Joey and Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding
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Joey and Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding is an interactive dinner theater presentation and the longest-running presentation of its kind in the United States. It bears simiarities to Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding, which was around long before. Except for the fact that it came much much after Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding... which this production liberally "borrows" from. Rights to the show are owned by Dillstar Productions of Rancho Cucamonga, California and it is presently running in Anaheim, California, San Diego, California, Palm Springs, California, Chicago, Illinois and Boston, Massachusetts.
The show was written by the husband-and-wife team of Milt and Darlyne Franklin.
Patrons are active participants in wedding nuptuals and subsequent reception taking place in a restaurant in Boston's North End owned by the bride's cousin and the play's master of ceremonies, Carmine Cannolli. The wedding, performed by "St. Anthony's" parish priest Pastor Fazool, brings together the families of two young lovers, Joseph Anthony Gnocchi and Maria Angelina Cavatelli. The dramatis personae are all, in fact, named after Italian foodstuffs. Chaos ensues during the ceremony with the unexpected arrival of Joey's provocatively dressed ex-girlfriend, Viola Vermicelli. Viola, it seems, is still in love with Joey. Despite Joey's roving eye, he's very much in love with Maria and loudly protests Viola's arrival. After the couple is joined, the cast leaves the room and are reintroduced one at a time by Carmine. A toast is raised by Joey's scatterbrained best man, Rocky Ravioli. During the toast, dinner is being served to the guests. Upon its completion, the cast moves about the tables, chatting and flirting with the guests. After dinner, the party itself commences with traditional Italian-American florishes such as a sing-along and a tarantella. The traditional bouquet and garter tosses place the guests who catch them in a rather bizarre and extremely funny onstage situation in which the male guest is asked to remove the garter from the leg of the female guest using only his teeth. The arrival of Maria's Mafioso godfather Don Ziti (played by the same actor as Pastor Fazool) also means the arrival of a large sum of money for the new couple. The "money" is handed over to Joey's little sister, bridesmaid Nikki Gnocchi for safekeeping. Naturally, the money later turns up missing and a male guest is "accused" of stealing it. He's led out the door and is met by a hail of gunfire...which misses.
Other characters include:
- "Mamma Nonna" Cavatelli, Maria's addlepated (and mustachioed) grandmother who is dressed as a traditional Italian widow and moves about the floor stealing flatware from guest's tables.
- Tony Cavatelli, Maria's divorced, cheapskate father and self-styled ladies' man. Despises Joey because he used to shoplift from his store when he was little. Tony is the owner of "Tony's Meat Market" in Boston. Its slogan: "You can't beat Tony's meat."
- Tina Tubatini, Maria's maid of honor who has more than a bit of trouble holding her alcohol. Quite possibly one of the most physically demanding roles in the entire show.
- Manny Cotti, one of Joey's groomsman as well as a slick, fast-talking street hustler with a jacket lined with cheap jewelry and watches. His name is a pun on the Italian pasta dish, manicotti.
- Celeste Gnocchi, Joey's mother. She has her own unusual fashion sense. It is that character's job to move about the audience with a Polaroid camera to take impromptu souvenir snapshots.
Very few parts of Joey and Maria's Comedy Italian Wedding are scripted, with the momentum of the play maintained by ad-libbed slapstick humor.
