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The Studio 8H stage could barely hold the sprawling cast of the\u00a0SNL50 anniversary\u00a0special<\/a>‘s New York Musical, which answered the question, “Is New York dead?”\u00a0<\/p>\n Watch the Season 51 premiere of Saturday Night Live on Saturday, October 4 at 11:30\/10:30c on NBC<\/a> and Peacock<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The number moved through the decades to present its thesis: No, the city that gave birth to\u00a0Saturday Night Live<\/a>\u00a0never dies, it only changes, and each era offers its own unique characters (such as Kristen Wiig as a Times Square green M&M who has seen better days).<\/p>\n Starring John Mulaney as a 1975 hot dog vendor and the sketch’s ringmaster, and cast alums Pete Davidson<\/a> and David Spade<\/a> as two men who are “both young and the same age,” the musical also featured an enormous ensemble that included Broadway legends Nathan Lane and Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nick Jonas, Adam Driver, Paul Rudd and Scarlett Johansson.<\/p>\n It also meshed\u00a0much of the Season 50 cast<\/a>\u00a0with alums like Alex Moffat, Taran Killam, Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sarah Sherman, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Kyle Mooney, Cecily Strong, and Beck Bennett.<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0Meryl Streep Just Popped Up as Kate McKinnon’s Mom in SNL50’s “Close Encounters”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Peddling “heroin and hot dogs” \u2014 it was New York City in 1975, after all \u2014 Mulaney’s hot dog vendor character soon called in the\u00a0singing versions of the two (Maya Rudolph and Adam Driver), who performed a song about “living in shame” set to the tune of the\u00a0Fame\u00a0theme.<\/p>\n The two men shredding on keytar and guitar were original\u00a0SNL\u00a0band member Paul Shaffer and G.E. Smith, who led the\u00a0Saturday Night Live\u00a0band from 1985-1995 (and was once married to Gilda Radner).<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0Kristen Wiig’s Doonese Meets Kim Kardashian in SNL50’s “Lawrence Welk” Sketch<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Mulaney then took Davidson and Spade to 1980s New York, where the stock market is booming and\u00a0 “a new diet has been sweeping the city. “Cocaine and some vodka,” theater star and original Lion King cast member Nathan Lane began. “What a wonderful phase!”<\/p>\n John Mulaney’s New York musicals have paid heavy tribute to\u00a0Les Mis\u00e9rables\u00a0in the past, and the 1990s number was a parody of the musical’s “Look Down” duet, as a pimp (Jason Sudeikis) and a Times Square Elmo (Will Forte) sang from the audience (hilariously, with Jenna Ortega and Kevin Costner between them).<\/p>\n Kate McKinnon popped up to play 9\/11-era Rudolph Giuliani, joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who clearly hasn’t put away his\u00a0Hamilton\u00a0costume since appearing in January 25’s cold open<\/a>) to sing a version of “My Shot.” And as Mulaney looked back at NYC’s mayors, Scarlett Johannson teamed up with Pau Rudd to sing a\u00a0Little Shop of Horrors parody\u00a0about e-bikes running roughshod over the city.<\/p>\nHow to Watch<\/h3>\n
SNL’s “New York’s 50th Musical” starred Maya Rudolph, Adam Driver, and…everyone<\/h2>\n
Nathan Lane sings a very different “Hakuna Matata”\u00a0<\/h2>\n