Castro, an opera written by Jack Curtis Dubowsky and presented by the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco. But much of the other stuff will make it as well: It’s called a “horror opera” and “a biting, in-your-face social commentary about what has gone wrong with Castro Halloween.” As the big night approaches, neighbors, politicians, and business owners weigh in on what it should be about. The night comes, and bad things happen. Kind of like every Halloween we can remember.
Oct. 23-31, 8 p.m., 2009
