The Soiled Dove Gallery

2025 Leori Gill & Luc Asbury

The Soiled Dove Gallery 2025 Philip Pavliger

Testimony

'The Soiled Dove' is more than circus or vaudeville revival. It’s beyond your wildest idea of what a burlesque dinner theater could be. It turns the concept of a historical musical like Hamilton inside out and places you in the center of the action. When you enter 'The Soiled Dove' you embark on a journey into a world of wonders that transcends time and space."

MARK METZ - Alameda Sun

What do you get if you cross a Cirque du Soleil acrobat with a Las Vegas showgirl, then have her cut loose to avant-cabaret tunes? A Vau de Vire Society performer, of course! Mike and Shannon Gaines’s bawdy, sophisticated outfit has been titillating Bay Area audiences for a decade... A Vau de Vire show delivers equal measures of eroticism, athleticism, and wit, served up with panache.

SF MAGAZINE

Tantalizing, titillating, terrifying. ‘The Soiled Dove’ is all that and more. Be prepared for an evening of thrills, trills, and toe tapping as circus performers, musicians, and dancers provide a variety of entertainment. And enjoy a sumptuous feast and tasty swill as you absorb the evening’s amusements.

VICTOR CORDELL - ForAllEvents.com

'The Soiled Dove’ spills over with talent and action for those who like their entertainment more lavish and frantic than a three-ring circus.

KEN BULLOCK - Berkeley Daily Planet

Nowhere in the Bay Area can you now see the vaudeville delights that come with a ‘The Soiled Dove’ ticket under the big top circus tent at Alameda Point. It is wild with delightful and sultry singing and dancing, a scrumptious dinner for those who can splurge and, perhaps most important, mesmerizing with acrobatic feats seen only here outside of Cirque de Soleil."

LAURA CASEY - East Bay Times

It is what The Barbary Coast might have been like in someone’s wildest fantasy. It is the sexy, talented, great food version of that era. Guests can expect an engaging evening filled with danger, decadence, circus, and a culinary spread worthy of royalty … a very unique show.

GINA WHITE - AXS

Fans of interactive theater and living history who want to commune with their inner Edwardian in a raucous, Barbary Coast bordello atmosphere need look no farther than Vau de Vire Society’s ‘The Soiled Dove.’ A dinner-entertainment event that’s similar to – but more raunchy and informal – than the late, lamented Teatro ZinZanni.

JEAN SCHIFFMAN - SF Examiner

The Players

Work of Art

San Francisco-based green catering company, Work of Art, shapes an integrated, experiential culinary event. Joining visionary forces with Vau de Vire Society, WoA creates an immersive adventure that encourages guests to participate in the four-course dinner-theater performance from the Barbary Coast era. The Soiled Dove guests experience the chaos of the times with presentations from food hawkers, scooping delights from rustic California gold pans, and finishing with a goblet of chocolate mousse (vegetarian options are available upon request).

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Vau de Vire Society

Spawned from the depths of the Bay Area’s thriving circus and dance subcultures, Vau de Vire Society has ravaged and redefined live entertainment for more than 20 years, causing jaws to drop in awe and garnering admiration around the world. This avant-cabaret collective consists of classically trained dancers, some of the nation’s most acclaimed acrobats, aerial artists, contortionists, and circus sideshow acts, an array of unique fire performers, a bevy of gifted thespians, and a barrage of the most enticing go-go’s.

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Special Musical Appearance by
Joan Baez

We are honored to welcome legendary singer, activist, and cultural icon Joan Baez to the cast of The Soiled Dove this fall. For over 60 years, Joan has shaped history with her voice and presence. She marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial, performed at Woodstock, and helped launch Bob Dylan’s career. She has remained a lifelong advocate for peace, civil rights, and radical imagination. This fall, Joan brings that same spirit of transformation to the Big Top at Alameda Point, as The Soiled Dove returns for its most personal and provocative season yet.

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Sgt Splendor feat. Kate Vargas and Eric McFadden

Before joining forces, the duo behind Sgt. Splendor were already formidable solo artists. Kate Vargas earned acclaim from NPR, HuffPost, American Songwriter, Rolling Stone, and Vice, including praise from the “Dean of American Rock Critics” Robert Christgau. Eric McFadden built a wide-ranging resume with stints on guitar for George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Anders Osborne, Karl Denson, Stockholm Syndrome, and Eric Burdon & The Animals, as well as solo albums and session work with artists like Jackson Browne and Joe Strummer of The Clash.

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