Let's head back to Silver Lake. We're talking way back, back into the 80's. No trip to Silver Lake was complete without a fully staged production of Saturday Night Live on the last evening of our week long camping adventure. Back then, I could quote almost anything from Saturday Night Live without actually ever having seen (or been allowed to stay up and watch) Saturday Night Live. It was a much anticipated event with rehearsals going on in secret throughout the week. As the years went by, Matt pretended that we wouldn't be performing, that he was too cool, but we all knew that by the end of the week, we'd be throwing together a show, often madly improvised at the last minute.
When I say fully staged, picture a curtain made out of the clothesline and blankets; stagelights (lanterns); and spotlights (our mothers, the sole audience, shining flashlights at appropriate moments). And you can't forget the props and costumes. We had wigs, glasses, hats, papier mache guitars, and one year, an Elvis costume (Matt's choir suit from high school. And no one will forget that he split the pants during a particularly quintessential Elvis hip thrusting maneuver). So yes, not only did we pack up a week's worth of camping gear, clothing, food, books, and games....we also brought a large costume box. In fact one year, Matt forgot to bring any jeans and spent the entire week in shorts or sweats!
There are oh so many SNL stories, but today it is about Aunty Phyllis. In the 80's, we were treated to perhaps the only performance by the moms. They surprised us all by appearing on stage in matching perms (it WAS the 80's!), huge sunglasses (with pink embellishments, of course), and jean jackets. They used pastel flashlights as microphones and danced and lip synced to Tutti Frutti. It was on the Cocktail soundtrack which was all the rage that year, so I am guessing this would make it 1988. We cheered and cheered, giving them all the love and appreciation due to them as it was an excellent performance.
No comments:
Post a Comment