Anyone who missed Bea Arthur's one-woman song and memory show, "And then there's Bea," at the Alcazar will be relieved to know that the Medieval Torture Exposition at the Presidio runs through October 14. All kidding aside, baritone Bea was a hit here with her old school show biz stories (gossiping with Tallulah Bankhead on a train between Philly and D.C.) and tunes by the likes of Kurt Weill and Jerry Herman. I saw Bea here a few years ago, flanked by two male companions who were gently propping the Maude star up for an early morning outing near Mister Lee's on Bush Street. She had orthopedic problems then and appears in this tour in bare feet and an ankle brace due to a fall from stage during opening night in Minneapolis. Some blatant pandering to the nearly all-gay audience (an announcement that Vermont and the Netherlands now sanction same-sex unions precedes a head scratching non sequitur into a story about her first big audition) defused the intimacy of the evening for some, but not many. Indeed, if the adoring Alcazar audience blew up during the show, Tom Ammiano would be the only gay guy north of Market Street.

One scooplet from the Bea show: Dexter Madison, the unforgettable San Francisco comedian and Other Cafe vet who hasn't appeared on stage in about five years, sat a few rows back and tells me he's writing a new show. Can't wait to hear the latest from this funny, funny person(a)! 

Who should Gary Condit fire first, the people at Fillmore Street's Architects and Heroes responsible for his (very) horrific hair cut, or Richie Ross, the architect of his (very, very) ill-fated media campaign? Don't ask Angela Alioto. Her mayoral campaign was plotzed by Ross once upon a time. Maybe Bea Arthur could pull some strings for Condit and get him an appointment with the aforementioned Mr. Lee. A political makeover for the Modesto congressman whose girlfriend vanished months ago, however, seems like a lost cause.

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