If you grew up in Buffalo or Southern Ontario during the twentieth century then you probably experienced the magic of Crystal Beach Amusement Park before its sad closing back in September of 1989. Yes, thirty-five years ago!
Multimedia artist and filmmaker Peter McGennis was fortunate to have known the park intimately from spending his childhood summers up in Crystal Beach and having a best friend whose step dad once owned the park. McGennis shipped off to the college that summer of ’89 and Crystal Beach became a memory.
That was until he wrote a song about Crystal Beach called “Sunshine Dream” and shared it with his friend’s step dad when he became ill back in 2015. McGennis told him that he was going to make a feature film about Crystal Beach before he sadly passed away.
Having plucked heartstrings and a creative wellspring, more songs continued to pour out of McGennis. He created a studio project band called Pete and the Amusements and began recording these original Crystal Beach songs starting with “Sunshine Dream.” There were thirty-two songs when all was said and done! In 2017, McGennis wrote the first draft of “Laff in the Dark” stitching together the songs into a movie script storyline. He had taken a similar approach to previous movies like “Queen City” where the songs guided the visuals. What was different this time was that Pete and the Amusements had become a narrating vehicle appearing in the film. The script was playing out in his head and ears as a vinyl record. McGennis had unearthed the rock opera in his own self-coined “movie album” way.
Filming began soon after deploying a stop-start strategy to ease logistics and to make it possible to film at different vintage amusement parks akin to Crystal Beach. The list included Seabreeze (Rochester), Sylvan Beach (Syracuse), Waldameer (Erie) and nearby Fantasy Island. Some of these parks had acquired rides from Crystal Beach or had similar vintage that could pass for Crystal Beach. And then came the hunt for actual Crystal Beach relics which proved highly successful. So successful in fact that McGennis and his Western New York crew was able to recreate “Laff in the Dark” ride in a Cheektowaga warehouse using dolly track and the actual rickshaw cars from the ride. Friends and collectors alike were open to letting their keepsakes bring McGennis’ film to life. And then came the pandemic…
For two seasons, McGennis was pretty much at a standstill unable to finish principal photography. He hunkered down and edited the film to note exactly what we needed. When McGennis finally came up for air, his dear friend and lead actor Vincent O’Neill was diagnosed with lung cancer and needed time to recover. The project continued marinate until 2023 when they were finally able to complete filming all of the connective tissue content of the film in an antique store in Elma, NY. Postproduction began this year which included some additional shots, animation and sound mixing. The result is an original rock opera about a magical place that meant so much to McGennis and generations on both sides of the border!
So c’mon and end the summer on a high and join cast, crew and fellow Crystal Beach lovers on the sandy red carpet for the world premiere of Peter McGennis’ rock opera feature film “Laff in the Dark” opening at the iconic North Park Theatre on Friday, September 13th!
Summary:
An annual pitstop at an antique shop uncovers the charm of legendary amusement park Crystal Beach and its mysterious matriarch. Join multimedia artist Peter McGennis on the red carpet as his musical ensemble Pete and the Amusements unearth the rock opera on the big screen and on the midway. Thirty-five years since Crystal Beach closed its doors in September of 1989. Get ready for suckers, shenanigans and a flood of memories. Was it all real or just a laugh in the dark? Starring Josephine Hogan, Vincent O’Neill and Peter McGennis and Laughing Sal. Running Time: 1h36min. NR. Brief nudity.
Tickets: https://ticketing.useast.veezi.com/sessions/9azqedb8634rh3y4a5rzc1z2km