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''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' is an " environmental/ immersive theatre" event based on a traditional Italian-American wedding and reception, with warm and intrusive stereotypes exaggerated for comic effect. Audience members are treated as guests at the wedding by the interactive, improvisational comedy cast. Since opening February 14, 1988 in New York City, the piece has been staged in over 100 locations worldwide, including cities in Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia. ''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' shares some similarities with a 1969 Australian play called '' Dimboola'', by Jack Hibberd.


History

An interactive, environmental comedy, ''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' is a creation of the Artificial Intelligence comedy troupe. Thirteen original cast members share the copyright: Kevin Alexander, Tom Allen, James Altuner, Mark Campbell, Nancy Cassaro, Elizabeth Dennehy, Chris Fracchiolla, Jack Fris, Mark Nassar, Patricia Cregan Navarra, Larry Pellegrini, Susan Varon, and Moira Wilson. According to Cassaro, "''Tony and Tina'' evolved when Mark assarand I were in college and found ourselves the outcasts of the drama department. We were doing
improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...
s of a young couple having a fight, and they became so real that the dorm master called wondering what was the matter. It snowballed as we enlisted other friends who created other characters." The show was first performed in an American Legion Hall on West 14th Street on November 11, 1985. The
off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...
production opened on February 6, 1988, with the first wedding held at the Washington Square Methodist Church in
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
and the reception at Carmelita's, a reception hall at 150 East 14th Street. It then played at St. John's Lutheran Church on Christopher Street before moving to a long run at St. Luke's Theatre, then at the Edison Hotel, and finally at Sweet Caroline's before ending its 22-year run on July 25, 2010. The original cast included the above 13 actors and also Mickey Abbate, Joanna Cocca, Kia Colton, Joe Corcoran, Vincent Floriani, Towner Gallagher, Eli Ganias, Jacob Harran, Jennifer Heftler, Elizabeth Herring, Tom Hogan, Monica Horan, Kevin A. Leonidas, Denise Moses, Phil Rosenthal, Charlie Terrat, and Michael Winther. It was originally produced by Joe and Dan Corcoran, two Hofstra alumni just starting on Wall Street. ''Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding'' has been hosted in more than 200 cities including New York City,
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, Vancouver (where it had a 14-year run, closing only due to the 2010 Winter Olympics),
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, Montreal, Portland, Detroit,
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,
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, Orlando, San Francisco, Raleigh, and Chicago.


Film adaptation

The play was "freely" adapted for film by writer-director Roger Paradiso— "filmed primarily from the point of view of a lisping videographer"—with Joey McIntyre and Mila Kunis playing the title characters. The film premiered on May 3, 2004 at the
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
and received a limited theatrical run three-and-a-half years later. Upon its release, ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
'' gave the film zero out of four stars, calling it a "relentlessly unfunny detonation" of the play, and a "tin-eared disaster" featuring "profanity delivered at a Mamet-like rate." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called the film a "dated send-up of low-class comportment" and, noting the film's
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
, said, "exactly how limited will depend on your tolerance for tasteless behavior, extravagant overacting and a decibel level to rival the unveiling of Oprah's Favorite Things." The film has since been released on DVD.


See also

* '' Joey and Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding'' *'' Joni and Gina's Wedding'' * Hyperdrama


Notes


External links


Official site
*{{iobdb show, Tony n' Tina's Wedding American plays Comedy plays Off-Broadway plays Site-specific theatre 1988 plays New York City site-specific theatre