“Have a horrible time!” That’s what staff members at the new San Francisco Dungeon attraction say as people descend creaky wooden stairs to start their 60-minute journey through 200 years of city history fabulously re-created by a talented live cast.
Their are no dull lectures in this history museum. Instead, you are immersed in an interactive, 360-degree theatrical setting incorporating cannon fire, a falling mine shaft elevator, plague-infected rats, torture devices and even a raft ride.
Now completing its first year of business, the San Francisco Dungeon is a must-see for locals and tourists. The San Francisco operation is Merlin Entertainment’s first Dungeon attraction in North America. It also operates Dungeons in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
While waiting for a group tour to begin, guests were warned by ghostly specters not to film anything on those “modern” things called cameras. Still, people couldn’t help taking pictures of live rats on display (in an enclosure), while angry phantoms shook and pounded the locked doors beside them. Suddenly plunged into the darkness, the spooky soundtrack ceased and a large door swung open. A host dressed in a top hat and frock coat stood in the shadows beckoning us to enter a large cave.
There was nervous laughter. Everyone hesitated, afraid to be the first to step forward, until the host impatiently pounded his cane on the floor and the crowd slowly moved forward. The door closed on its own behind us. Pacing in eerie silence, the host looked each person over and waved us closer as he mounted a low stage. “WELCOME TO THE SAN FRANCISCO DUNGEON!! Dungeon? Dungeon?! What’s gonna happen in the dungeon?!!” Col. Jack Gamble introduced himself as the host and warned us about the real-life characters and dangers ahead.
We were kept on edge when the room went dark and the actor, who had been speaking from one corner of the room, appeared face to face with a guest in another spot when the lights come up. I think the cast had ninja training.
One of the cast members is Hawaii-born Amber-Tiana De Marco, a Waianae High School graduate who appeared in Paliku Theatre’s 2013 production of “Les Miserables.”
The Dungeon “is not like anyplace I have ever heard of before,” De Marco said. The production “is based on history, so I got to research the actual people I would be portraying,” she said.
“I like that we are entertaining people and educating them at the same time,” she added. “Also, it’s a very well-done production. The show quality is amazing. It has phenomenal set designs and actors and technology.”
She’s right about that. After surviving a fall in a mine shaft, the Colonel led us to the lost gold mines of Sutter Creek, where we learned about the conflicts between the area’s first European settlers and the indigenous people in the days leading up to the 1849 gold rush. The greed and mayhem of the era were symbolized by a mirrored maze full of booby traps and false paths. Eventually we were “rescued” by the brutish Sam Roberts and taken to his hideout. He was the leader of the Hounds gang that ruled the crime-ridden Barbary Coast, an area now known as Jackson Square and Kearny Street.
Roberts fiendishly demonstrated how the Hounds ruled the streets through intimidation. Two audience members were picked out as suspected “spies” for law enforcement and introduced to a cutting device used to get answers one “chop” at a time. A police raid commenced, and guests were chased into the waiting courtroom of former San Francisco Mayor Judge Alcalde Mead.
The crazed Judge Mead had one simple motto for criminals: “Give ’em a fair trail and hang ’em high!” No one was safe from being called on to take the stand. Fortunately, no one was hanged, but given a rousing “boo!” ordered by the judge.
The Dungeon actors are first rate. One actress played her role with the fervor of an evangelical tent preacher, the sternness of a mean schoolteacher and the wit of a top comedian.
While going from scene to scene, I was amazed by the set designs and props. The wood used in one set was recycled from a World War II Japanese internment camp; it’s like taking the dark debris of history and giving it a new purpose. The most impressive set was Miss Piggott’s Saloon. Each guest took a seat as the slightly inebriated saloon owner told us about her side business serving spiked drinks to sailors and selling them into forced labor aboard ships.
The group was then cast in the roles of the unfortunate sailors and herded to an underground raft bound for a waiting ship and a future of bondage. And yes, the Dungeon features an actual raft ride through dark waters. Our new guide tried to sell us off, but instead we turned back to face the bubonic plague scare.
In a dingy and dank autopsy room, guests learned about the deadly plague that struck the city in 1900-1904. Here the magic of live theater, high-tech special effects and perfect timing created a sensory overload. It was like being immersed in an actual horror movie.
De Marco and her fellow actors perform up to 20 shows a day and play at least three characters. She said her favorite character is the hostess of the plague scene. “I feel like I really connect with my audience in that room, and for a moment they forget they are in a show. … The character is also a nice one (who) really wants to help people.”
The character is “a nice break sometimes from torturing people and selling them into a lifetime of slavery!” she added.
The journey ends in 1907 at Alcatraz military prison. A strict guard separated each guest to a bench as if to lock us in a cell and recounted the story of a vengeful inmate. As he disappeared, the chilling story and ghostly harmonica music rose to a crescendo of clanging chains and moving objects. Without giving away too much, the ghost of Alcatraz makes an appearance that rivals shock scenes in horror films.
The cast wants each guest to go home and tell their friends that they “laughed and screamed and laughed some more,” De Marco said. I enjoyed it enough to go back a second time.
In San Francisco having a “horrible” time means both scary and fun.
