Not Ready for Prime Time

Tweet

Not Ready for Prime Time aims to tell the story of the creation of Saturday Night Live, but it’s unauthorized, so you’d be forgiven for wondering what’s true and what isn’t. That isn’t completely clear and it somewhat hurts the piece, although it’s mostly entertaining and features a terrific cast.

The play begins with Lorne Michaels (a solid and convincing Ian Bouillion) discussing the possibility of a new late night Saturday variety show with Dick Ebersol (Nate Janis, pulling double duty as Bill Murray which shouldn’t work but it  does because of Janis’ performance and Sarita P. Fellows’ period perfect costumes, with special mention going to Tommy Kurzman’s hair and wig design). Then comes casting, introducing us to Dan Aykroyd (a funny Kristian Lugo, sporting a 70s stache), Jane Curtin (an excellent but almost too positive Caitlin Houlahan), Garrett Morris (a terrific Jared Grimes; one almost wants a one-man show about Morris starring Grimes), Laraine Newman (a solid Taylor Richardson), Gilda Radner (an adorable and, when the role calls for it, sad Evan Rubin) and John Belushi (an uncanny Ryan Crout; he could be a long lost Belushi cousin). Let’s not forget Chevy Chase (a smug Woodrow Proctor) and later on, Bill Murray (Janis).

Drugs are imbibed, mostly by Belushi who burns down Lorne’s apartment after he gets kicked out of his own. Sketches are performed, in this case approximations of the originals, which is understandable (the authors Erik J. Rodriguez and Charles A. Sothers didn’t have the rights to use the actual SNL material) but also a little odd for the more famous bits. It mostly doesn’t matter though, and only hardcore fans will notice the difference. The women feel slighted, which makes sense if you watched the show in the 70s (and the 80s).

The story has been told many times by those who were there (original SNL writer Alan Zweibel’s book Laugh Lines is a good read) and those who weren’t (Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad). What’s not clear is the source material the authors used for the play, but it almost doesn’t matter because the events are very familiar to anyone who is enough of a fan of the show to have dug deeper. Plus there was the recent Jason Reitman movie Saturday Night. The play covers more time than the film (which only dealt with the first night of the show) and is arguably better.

That said, there are some inaccuracies, such as that Lorne was never fired from SNL, he just left for a little while. I can understand the urge to make the story more dramatic, but when the information is so readily available, does it really make sense to fudge the details? I also don’t know for sure who was sleeping with whom, but the basic idea is that there were a lot of affairs going on and that certainly rings true. The script works for the most part and is well staged by Conor Bagley.

Two things need to be mentioned: the set, designed by Justin and Christopher Swader, is spectacular; it’s worth getting there early to give it a good long look before the show starts. Also the in house band, led by Annastasia Victory. They do a great job of keeping the mood high throughout the show, especially at the end when you’re treated to a Blues Brothers number. Stick around for that, it’s fun.

Not Ready for Prime Time (through November 30, 2025)

The Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, 511 West 52^nd Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.notreadyforprimetimeplay.com

Running time: two and a half hours including one intermission