The Longest Running Show in Off-Broadway History!
Program Titles
- Audaciously imaginative!
- Wedding’ proves to be wonderfully wacky amid perfect backdrop!
- Guests are invited to dress from wedding formal to business casual.
- ‘Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding’ an interactive theater experience that gets audience on its feet
Everyone is invited to this low-rent wedding bash, though once, the flying chairs and fisticuffs were generated by audience members and not the actors.
The off-Broadway hit “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” is the interactive theater phenomenon that’s kept audiences chicken-dancing around the country for 21 years.
Every day is like the movie “Groundhog Day” for the (fictional) Brooklyn families, the Vitales and the Nunzios, eternally boozing and brawling to celebrate the title characters’ nuptials. But at least they’re no longer stuck in 1988.
The move offered a window to implement changes that have gone into other productions in the past two years. Out with the ruffles, in with guest stars such as Tiffany and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
“The people who are coming now tend to be younger, hipper.”
“Tony n’ Tina” The show is three-fourths improvised, with the actors depending more on “beats” of structure than dialogue.
The original show still has a timeless appeal. “Anybody of any age gets to be silly,” he says. “People want to have a good time. I think they kind of get lost in this place of being able to be silly.”
“Everyone needs to escape. This is a great escape,” says Alison Mills, who on this night has just finished her 1,607th performance as Madeline, the stripper girlfriend of Tony’s dad. Mills gets fan mail, and at this show fielded an invitation to a 16-year-old’s prom.
The magic lies in the little moments; talking to people one-on-one or letting patrons eavesdrop on conversations, thinking they will hear the actors break character. (It never happens, if you saw Larry David try on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”)
“That’s what makes this show work. You give just one or two people a real moment that connects with them. They leave feeling like they got something special, because they did,” Johnson says.
Pellegrini says it’s a challenge to keep a constantly revolving cast of 20 players versed in the “bible” of details for each character. “We don’t want the audience to catch us. We try to be very, very thorough with it.”
This unique theatrical experience has won over the hearts of thousands of people, in over 100 cities worldwide, including Japan, Australia and many European cities.
At Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, audience members actually play the roles of Tony n’ Tina’s family and/or friends. These are roles we have all been practicing, every time we go to a real wedding. This universal familiarity with the union of two individuals from 2 distinct families, regardless as to where you are from, will take you back and forth between fantasy and reality throughout the entire evening.
For the ultimate experience… eat, drink, dance, converse and allow yourself to be caught up in the activities. This all inclusive evening of entertainment will be something you and your friends will be talking about for many years to come.
Embrace this simple, yet genius, concept to create a familiar environment where audiences could eat, drink and dance…all while interacting with characters that seemed oh so familiar.
Since opening countless notables have been among the hundreds of actors who are part of the Tony n’ Tina “family”.
– “When we performed at Chardonnays, a couple of scenes were out on the sidewalk, including fights between the groomsmen and Tina’s ex-boyfriend. Kudos to our actors — they made it look very realistic. We had to field a number of police arriving after getting 911 calls. We have to thank the VPD for being very patient and tolerant. In the end, I suspect, they simply asked the caller if the fracas involved an enthusiastic bridal party.”
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