Way Back When
Most people know Nan Parati as one of the creative forces of Jazz Fest and owner of Elmer's, an iconic New England restaurant. Here's the little-known backstory of her first creative enterprise.
- by Ellis Anderson
- by Ellis Anderson
Nan Parati at the Jazz Fest Sign Barn - photo by Ellis Anderson
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In the 1980s, my friend Nan Parati worked for Jimmy Buffet as a set designer. Her pièce de résistance creation was a huge fake volcano. At concerts, when tens of thousands of people started singing along with Jimmy, “I don’t know where I’m a gonna go when the volcano blows,” actual fireworks would shoot out of the top of that landmass-sized prop. The volcano caught on fire once, but no one was seriously hurt and the crowd thought it was all part of the show. That’s another story.
The point is that’s the kind of mind Nan has. Need a great show finale? How about a volcanic eruption? Impossible? Hardly. Where there’s Nan’s will, there’s a way. |
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