At the end of the year, San Francisco's Beach Blanket Babylon comes to a close, after decades of big-wigged lampoonery and sing-songy mischief, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

The longest-running musical revue in the country was founded by Steve Silver in 1974. Its run started at the Savoy Tavoli, before taking up residence in the larger Club Fugazi, where the show and its small cast and crew donned outrageous outfits and sang even more outrageous tunes for thousands of audiences.

The revue, whose fans include everyone from British royalty to Tracy Chapman, is coming to an end after 45 years, producer Jo Schuman Silver told the Chronicle's Lily Janiak. You can read the fully story on the Chronicle website here.

ALSO: A timeline of Beach Blanket Babylon through the years

On New Year's Eve, the revue will play its final two shows.

Schuman Silver, who has run the company since the 1995 death of her husband Steve Silver, notified staff on Wednesday, the Chronicle reports. The show is ending "not for financial reasons, but because Schuman Silver felt that it was time and didn't feel comfortable handing it off to a successor."

"There was no reason — I just started thinking, 'Wow, how much longer do we go?' " she told the Chronicle.

To celebrate the cultural icon that is Beach Blanket Babylon, SFGATE dug through the photo archives to highlight some of the revue's most memorable moments (see: Prince Charles meeting Prince Louis). You can see the photos in the above gallery.

To secure your tickets for the show — before it's too late! — visit the Beach Blanket Babylon website or call the box office (Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) at 415.421.4222.

Have a favorite memory to share of a visit to Beach Blanket Babylon? Send an email to SFGATE producer Michelle Robertson at michelle.robertson@sfgate.com and we might include it in a future story.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at michelle.robertson@sfgate.com.

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