Travelling back in time, the year is 1977. The 7th month, the 7th day… A sleepy part of Los Angeles, California – an enchanted canyon where legends live immortalised… The warm Santa Anna wind stirs up the eucalyptus leaves on the tarmac, as the bougainvillea dance and the palm fronds sway…
The setting sun dips down behind Mulholland Drive… the stars begin to sparkle… it’s a marvellous night for a moon dance…
The air is thick with jasmine, the balmy night descends on a Hollywood Hills mansion, rich in history, the opening set for a night of fun, frolics and fabulous abandon… Think Boogie Nights, Saturday Night Fever, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The costumes, the infectious grooves, and the beats that ignite dancing… dancing all night long…
There’s a party goin’ on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you
Come on now…
The story begins in Laurel Canyon, the fabled residence of singers, song writers, poets, hippies, beat generation freaks and many a Hollywood legend. Tonight we are going back to its golden age, to make the hills come alive with music and magic once more, in celebration of a happy couple’s wedding anniversary…
7, 7, 77 – an auspicious occasion indeed… What a lucky day to be reflecting on…
The evening has been kept under wraps for the weeks leading up. The behind the scenes preparations all kept a total secret from the happy couple; their daughters assisting to meticulously plan this superb surprise and implant personal touches and memorable moments. The whole night resonates and reverberates with the love experienced by the family over the years, raising a beautiful family and watching their bond grow decade, by decade.
The surprise begins the night before with the arrival of a mysterious invitation alluding to a secret celebration… Cryptically coded and intentionally vague, not much is given away, but the seed is planted.
The next afternoon, when things look like they may not be coming to fruition a gentleman dressed as Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees – Staying Alive era – arrives and leads our bemused couple to a special part of the house where a full hair and make-up department, together with wardrobe assistants and an array of genuine vintage costumes awaits!
With an entourage of Hollywood industry professionals, everybody gets into costume and character and the makeover begins… the music is already playing, the fun is flowing freely, and the family are already rejoicing…
At 7pm, a rumbling sound of engines starts to reverberate outside the house… 7 vintage cars await – VW Camper Vans adorned in psychedelic colours, Citroen 2CV’S and Beetles – each with a driver dressed in appropriately retro attire. The family jump into the vehicles and the party truly begins with a specially created soundtrack to accompany the ride through the winding canyons of the Hollywood Hills. Here begins the trip down memory lane…
Along the way the family pass some familiar characters. “Can we hitch a ride with you guys?”. They say there a rumours of a special celebration in a secret mansion somewhere up in the Hollywood Hills…
First David Bowie, then James Taylor, ABBA and finally Mr Presley himself, are picked up and the convoy of cars continues into the mysterious night… The soundtrack building… the anticipation rising… where could this be leading?
The convoy takes a turn down a specially renamed road called “Memory Lane” … Arriving at the end of this dead end track the family discover a specially decorated old vineyard that has been adorned with huge murals of the family depicting images taken over the last forty years…
Here delicious refreshments are served as James Taylor strums out folk music and the family roam the grounds.
The youngest members of the clan are given photographs. Vintage polaroids of their grandparents in a special sequence with a series of numbers on the back… they must guard the pictures safely as the next location holds a challenge that only the children can solve…
Back in the cars and down a short drive leading to a dark and apparently abandoned mansion, the door secured with a large padlock. A florescent disco light flashes from deep inside the house and a mysterious cloudy mist is billowing from under the mantel… All this but the house is completely silent… not a sound… no sign of life at all…
Maybe we have taken a wrong turn? But Elvis has an idea… he remembers this house from long ago… he remembers a secret passcode…
The children are encouraged to bring forth the polaroids they have been holding to help unlock the riddle…
Placing them down on the hood of a VW Beetle, the sequence of the pictures is arranged in chronological order… the 7 images running in order through the years… that’s it!
With the code figured out, the padlock unbolts and the door swings open to reveal a huge internal courtyard and the whole thing slowly becomes clear… A revelation of retrospective revelry begins to appear.
A 1970’s disco scene frozen in time… The dancers, band, staff and guests all completely still…
Just the strobe light and the dry ice circling them mysteriously…. As the family enter through the doorway and everyone has had a chance to take in this scene, a loud crack on the snare drum from centre stage brings the whole thing to life…
100 dancers spring into action and a full 8-piece band begin Kool And The Gang’s famous anthem with the call to action… Let’s Celebrate!
The party begins and the family disappear to the dance floor for their night of celebration… Canapés and drinks are brought out by service staff on roller skates, and the courtyard is full of recognisable characters… jiving and grooving together.
A huge banqueting table is set in the far left of the courtyard, where the family later sit and eat at their leisure.
Everybody’s favourite foods are delivered by yet more famous faces from the past who explain the dishes and serve in style…
The revelry and celebrations carry on late into the night with every member of the family joining the band on stage to sing, perform and dance in the limelight. Shining stars under the Hollywood moon… A true re-enactment of 1970’s flamboyance and fabulous attire, music and magic.
Tired but full of joy, love, fun and reflection the family get back into the hippy cars at the end of the night and return home, the music playing in their hearts and minds and the years gone by playing like a kaleidoscope, circling like dreams, around and around… a medley of magical memories… all based on a very true love story…
