Please enjoy responsibly, and try not to let your Dangerous Liaisons turn into Fatal Attractions.

March 10, 2011 5:05 PM

I'm planning Glenn Close's birthday party, and I need thematic/decorating tips!

My friend and I are having a birthday party next weekend and have decided to lump Glenn Close's birthday in with ours to give the party some thematic spice! Only problem is, I'm finding it hard to come up with ideas to make the party more GlennClose-y other than having an effigy of her in the bathtub ready to spring back to life.

Please hope me throw a party the real Glenn Close would be honored by.

posted by yellowbinder to grab bag (25 answers total)

Well, she was in the Big Chill, so you could have the soundtrack playing... but that might be too obscure. I don't know--this would be tough!

Have everyone come as their favorite Glenn Close character? She's played in a LOT of different period pieces. Although i'm sure everyone would show up with a white dress and a bullet hole/blood stain on the front, too!

Good luck and have fun!!
posted by foxhat10 at 5:14 PM on March 10, 2011

Serve rabbit as entree.
posted by smoke at 5:20 PM on March 10, 2011 [14 favorites]

Well, it's almost Easter, so edible rabbits of all types are easily found in the stores. Just put a big ol' pot of them out for snacking.
posted by bondcliff at 5:21 PM on March 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Bunny in a cooking pot.
posted by SpacemanStix at 5:21 PM on March 10, 2011

FAKE bunny in a cooking pot.
posted by SpacemanStix at 5:23 PM on March 10, 2011 [6 favorites]

Bunny floating face-down in a pool.
posted by thejoshu at 5:28 PM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dessert could be ice cream (Big Chill) or Black and white cookies for 101 Dalmatians and fortune cookies for Cookie's Fortune.
posted by cecic at 5:44 PM on March 10, 2011

You could set it up to be a 50's dinner party a la Evening.
posted by cecic at 5:47 PM on March 10, 2011

Drinks marked as poison (for her role as Queen in Hamlet) - tape some of these signs on glasses. Also, anything Dalmation-ish (101 Dalmations). Something shiny and baroque for Dangerous Liaisons, too.
posted by analog at 5:48 PM on March 10, 2011

She used to sing with Up With People. Maybe you can round up a bunch of clean cut folks to sing close-part harmony.
posted by Ideefixe at 5:52 PM on March 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Well, she's a badass lawyer in Damages. You could make the dress code "lawyer clothes" (which is a thing, by the way).
posted by mckenney at 5:54 PM on March 10, 2011

She was a captain in The Shield. Maybe put paper handcuffs everywhere?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:57 PM on March 10, 2011

On your front door, tape up a still from 4:52 in this clip. Underneath it, in small but bold lettering, write "WAR."

And tape a sign on or above your couch labeling it "RATHER PURGATORIAL SOFA."
posted by Orinda at 6:01 PM on March 10, 2011

Dalmations?
posted by zug at 6:12 PM on March 10, 2011

She's one of the 1990 poster celebs for the READ campaign by the American Library Association. Ask people to honor her commitment to literacy by showing up as their favorite celeb and a book donation? I'm sure you could find some group that's looking for free books.
posted by Ys at 6:35 PM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think that if you are going to do it you should really bring out the early Up With People material. They were associated with the Moral Re-Armament Movement They dressed like Mork and sang songs about free enterprise. Glenn Close was one of them. Surely that soundtrack is available somewhere online. What a party it would be if everyone wore rainbow suspenders and smiled 'til it hurt. Nixon hippies! Yay!
posted by Morpeth at 6:38 PM on March 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

Don't forget Sunset Boulevard (the musical version)!
posted by miratime at 6:49 PM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I hear she's not yet received an Academy award. Might make a nice present.
posted by amtho at 7:18 PM on March 10, 2011

She's a William & Mary alumna. Can you dig up or fake any Tribe garb?
posted by pecanpies at 8:08 PM on March 10, 2011

de Villed eggs?
posted by betafilter at 8:20 PM on March 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

OK here's what you need to do:

Everyone needs Fatal Attraction perm wigs with heavily Kohl'd eyes.

Those more Ellen-Jamesian inclined should dress up in her nurse outfit from "World According to Garp."

Have someone put a Jagged Edge mask on and chase someone around with a knife, culminating in her firing a revolver at the assailant then hyperventilating in that oh-so-authentic immediate way.

Assemble a bunch of different droppers and administer them to each other, trying to guess what's in them (use your imagination). Anyone who goes to the bathroom, once finished, has to collapse and be discovered on the floor to exit the room. Also, have someone lie on your upstairs bed and get exercised by a nurse (maybe someone in the Jenny Fields outfit).

Tape your eyes oddly to simulate her bizarre extended run-in with the plastic surgeon (Damages Season One vs. Damages Season Two is a good comparison. She seems to have had it fixed in Season Two.)

PS If I were hosting this party, I would try to have her signature movies playing on different screens or even better, via wall-projection. Namely, Garp, Jagged Edge, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Reversal of Fortune. Dalmations not so much because it's such an annoying movie.

Wish I could come! Have fun. =)
posted by teedee2000 at 8:58 PM on March 10, 2011

Clearly, you must invite Glenn Close.
posted by effugas at 4:35 AM on March 11, 2011

I would avoid any obscure references, the effort won't be worth the payoff. You have plenty of material to pick from even from her best known works.
posted by Dragonness at 7:55 AM on March 11, 2011

Note that if you are asking guests to come as their favourite Glenn Close character and any significant number of the guests taking you up on it are male, you may find yourself withn a de facto pirate-themed party.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:15 AM on March 11, 2011

Make a list of your favorite Glenn Close roles. Then have a progressive party. Up with People cocktails, Big Chill appetizers, Fatal Attraction 1st course, etc.

Glenn Close has a dogblog.
posted by theora55 at 11:53 AM on March 11, 2011