February 14, 2025

SNL at 50 from the La MaMa Archive

“Find of The Day” by Kylie Goetz – La MaMa Archive Digital & Special Projects Manager 

As Saturday Night Live is celebrating their 50th anniversary later this week, (SNL50: The Anniversary Special on Sunday, February 16) what would be more fun than pointing out some of the pivotal past cast who also have a history here at La MaMa and who can be found in the Archive!

Before you knew them now as the SNL cast, they were the “The Not Ready for Prime Time Players”

Prior to becoming one of the original cast members, Garrett Morris went to Juilliard, performed on Broadway, was a member of the Black Arts Repertory Theatre in Harlem AND already had a history at La MaMa. He performed in 1970’s Street Sounds, written by Ed Bullins and directed by Hugh Gittens. As a playwright, Garrett Morris’s second play, The Secret Place, was staged at La MaMa in March of 1975, about 7 months before the first episode of Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975!

 From the Saturday Night Live’s earliest days, the first head writer for the show, Michael O’Donoghue shows up twice in the catalog. The first time, as a performer in a 1970 production of Arthur Sainer’s Van Gogh. (Based on the timing and cast, we are fairly sure that this Michael O’Donoghue is the same Michael O’Donoghue.) The second time a Michael O’Donoghue appears in the catalog, as a contributing writer to The Georg and Lola Show: Hot and Cold Showers (1992) we are certain it is one and the same as Saturday Night Live’s first head writer, thanks to an explicit mention in the program bio.

A similar “maybe, possibly, might-be” (the kind of issue that is familiar to all archivists or anyone who has ever done a lot research in primary source materials, like searching old census records for family histories) is a stage hand for “The Soledad Tetrad” (1976). While the program did not include bios, and without more information it is impossible for your humble archivist to be certain, but if it is the same person, then our Yvonne Hudson might be the Yvonne Hudson who was the first black woman in the SNL cast (as a featured cast member) in 1980.

Other SNL cast members that have graced La MaMa’s stages include the marvelous Billy Crystal, who made his start here at La MaMa in 1970 as a broken toy soldier in a trash can, in double-bill of Ubu Roi and Arden of Faversham, directed by Andrei Serban. (You can read more about his auspicious beginings here.)

Danitra Vance from the 1985 cast, and the first black woman in the main SNL cast, performed in the Club at La MaMa before and after her tenure at SNL.

Danitra Vance first performed at La MaMa in “Danitra Vance and The Mellow White Boys” (1984) (also titled “Danitra Vance And The Mell-O White Boys”) and then came back for a One-Night Stand in 1986 titled Buzz and Danitra Vance (1986)

 In 1988, as part of a co-production with Lincoln Center, Joan Cusack (along with future guest host of SNL in 1991, Kevin Bacon) starred in Road, staged at La MaMa in an immersive and encompassing production. 

In the New York Times, Frank Rich praises Cusack’s work in the play, noting “the happy discovery of the stage prowess of Ms. Cusack, a young actress best know for flaky comedy work on film (“Broadcast News”) and television (“Saturday Night Live”)”.

As we continue to catalog more recent La MaMa seasons, who knows who else we might find from the SNL casts and who knows which actor from La MaMa’s current season might turn up as a future cast member…or SNL host! 

We have certainly seen many of the previous hosts, like Danny Devito, Steve Buscemi, Griffin Dunne, Paul Giamatti, Harvey Keitel, Julia Stiles, Chadwick Boseman, and the aforementioned Billy Crystal and Kevin Bacon, pass through La MaMa’s doors as performers and directors. 

Sure, they may be some people that we might be leaving out…like Liev Schreiber who was a panelist for a Coffeehouse Chronicles about Andrei Serban, but it comes with a chance to mention the always amazing Bill Irwin who performed on a 1980 SNL episode as “The Dancing Man”, and was part of La MaMa Moves! (La MaMa’s annual dance festival which is about to have its 20th anniversary) all the way back in 2006!

As an integral part of New York City’s cultural landscape, we’re not surprised to find so many links with another integral part of New York City’s cultural landscape, but it’s exciting to see where we intersect and overlap! And any opportunity to explore and share La MaMa’s digital collections is welcome. You can do your own research in our catalog here!

 

For more finds, continue to come back to our community section for more finds by Kylie or visit the archives blog.

 

 

Cataloging work and the resulting archival research at La MaMa Archive is supported in part by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC)

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