Open Letter To The Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Lower East Side Tenement Museum
103 Orchard Street
New York, New York 10002

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I believe a lot of my readers from coast to coast and border to border may have heard of your excellent museum (To call it a "museum" seems like an injustice! I believe "interactive immersive learning experience" would be more accurate.) as a result of a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE bit starring guest host Louis C.K. ("Louie" on FX and his own Netflix comedy specials) and Kate McKinnon (unless I miss my guess), but when I visited the gift shop recently, I was surprised to hear that even with the exposure to a new audience, your attendance has stayed pretty much the same! (Anybody who hasn't seen that bit can visit http://www.nbc.com/snl, download the SNL app on Siri, or view "SNL 04-08-17" on demand from their cable or satellite provider or Hulu.)

In recent years, Colonial Williamsburg has benefited from performances from actors such as Mamie Gummer, ("Manhattan" on WGN America, "Ricki and The Flash" opposite her mother, Meryl Streep, and "Emily Owens,M.D." on The CW) and Isiah Washington ("Grey's Anatomy"), to give but two examples, and not only have these actors felt pleased to make history come alive for guests but these guests have also learned the history of their country from "people who were there" and been pleasantly surprised when they have found out who has been representing these fascinating and very real characters.

I would like to suggest that the Tenement Museum enlist the services of some of the latest crop of "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" to bring the people who made New York the gorgeous mosaic it is today to life for a new generation during the summer months. (I sure hope NYC & Company's campaign to win back European tourists works!) Not only would it provide an excellent opportunity for these talented actors and actresses to hone their craft and maintain their edge but it would also show SNL fans a different side of them as well as make history more accessible, interesting, and, well....COOL! These past few months have shown us that SNL is not just a funny late night show, but also a vital and vibrant commentary on today's world, and employing the services of SNL's cast members would make an already exciting museum even moreso.

Yours very truly,
Steven L. Eisenpreis

copies to:@nbcsnl