Saturday Night Live celebrated its 50th anniversary February 16, and it was a highly theatrical event. While plenty of references were peppered throughout the evening (including Sabrina Carpenter's winking nod to the Wicked film), one sketch soared above the rest with love for both New York City and musical theatre itself.
New York 50th Musical is the latest in John Mulaney's suite of musical sketches, which have accompanied each of his six times hosting the program. While previous iterations paid tribute to different faux pas in the life of a New Yorker (ordering lobster at a 24-hour diner, using the bathroom in a bodega, ordering sushi at LaGuardia airport, buying underwear from a Times Square souvenir shop, buying a churro in the subway from a cart seller, and attempting to locate a necessity in the Port Authority Duane Reade), this iteration was a tribute to the city as a whole, transporting audiences back to 1975 before slowly moving through the 50 years SNL had been on the air.
The sketch was, like most of the 50th anniversary special, an all-star affair, featuring Mulaney as a heroin and hot dog–slinging street vendor, Pete Davidson and David Spade as two fresh-on-the-scene transplants, Maya Rudolph as a singing vial of heroin, Adam Driver as a sentient hot dog, Nathan Lane as a cocaine and vodka–swilling Wall Street broker, Jason Sudeikis as a Times Square pimp, Will Forte as a Times Square Elmo, Kristen Wiig as the Green M&M, Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Sarah Sherman as Michael Bloomberg, Devon Walker as Eric Adams, Scarlett Johansson as Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors, Paul Rudd as an e-bike rider, the return of Kenan Thompson as the Diner Lobster, Nick Jonas as Marius from Les Misérables, Cecily Strong as a food service worker, Rudolph as the Statue of Liberty, Ana Gasteyer as a pigeon, Taran Killam as pizza rat, and more.
Featuring parodies of Fame's title song; "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King; "The Confrontation," "I Dreamed A Dream," and "One Day More" from Les Misérables; "My Shot" from Hamilton; and "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors; the sketch is sure to warm your heart if you have any love for the chaos of New York. Check out the full video above!
