Kungaloosh! A Tribute to the Adventurers Club (with Bonus Audio track!)

MouseStation 249 - Kungaloosh! A Tribute to the Adventurers Club

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Show run time 0:57:57

Bonus audio run time 0:41:48

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Featured topic: Kungaloosh! A Tribute to the Adventurers Club

In this week's feature, Mark and Mike are joined by Andrew Rich to pay tribute to the beloved place at Pleasure Island where it was always 1937.

We opened the show with the recitation of the Adventurers Club Creed:

We climb the highest mountains
just to get a better view.

We plumb the deepest oceans
'cause we're daring through and through.

We cross the scorching deserts,
martini in our hands.

We ski the polar ice caps
in tuxedo looking grand.

We are reckless, brave and loyal,
and valiant to the end.

If you come in here a stranger,
you will exit as a friend.

And that's the key thing. No matter who you are, you were welcomed as a friend. We talked a bit about why the club was special for us, and how some people "got it" while others didn't.

Colonel Critchlow Sutchbench looks down upon the crowd in the Salon. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

 

Beullah Belle (Andrea Canny) enjoys the humor in the Salon from the balcony above. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

Next, we listened to part of an interview with Karl Anthony, Tim Goodwin and Andrea Canny where they discuss why they think that the club is so special.

Andrew asked Mark about how the interviews came about and Mark gave a bit of chronology about how things worked out. About half of the audio from the first interview was lost to a technical problem, and he was devastated, but he was able to set up a second interview and got some of the stories retold.

Hathaway Brown (Simon Needham) and Otis T. Wren (Karl Anthony) verbally spar in the Salon before the Balderdash Cup competition. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

 

Emil Bleehall, Sr. (Tim Goodwin) and Madame Zarkoff (Karel Wright) prepare to lead another new member induction ceremony. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

Mark also talked about being pulled up on stage twice. On Thursday, French maid Sugar Snapp pulled him up on stage to do "Grey Squirrel" and on Friday, French maid Beullah Belle pulled him up to learn how to be a French maid. (And Mark made a cuter French maid than Paul Barrie of the Window to the Magic podcast.) Mark is waiting for photos and/or video from some of the MousePlanet readers that were there. Mark thanks all of the MousePlanet readers that he met while he was at the Club the last three nights.

Mark is surrounded by Samantha Sterling (Sheila Ward), Sugar Snapp (Angela Napoleon) and Beullah Belle (Andrea Canny). Photo courtesy of Mark Goldhaber.

The cast sings the Adventurers Club all-purpose theme song at the final Radiothon. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

Mark explained some of the plot points and rumors of the last night's shows, including the appearances of Marcel and Sutter Bestwick. He also described the scene at the end of the night and the size of the crowd. The Library was filled to its capacity of 150, the Salon had 200 more watching the Library shows on the "JumboSheet" screen and even more were standing outside the Club watching on high-definition TV screens.

Mark talked about how large the crowds were and how tight the press was in trying to get into the Library for the final shows. And yet, everyone stayed on good behavior and there was decorum throughout.

The "JumboSheet," the 200-thread-count high definition-linen screen. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

Mark poses with Library major domo Kirk McDaniel in front of Fingers Zambesi's organ. Photo courtesy of Mark Goldhaber.

Mike asked Mark about Disney's opinion of the online petitions and Mark said that the petitions were not really all that effective, but that cast members had told him that hand-written letters to executive offices would help. In addition, there are some other tactics taken by online agitators (including phone calls, letters and emails to the homes of Walt Disney World executives) that have had negative effects rather than positive. Mark outlined ideas that might possibly prove effective in finding a way to bring the Adventurers Club back.

We played a listener voicemail from Chris from Tucson who said that we probably have not gotten much feedback from people's memories from the Club because most of them may not be family-friendly or that people would not be willing to share them. He asked that everyone share their stories or that we can make stories more family-friendly.

Angela Napoleon, out of her Sugar Snapp costume for the last time, poses with Mark as the Club empties. Photo courtesy of Mark Goldhaber.

A final view of the emptying Salon. Photo by Mark Goldhaber.

Mark called for anyone who was there the last night of the Club to share their stories so that we can run them on later shows.

Andrew noted that, while things sometimes got a bit risque, they were not necessarily not family-friendly. Mark mentioned that the performers actually liked having kids in the audience, but that things got a bit more risque after 9:00.

We read an email from Sir Trevor Easton, who shared a story of an interesting interaction with Samantha Sterling during her cabaret.

We wrapped up with our favorite moments from our time at the Adventurers Club. Andrew remembered Pamelia talking about a recipe with his wife about how to make the dish, and the time that he was picked to be one of Babylonia's protectors and several times that he was picked to go on stage with Samantha. Most of all, it was the feeling of belonging.

Mike remembered the first time that he "got" the Adventurers Club, when he was 16 on a family vacation. When he would go in with his Everest jacket before the attraction opened, he would get drawn into the show, getting asked about his adventures with the yeti. He also remembered harassing Colonel Critchlow Sutchbench and being harassed in turn when he forgot the words to "The Beer Song." Mark then noted that The Kid could probably sing 'The Beer Song." Mike talked about the bartenders knowing his drink before he got to the bar, and about working the Island as a club host.

Mark remembered being pulled up on stage two of the last three nights, and of being pulled up by Samantha Sterling back in 1997 with some great moments of humor. He likened the Club to Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, a fictional bar with loads of characters where anyone could belong, which was the centerpiece of a series of books by Spider Robinson.

We gave the last words to Karl, Tim and Andrea, who talked about what they're going to miss the most and what their parting words to the Club's fans would be.

We took the show out with the Adventurers Club's all-purpose theme song:

Marching along, we're Adventurers!
Singing a song of Adventurers!
Up or down,
North, south east or west,
An Adventurer's life is best!

Note that more photos of the final night at the Club are available in this weeks Walt Disney World Park Update.

Below is the closing night cast list, along with the roles that they went out in.

Melissa Valiquette	General Manager Entertainment Operations
Gary K. Jones	Entertainment Operations Manager
Gary Graham	Entertainment Manager
Mike Isom	Entertainment Technician ("Dave the Sound Man")
Steve Watson	Musician ("Fingers Zambezi")
Karl Anthony	Professor Otis T. Wren, Club Treasurer
Jay Becker	Emil Bleehall, Adventurer
Tim Goodwin	Daddy Emil Bleehall, Adventurer
Glen Gover	Graves (the Butler)
Simon Needham	Hathaway Brown, Aviator/Club Member
Joe Reed	Fletcher Hodges, Club Curator
Eric Pinder	Sutter Bestwick, Adventurer
Allison DeCaro	Pamelia Perkins, Club President
Sheila Ward	Samantha Sterling, Club Member
Karel Wright	Madame Zarkoff, Adventurer
Angela Napoleon	Sugar Snapp (French Maid)
Andrea Canny	Beullah Belle (French Maid)
Joy Andersen	Gabby (French Maid)
Jennifer Brassard	Tallulah (French Maid)
Kirk McDaniel	Library major domo

(As each actor/actress will usually play all roles and each maid has a different name, for completeness I'll note that Sheila Ward's maid character is Annelle and Allison DeCaro's maid character is Yvette.)

A big thanks to Karl Anthony, Andrea Canny and Tim Goodwin for joining us on the show, and to Entertainment Operations Manager Gary K. Jones, Public Relations Manager Benjamin Thompson and Public Relations Strategic Planning Director Todd Heiden for their help in setting up the interviews.

What are your memories of the Adventurers Club? Let us know by sending us an email or calling our toll-free feedback line (1-866-939-2278)!

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Wrapping up

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