Plot Synopsis of "Amateur Night"
The Brady children decide to raise money to buy their parents, Mike and Carol, a new silver platter for their anniversary, and figure they have a bargain when Jan tells them the price of the engraving is 85 cents. However, the sales clerk tells Jan that misunderstood the pricing system — it was 85 cents per letter, and the entire engraving will cost $56.23, that is $53.55 plus 5% then, tax of $2.68. The $53.55 price plus the $2.68 tax was from 63 engraved letters of MOM AND DAD, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ALL OUR LOVE, GREG MARCIA PETER JAN BOBBY CINDY
Well short of the funds, the Brady children brainstorm ways to raise the funds; Bobby and Cindy even attempt to get a loan from a neighborhood bank. The kids eventually deciding to enter the "Pete Sterne Amateur Hour" talent contest, where the grand prize is $100. Calling themselves "The Silver Platters" (after their intended gift), they attempt to rehearse their act in secret, giving hasty explanations whenever spotted by their parents, Mike and Carol, or the family's housemaid, Alice.
"It's a Sunshine Day" is performed for Pete Sterne in rehearsal, after which Sterne invites them to perform on the television show, to be broadcast live. The Bradys perform "Keep On" for the competitive portion of the show. Alice inadvertently turns on the TV, sees the beginning of the Silver Platters' live performance, recognizes the performers and excitedly calls Mike and Carol into the room. They hear Greg explain the siblings' plans, and Mike and Carol are touched. In the end, the Silver Platters place third, with a dog act called "Patty's Prancing Poodles" winning the competition (the second place prize is never revealed).
In the end, Mike pays the remaining cost of the platter.
Read more about this topic: It's A Sunshine Day (song)
Famous quotes containing the words plot, amateur and/or night:
“Morality for the novelist is expressed not so much in the choice of subject matter as in the plot of the narrative, which is perhaps why in our morally bewildered time novelists have often been timid about plot.”
—Jane Rule (b. 1931)
“I have been reporting club meetings for four years and I am tired of hearing reviews of the books I was brought up on. I am tired of amateur performances at occasions announced to be for purposes either of enjoyment or improvement. I am tired of suffering under the pretense of acquiring culture. I am tired of hearing the word “culture” used so wantonly. I am tired of essays that let no guilty author escape quotation.”
—Josephine Woodward, U.S. author. As quoted in Everyone Was Brave, ch. 3, by William L. O’Neill (1969)
“This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! I am awaked almost every night by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)