Word: staging
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...many incentives to spend rather than save. Easy credit, proconsumption tax policies and an ethic of materialism have collaborated to turn the 1980s into the Spree Decade. "You work to have what you like, when you like," explains Nino Merenda, 31, a hair stylist in Skokie, Ill. "At this stage, I'd rather have a nice car than money in the bank." In fact, Merenda owns two cars: an Alfa Romeo and a Fiat...
...unassuming lubrication-equipment mechanic, Carlson is acclaimed by night -- Could we have ; a big hand, folks? -- as Donnie Lovedart! The first few notes of a familiar tune by the Spinners come up on the sound system, and then he's off, moonwalking across stage with his shades down and an arrow ready, singing, or seeming to sing, "Cupid, draw back your bow . . ." Lovedart is an agreeable fake, a master of the command nonperformance, an angel, yes, but also a duke- duke-duke of the lip-sync world...
Between sets, in the upstairs hallway that serves as a dressing room, everyone is casual. Why do they do it? The answers, in decreasing order of peer acceptability, are: for the money, for the laughs, as a creative outlet, to gain stage presence and stretch their personalities, or (and here, anyone within earshot rolls his eyes) to break into the entertainment big time...
...perilous. Artist No. 5 knows how to dance, but does the hand gliding down the torso suggest desire or gastrointestinal distress? Artist No. 7 wins points for wearing fishnet stockings, studded belts and a torn, painted neon cape. But for a terrible moment as she writhes on the stage, it looks as if she has got tangled in her costume. Also the sunglasses are crooked. There are no Michael Jackson imitators. You cannot compete with a big-time video, and anyway, the word upstairs is that Jackson can't lip sync his own songs...
...once appeared on American Bandstand. Tonight he's wearing combat attire and camouflage makeup for a monologue about being a 19-year-old in Viet Nam. His act consists of standing with his rifle in a bayonet-thrust position and making robot-like movements, ratchetting across the stage on the stuttered word "nuh-nuh-nuh- nineteen." On a bit about post-traumatic stress disorder the movements go haywire. He throws a grenade. He takes enemy fire, and as he falls forward he gasps, "Was it worth it?" The crowd goes wild. So do the judges, giving...