Interview: Creative Director Mark Lach Talks NY’s Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition

The replica of Saturday Night Live's Studio 8H at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
The replica of Saturday Night Live’s Studio 8H at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo

“Saturday Night Live” is celebrating it’s 40th year on the air with an exhibit of memorabilia and a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic television show. Housed in a space on Fifth Avenue in the city that SNL has always called home, this “live from New York” exhibit is a fun and nostalgic look at one of the most beloved television programs of all time.

Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition” starts with a short video of a variety of clips from the 40 years, narrated by frequent host Alec Baldwin. When the video ends, the doors open, as the words “Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night” are piped in, and you hear the band, applause, and see a life-size image of Studio 8H at 30 Rock. It isn’t hard to imagine that you’re the host walking through those doors, taking your spot at center stage.

A display of some of our favorite products from SNL's parody commercials - Little Chocolate Donuts cereal, Super Bass-O-Matic, and Colon Blow at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
A display of some of our favorite products from SNL’s parody commercials over the years – Little Chocolate Donuts cereal, Super Bass-O-Matic, and Colon Blow at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo

Throughout the galleries are a multitude of costumes, props, backdrops, and even sets from the show. You can stand behind a Celebrity Jeopardy podium, sit yourself down on the Wayne’s World couch, or sit behind the Weekend Update desk and have your photo taken. The best part is that they’ll Photoshop your favorite cast member into the photo with you. How’d you like to do Weekend Update with Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, or Tina Fey? Not too shabby.

The Wayne's World set at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition. You can sit on the couch and have your picture taken | Melanie Votaw Photo
The Wayne’s World set at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition. You can sit on the couch and have your picture taken | Melanie Votaw Photo
A placard at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition showing what happens at SNL on Monday every week. There's a placard or two for each day, giving you a rundown of the week's break-neck speed | Melanie Votaw Photo
A placard at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition showing what happens at SNL on Monday every week. There’s a placard or two for each day, giving you a rundown of the week’s break-neck speed | Melanie Votaw Photo

You’ll see placards that explain what happens during the six-day process each week on the show. It’s a break-neck pace, and I found myself wondering how on earth they managed to pull off one show in such a short time, let alone 40 years of them.

I had a chance to sit down with Mark Lach, the Creative Director of the exhibit, and talk to him a bit about how it was put together. The first thing he said to me when we met at the exhibit site was that Alec Baldwin had just been there the day before.

For Mark, who has put together a number of highly successful exhibits, such as the King Tut and Titanic exhibits in New York, this one was definitely the most fun. “I kind of imbedded myself over there at 30 Rock for the last year to get to know all the departments and all the people and be a fly on the wall and sit in on the writing meetings and things like that. I was so incredibly privileged to be part of that and to put this together…. This was a mile a minute of fun. I really enjoyed it,” he told me.

Steve Martin's King Tut costume from the 40th anniversary show | Melanie Votaw Photo
Steve Martin’s King Tut costume from the 40th anniversary show | Melanie Votaw Photo

I asked Mark how much SNL creator Lorne Michaels was involved with the exhibition. “Because we’re partner with Broadway Video, I had the privilege to meet with Lorne a number of times. Lorne really stepped aside from this,” Mark said.

“He was very helpful. He made sure that his organization, if you will, was there to assist the way I thought. But I think he recognized that it was important if we were going to be legitimate that it would not be him influencing the storytelling. I wanted to keep him abreast – I’d be foolish not to get his input. He was a delight to work with, but very much stepped aside and said, ‘You guys do exhibitions. I trust you.’”

A gallery of costumes from various seasons at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
A gallery of costumes from various seasons at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo

Finding pieces for the exhibit was a bit tricky because it isn’t like they knew to preserve costumes and props for posterity when the show first began. As Mark noted, no one ever expected the show to last 40 years. In fact, many network executives hated the show and would have canned it early on had it not struck such a chord with audiences.

When they started to prepare the exhibit, people looked for items and had a lot of “Wow, I didn’t know we still had this!” moments. “The thing that’s served us well is that the department heads have been there over the years. Eugene Lee, the famed Broadway set designer, is the head of design over there,” Mark said.

The iconic Church Lady backdrop at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
The iconic Church Lady backdrop at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
Amazingly, they found bee costumes from the original cast | Melanie Votaw Photo
Amazingly, they found bee costumes from the original cast | Melanie Votaw Photo

“He’s in his mid-70’s, and he was there when he was in his mid-30’s. An example of that is the Church Lady background…. Everyone said, ‘We don’t have that anymore,’ and Eugene was determined to find it.” One day, Eugene went through the hampers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard where many of the set pieces are stored, and Mark heard his voice yell, “I found it!”

The sets are stripped down and remade into a new set for the next week, so those did not survive for the most part. The Weekend Update set that’s at the exhibit is being retired, and the Wayne’s World set is the one that was reconstructed for the 40th anniversary special. The couch and most of the props are from the original set, however.

I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the exhibit, learning more about SNL and reminiscing about all the years of laughter, as well as the cast members we’ve lost. What was the most surprising revelation? For me, it was that very little improvisation goes on during the live shows. Rewrites are done up until the last minute, but to keep everything running on time and to avoid disruption of camera shots, hosts and cast members have to stick to the cue cards.

I also especially enjoyed four video interviews with writers on the show, one of which was Seth Meyers. They talked about the pressure and insecurity, as well as exhilaration, that they experienced on a weekly basis while working on SNL.

Take a look at my gallery below of photos from the exhibit, but keep in mind that there’s much more where these came from. Below the photos is a video with Mark Lach talking a bit more about what you can expect. Then, if you’re in New York, be sure to check it out yourself.

Bill Murray's famous lounge singer costume. This was the character that put him on the map | Melanie Votaw Photo
Bill Murray’s famous Nick the Lounge Singer jacket. This was the character that put him on the map | Melanie Votaw Photo
Chris Farley's Matt Foley costume | Melanie Votaw Photo
Chris Farley’s Matt Foley costume | Melanie Votaw Photo
The cheerleader costumes worn by Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri | Melanie Votaw Photo
The cheerleader costumes worn by Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri | Melanie Votaw Photo
Adam Samberg and Justin Timberlake's "Dick in a Box" costumes | Melanie Votaw Photo
Adam Samberg and Justin Timberlake’s “Dick in a Box” costumes | Melanie Votaw Photo
The Hans and Franz costumes worn by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon | Melanie Votaw Photo
The Hans and Franz costumes worn by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon | Melanie Votaw Photo
Al Franken's Stuart Smalley costume | Melanie Votaw Photo
Al Franken’s Stuart Smalley costume | Melanie Votaw Photo
Jan Hooks' Sweeney Sisters costume - seeing this brought a tear to my eye | Melanie Votaw Photo
Jan Hooks’ Sweeney Sisters costume – seeing this brought a tear to my eye | Melanie Votaw Photo
Mike Myers and Dana Carvey's Wayne's World costumes and top ten list prop | Melanie Votaw Photo
Mike Myers and Dana Carvey’s Wayne’s World costumes and top ten list prop | Melanie Votaw Photo
The replica of Studio 8H at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition with the Celebrity Jeopardy set | Melanie Votaw Photo
The replica of Studio 8H at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition with the Celebrity Jeopardy set | Melanie Votaw Photo
The writers' table at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
The writers’ table at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
Replica of the SNL control room at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
Replica of the SNL control room at Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition | Melanie Votaw Photo
There's a whole stack of the cue cards from the 40th anniversary special with 8-10 of them on the wall. Mark Lach says he might swap them out now and then | Melanie Votaw Photo
There’s a whole stack of the cue cards from the 40th anniversary special with 8-10 of them on the wall. Mark Lach says he might swap them out now and then | Melanie Votaw Photo
The actual photo of the Pope that Sinead O'Connor famously tore into pieces when a guest on SNL | Melanie Votaw Photo
The actual photo of the Pope that Sinead O’Connor famously (and controversially) tore into pieces when a guest on SNL | Melanie Votaw Photo

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