Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Southeast Senior makes Directorial debut with hilarious wedding show

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Southeast’s River Campus caught a rush of laughter and family drama at “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” held at the John and Betty Glenn Convocation Center on Sept. 13 and 14.

“Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” is an interactive play where the audience attends the wedding ceremony and reception. Guests are invited to dance, sit and eat dinner with cast members.

The wedding joins two Italian families together, which brings about dancing, arguing and lots of laughs. The cast includes bridesmaids, groomsmen, family, caterers and photographers.

The show combined a mixture of scripted acting and improvisation, which required the actors to know detailed information about their character.

Each time the show is reproduced, the script is amended to include local fare such as street names and highschools, a feature which allows the audience to feel more connected to the play..

Southeast’s production at was directed by Southeast senior Francesca Bucci.

Bucci is both a Public Relations and an acting major and has spent the past three weeks putting the show together.

“The biggest thing that I had to have the actors do was [learn] the history for their character,” Bucci said. “They need to know these characters like the back of their hand.”

Bucci went on to explain the cast “went the extra mile” to facilitate a close family environment, holding bridesmaid group chats and Nunzio family game nights in character as preparation for the show.

Mason Ramsey, a senior in Musical Theatre, played the groom’s best friend, Dominic.

Ramsey went into great detail about the history between Dominic, Tony, Tina and Dominic’s girlfriend Donna.

“It's my best friend's wedding,” Ramsey said in character. “It's a big deal, because Dominic's not going to get married for a long time.”

“Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” was available for crashing at Kenneth and Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center Directing Studio, Room 114 on Sept. 13 and 14.

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