Crystal Beach has been a part of Buffalo multimedia artist and filmmaker Peter McGennis’ life for as long as he has conscious memory.
Josephine Hogan, left, Peter McGennis and Vincent O’Neill are pictured on the set of “Laff in the Dark,” a new feature film by McGennis
where he shares his passion for the long-closed Crystal Beach amusement park. Provided photo
“It was like a schoolyard playground,” he recalled of the amusement park on the Lake Erie shore in southern Ontario. “You don’t remember the first time. It’s all a swirl, hearing the music, waiting in line for the ride. I could go down the list of memories.”
He could, and in his new feature film “Laff in the Dark,” he does.
McGennis will be there for the premiere of “Laff in the Dark,” named for one of the amusement park’s most popular attractions, at 7 p.m. Friday in the North Park Theatre. It will have multiple daily screenings through at least Sept. 19.
“We’ve seen the documentary on Crystal Beach, and that’s important,” McGennis said, referencing “Remembering Crystal Beach.” But, he adds, “it also deserves the rock ‘n’ roll fantasy.”
That’s what he presents in his 96-minute rock opera film where an “annual pit stop at an antiques store uncovers the charm of a legendary amusement park and its mysterious matriarch.” In addition to writing the music and directing, McGennis stars alongside local acting veterans Josephine Hogan and Vincent O’Neill. (Playing the teen version of McGennis is his son, Peter.)
Actor Vincent O'Neill stars in "Laff in the Dark," a rock opera celebrating Crystal Beach Amusement Park by multimedia artist and filmmaker Peter McGennis.
McGennis spent his summers at Crystal Beach on the beach and at the amusement park, which was once owned by his best friend’s stepfather, Van Hall.
“I lived two to three months of my life every year up there. It exposed me to a different culture, and also a curiosity that really stuck with me and made an indelible impression as far as coming of age and making a connection to the past,” McGennis said.
In 2015, McGennis wrote the 1960s-inspired pop song “Sunshine Dream” about Crystal Beach to share with Hall, who was terminally ill at the time. He told Hall’s wife, Jan, he knew he would someday make a film based on the song.
First came a music video for “Sunshine Dream” shot at Seabreeze Amusement Park near Rochester that McGennis said “opened the flood gates” for him to write 36 songs that were performed with his studio project band Pete and the Amusements. McGennis used 24 of those songs in the movie, with each adding to the fabric of the story he would tell.
He also wanted an authenticity that would come only from real Crystal Beach objects and by filming at locations that recalled the amusement park.
Moviegoers will recognize some of the more than 100 Crystal Beach artifacts and props that McGennis accumulated over two years.
The original Laff in the Dark attraction at Crystal Beach inspired the new movie of the same name by Peter McGennis. By Kimberly Carney
“I was surprised at how many people offered their Crystal Beach relics to become part of this story and give them new life,” he said.
There’s Charming Charlie the skeleton, the scary Laffing Sal animatronic figure, the giant Paul Bunyan statue, along with signage and other props. After obtaining an original Laff in the Dark rickshaw, he was even able to re-create the ride using a dolly track in a Cheektowaga warehouse. And since the film plays with questions of whether something is real or it is the fantasy of laughing in the dark, don’t be surprised if some of those original Crystal Beach characters take on human form.
As to those famous Crystal Beach suckers: They'll make an appearance, too. (Don't miss the opening credits.)
McGennis, whose previous films include “Queen City” and “Buffalo Bushido,” filmed 27 days of flashbacks at vintage amusement parks that in some cases have the original rides from Crystal Beach, such as the swirling Tip Top at Sylvan Beach Amusement Park near Syracuse. In addition to Seabreeze, other park locations included Fantasy Island and Waldameer Park & Water World (Erie, Pa.).
His hope for the film is for viewers to “feel something that brings them back to the curiosity, that wide-eyed feeling” you would get going through the original Laff in the Dark ride.
“I still get goosebumps thinking about it, whether you’re a teen and it’s your first date there or you’re a parent seeing your kid eat cotton candy and laughing,” he said about Crystal Beach memories. “These are cherished moments, and they stay with you. That’s what I want people to have ... that tingle.
“This comes from a special place to me, a blurring of reality and fantasy, coming of age. Whether you knew the park as intimately as I did or went there once a year, you have your own Crystal Beach memory.”
In front of Laff in the Dark on Labor Day 1989.
