Mia Morneault

Junior Sasha Ruteledge (right), and seniors Evan Schmitt, Seth Loudenslager, and Kaitlyn Moore gather around a photo of the Pope. Tony and Tina’s Wedding is a loosely scripted long-form improv show, that takes place in the late 70’s. “I think I always have something to say to someone, when I’m in character,” Loudenslager said. “I always have a line that I can just improv, but I think sometimes it could be really hard to be able to place yourself physically in a place that you should be while a certain scene is going on. Sometimes you’re not supposed to see a certain scene, sometimes you either forget about it, or you don’t know. You have to be really careful about that. 
I find that to be kind of hard and tricky at times”

You enter the Chapel, take your seat, watch the beautiful bride walk down the aisle and see a photographer obnoxiously get in everybody’s way. The theater department’s newest dinner theater takes a twist and invites you to be a part of the show in an exciting way.

The show, happening tomorrow and this weekend, is an immersive experience where audience members play roles as guests at an Italian-American wedding, participating in games, dances and chatting with the fellow attendees and staff.

“It’s a very creative show and allows for a new kind of feeling when acting, and for theater in general; it’s something we don’t get to experience a lot with the regular shows,” junior Jayden Anderson said. “The audience participation is a huge aspect of [the show], and it really helps us as actors get into character. It makes us feel more like we’re talking to a real person, as a different person other than ourselves. It shapes the show itself.”

Tony And Tina’s Wedding is a loosely-scripted show that relies heavily on improv dialogue between guests, while still hitting specific story beats. The actors must always be aware of what is going on, memorize the sequence of events, and communicate with audience members all at the same time.

“I’ve been on the improv troupe for years,” junior Ben Akers said.
“I really enjoy improv and I’d like to say that I’m good at it. So, the fact that it is improv means that it’s easier for me to do a good performance. Sometimes I get caught up in the improv, and forget the things that I’m supposed to do, and then we get stuck because I’m distracted.”

Sophomore Abby Davis shares a similar experience, and gives insight into how a new style of improv can be challenging, yet fun.

“Normally in improv you play a character for a short amount of time and then get a new one or make up one, but for this show you are given a thought-out character and have to play them for hours.” Davis said. “I struggled with that at the beginning, but understanding your character and their relationship with everyone makes it easier. I think this style of improv allows you to really play the character and lets you give the character more depth than you would in regular improv comedy.”

While practicing without an audience, the cast finds the rehearsal process to be very helpful in structuring the show, and allows them to come up with many other ideas to incorporate into the story.

“Mainly we try to get the basic guidelines of the show down and just run through that,” senior Seth Loudenslager said. “So hopefully when the show comes around we have the guy like down to where a weekend can, space it out a bit and have more improv into it, you know, mingle with the people longer, but we have that reinforced guidelines where, like, we won’t get too lost while just talking to people.”

Anderson also shares a similar sentiment.

“The rehearsal process is necessary because we need to learn those big, long directions from the script, and we need to practice getting to know each other and interacting in character,” Anderson said. “We went to a dinner the other night, pretending to be our characters.
It was a good chance for everyone to get into character and understand what a real family dinner as this family [our characters make up] would be like. This dysfunctional, crazy, family. It was a really fun experience and something I will never forget.”