50TH ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE TO TOUR AMERICA
The most watched and one of America’s most beloved television shows of all time will soon become one of the country’s most popular interactive experiences as the “I LOVE LUCY 50th ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE” debuts this summer. The tour, produced by SFX and S.E.S.P., Inc., made its debut at the Milwaukee Summerfest on June 28.
Through elaborate re-creations, the timeless world of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo will come to life in a 17,000-square foot interactive experience. Guests can catch the magic and experience TV History as they walk through exact reproductions of the Ricardos’ famous New York apartment, their Hollywood home at the Beverly Palms Hotel, and Ricky’s workplace, the swinging Tropicana Night Club.
 In the “I LOVE LUCY 50th ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE” interactive plaza, guests will compete in games based on renowned “I Love Lucy” episodes. In “Stomping the Grapes,” based on Episode #150, “Lucy’s Italian Movie,” contestants fill up oversized wine bottles by stomping “grapes” in a mock wine vat. Episode #36, “Job Switching,” will come to life when contestants recreate the unforgettable Lucy and Ethel chocolate factory scene by rapidly wrapping chocolates to stay ahead of a speedy conveyor belt. Finally, guests will be verbally challenged when hawking the elixir “VITAMEATAVEGIMIN,” as Lucy was in Episode #30, “Lucy Does a TV Commercial.”
Participants in the games will be videotaped, with a chance to be included in an “I Love Lucy” 50th Anniversary television special, to air on CBS Television October 15, 2001. The New York Apartment and the Beverly Palms sets will both reside in their own recreated sound stages replete with kiosks and display cases filled with authentic costumes, props, merchandise, rare photographs and other memorabilia.
The Tropicana Night Club will be transformed into the Tropicana Theater, where guests will be serenaded by the sounds of the Desilu Orchestra. Presentations of “I Love Lucy” highlights and excerpts from the recently found pilot episode will be shown. An on-site Lucy Store will be stocked with an array of 50th Anniversary Tour and Ricky Ricardo Club Babalu branded items, including T-shirts, mugs, magnets, picture frames, mirrors, photo albums, clocks, snow globes, postcards, pencils and more, which will be available exclusively on this tour.
 “With this tour, our family wanted to give the legions of ‘I Love Lucy’ fans throughout America a way to celebrate along with us and join in the fun that was the ‘I Love Lucy’ experience 50 years ago,” said Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. “Now they can experience the action and excitement that existed on the set 50 years ago as ‘Lucy’, ‘Ricky’, ‘Fred’, and ‘Ethel’ made television history.”
“This represents the most elaborate touring tribute to a TV series ever launched,” said Executive Producer Lisa Davis of SFX Family Entertainment. “We will take people on a journey back in time, back to the glory days of ‘I Love Lucy,’ and allow them to experience many of their favorite show moments first-hand.”
“This tour is the culmination of two years of intense research and development, resulting in the largest collection of ‘I Love Lucy’ material ever assembled, “ said S.E.S.P. Executive Producer Steve Kahn. The “I LOVE LUCY 50th ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE” will travel to state fairs, arenas and theme parks across America over a four-year period.
|
