The Curtain Falls (For Now)

[kevin_standlee]

When I heard that Ken & Jerry Patterson were going to be at this afternoon's final performance of Thanks for Playing the Game Show Show, I impulsively bought a ticket, finding the seat next to them (the only one available on the lower rows at that point). It turned out to be quite a BASFA affair, with a fair number of other members turning up for the show including lisa_marli and at least four others who I counted, plus kproche and bovil who came in near the end. They were there for today's special post-show feature, which was a Q&A session with the cast, and that was fun, too.

Jerry Patterson was one of the contestants in Act 2 (their "Match Game" type show), and boy was she fun! The show hostess, "Louise Carlise" (Breigh Finnerty) had been really playing up dancing with the contestants during the "think" music, including some priceless reactions to Jerry's antics. I wish we could have recorded it! (Of course, recording during the show is prohibited.)

I was happy to once again chat with many members of the cast after the show. Ric Iverson, who played "Tripp" MacMurray [Kevin waves to Ric, who has been reading this LJ] joked that after seeing so many performances, I was probably ready to understudy him. (I said it was much easier to simply host an actual game show!)

I tried to get the autographs of everyone involved with show, missing only Shannon Guggenheim, who had left. Breigh Finnerty was on the way out when I called out, "I want to get the autograph of the Best Supporting Actress!"

"That would be me," she said, turning.

"That would be you," I agreed with a big smile, presenting my playbill for her autograph. I hope she's able to come back for the September re-release of the play, although as she's a junior high school teacher in her Day Jobbe, this might be challenging.

Ken, Jerry, and I (with permission from the management) went back into the theatre to get a few on-stage shots. I sort of wish I'd worn my business suit, or at least the suit jacket, because these could have been good photos as set pieces for promoting Match Game SF.

Ken Patterson took this photo of me at the game station at which I stood when I was a contestant at the May 5 show.

Ken and Jerry both were contestants on the show, but at different performances. Here we compress space and time and pit them against each other on the set of The New Secret Square.

I also got a few shots of the empty set. I would almost kill to be able to do Match Game SF on a stage like this.

More photos are in the Flikr Set.

I find myself wanting the cast recording of this show. I'm such a fanboy sometimes.

Comments

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with that. Fans are what performers are all about.

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

We saw a local production of "Hairspray" this weekend. In it, the host of a kid's TV dance show uses a mic similar to your "Match Game" mic and I made a mental note to tell you. It was just a prop, unfortunately (or perhaps real but not used). I'd imagine a long cable to the mic on a stage filled with dancers might be a bit awkward...but what did they do "back in the day" when all mics were wired?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

My ECM-51a was used only as a prop in Thanks for Playing…, albeit that it was plugged into a cord; it just wasn't live, as all of the actors were wearing wireless head mics. The contestants had desk mics like the one you see in the icon attached to this reply.

(Lisa continues to fret over potential damage to the ECM-51a, because it really is a fragile piece of hardware. Gene Rayburn apparently went through the mics like candy sometimes. I have this image of a stockroom with a pile of them just off the set. And there really weren't very many of them made. Mine has a three-digit serial number. Whether it was ever actually used on a television game show, I don't know.)

[maurinestarkey.livejournal.com]

Terrific!

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

It was a fun performance. We will definitely have to create a BASFA invasion for when it returns in the fall.