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Put together the irrepressible Ilene Beckerman and the jovial Michael Disher, supply with writing materials, stir with gusto, give them a stage and the result is an infectious performance piece both witty and heartwarming.
Last year’s collaboration was about sex. With “Mom, It’s MY Wedding!” they have again triumphed, this time with marriage. The writing is droll and sophisticated, but between the laughs, it’s rich with honesty and sentiment. Mr. Disher, who shares writing credits, also directs the playful romp now running through February 1 at the Southampton Cultural Center.
The production is not quite a play, but not merely a staged reading. It is a seamless series of quick-paced soliloquies and dialogs from doting mothers and difficult daughters speaking about the hopes and dreams, glitches and slights that lead up to the big day, starting way back when the daughters were writing home from summer camp.
“Mom, It’s MY Wedding!” features four mothers—in black and “diamonds”—four daughters—in white, no glitter—one harried father of the bride, a bridegroom who is every parent’s nightmare, and an over-the-top wedding planner, Duane. You know the type.
Mothers and daughters partly read from scripts in glossy white binders, much like you imagine wedding planners use. There’s a rotating cast of 21 players in all, a choice due to the number of people who wanted in, as well as the collaborators’s desire to see different actors in the roles. Thus the cast going forward is different from the one opening night, which this reviewer saw.
Despair not, because Tom Gregory—with his multiple parts as zany Duane, the louche bridegroom and an earnest minister—is, happily, in all productions. Mr. Gregory is an absolute hoot, electric with manic energy. While parts of the script are sweet and sensitive renderings of what it’s like to be a mother or a daughter, don’t look for that when Mr. Gregory explodes his satirical magic on the stage.
You’ll spend much of your time laughing at the scenarios that seem familiar even if you didn’t have—or plan—a wedding as envisioned by the four daughters. But just as soon as the speaker shifts, so does the mood, to thoughtfully tender moments.
Two that stood out come in the second act when the mothers and brides connect, or disconnect, over The Dress. The night I was there, Barbara Jo Howard portrayed the mother of the bride whose own mother did not go bridal dress shopping with her because she had died. Her neighbor, who befriended her, went instead. Surprising the bride-to-be, the good neighbor goes along. Soon enough, I, always a sentimental pushover, ended up with glassy eyes. You just knew what it would be like planning a wedding without a mother.
The other throat-catching scene is the “coincidence,” when a mother who never had a real wedding dress herself ends up secretly trying on the exact same style as her daughter when they are out shopping together—just to see what it feels like to have a wedding dress on.
Linda Aydinian portrayed the mother and April Schiavoni the daughter, and damn, if I didn’t also get a catch in my throat when Ms. Schiavoni says, “That moment I realized how much we were alike, even to choosing the same wedding dress.” Is there a daughter who hasn’t spent years of her life determined to show her mother how different she is from her? Only to learn one day that the similarities are there, courtesy of shared DNA.
Ms. Schiavoni was the daughter to watch that night, as her mugging in reaction to her “mother’s” script added an unexpected amuse-bouche to the already sparkling dialog. Others in the cast opening night included Brooke Alexander, Joan Lyons, Allison Rose DeTemple, Holly Marie Dunn and Danielle Shuman. Dan Becker portrayed the beleaguered father of the bride. His nervous tic could be distracting at times—but hey, he’s a doctor in real life.
Ms. Beckerman is famous as the author of the charming little tome of beguiling script and artless drawings, “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” that was made into a stage production in Manhattan, and elsewhere, that famous actresses were lining up for. “Mother of the Bride: The Dream, the Reality and the Search for the Perfect Dress” followed. She’s got three more books in her oeuvre. Can we look for more collaborations between these two?
One can hope.
“Mom, It’s MY Wedding!” will stage on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., through February 1, at the Southampton Cultural Center. Tickets are $22, $20 for seniors on Fridays only, and $12 for students under age 21 with ID. For more information, call (631) 287-4377, or visit southamptonculturalcenter.org.
on Jan 19, 2015