Because my goal is always to make this show as sustainable as possible, nearly everything we use is second hand and re-imagined for TWS. But I had to give in and get this fresh pink iridescent suit. Ben Mumford-Zisk is playing an Elvis impersonator and seeing Chrissy Bunz rip off his pants really shook me to my core in the best way, so I learned to make my own tear away pants. This is for Elvis, so I sewed in some bellbottoms (from cheetah print fabric) and then ripped the seams out of the sides. There are quite a few more steps and I'm not writing a tutorial, so look up the process if you're interested. 

And now for the first test tear away...

Assuming no one who reads this blog will see the show this year, here's a few other secrets and reveals...
The wedding ceremony this year is a labyrinth. It's a style of wedding where you and your partner enter a maze and walk the paths that meander until you meet in the middle and marry. Its symbolic of the journeys you've taken to get to where you are now. Well I told this theme to my assistant producer and they misunderstood the first time and said "I love the movie labyrinth." It was too good a misunderstanding to let split, so Elvis is going to be the person who misunderstands the wedding. He misses the ceremony, shows up to sound check, does his act  and then...for the last number he rips off his pants, strips off his pink suit jacket, pops on a blonde mullet wig just like David Bowie and sings Dance Magic in his Elvis voice. 
Too much? Surely it's not enough. We've choreographed a line dance for the song and Ben's wearing a full Jereth costume under his suit. The billowy white shirt, the gray leggings, the massive appendage, the knee high boots...the too tight vest...all that is missing is some contact juggling and gremlines.

The 2025 cast has just been announced and you can clean some information about what's to come by checking out the FAQ page on the website. 
Just like last year there will be 3 acts, but the flow of the show will look different. 

We'll be starting out at Ports of New York so that everyone is well hydrated before they sit down for the ceremony. Last year we introduced character cards for the brave folks who wanted to take on a role. As you enter the venue, you'll be able to choose a role and follow a few prompts to influence the plot.
It's a show right? We're continuing to blur the line between theatre and reality and as chance would have it, I came upon a popcorn maker a few months ago, which inspired this popcorn costume... so one or both of these things will make an appearance this summer. Probably just the popcorn machine...

Act I will of course be the ceremony, with some new obscure traditions. My inspiration for the ceremony came from a cross country ski adventure where I found myself in a copse of trees, overlooking a gorge and then stumbled into a rock labyrinth. A few weeks later I found a book of labyrinths on a coffee table in Colorado. So there will be a labyrinth at the wedding and if David Bowie were around, he's surely be on the invite list. 

Act II will be a cabaret of sorts. Select wedding guests will perform as a tribute to the Brides. Want to perform? Let the Officiant know after the wedding...The audience will have engagement opportunities, so you're welcome to bring your special talent for a 3 minute talent show.

Act III is my favorite part of the night. It's when everything falls apart and comes back together. There will be drama, there will be singing and dancing. There will be dessert. And who knows. The might even be a food truck. That's TBD...but all good weddings have a lake night food truck role up, right?

For a little dip into reality, it's been tough to figure out how to pull off the show this summer. I've never been busier before and my mind has been pulled in 5 different directions since starting graduate school last Fall, but I don't want to not do this show. It feels important. It feels like a space that we need right now. The thing that has made the show so special is the relationship building that goes on with the cast during rehearsals. The way that we grow and open our minds to different ways of thinking and being...and actually become better people because we're learning about one another and how different people move about in the world. I want this show to continue to be a space where people can learn from each other, trust and accept one another and bring that attitude out into the real world.

​There was one night of the show two years ago where a group of women approached me at the end to say that this was the first time they'd ever been out at a public event or theatre show where they felt represented and like they could really be themselves and be comfortable in their skin. They were able to hold hands and dance with their partners and laugh at jokes that were relevant to their experience. They'd gone 40 years without having some of that validation and The Wedding Show unlocked a new chapter. I want the show to keep doing that. I want to audience to feel safe, and seen in this show about queer love. 

The more we really know and respect the people around us, the easier it is to care about people we don't yet know. So we're taking a group of strangers, guiding them through an experience where they can make friends and see the uniqueness in one another and then sending them back into the world with maybe a few more tools that they can use to make meaningful connections and keep an open mind when interacting with people who are different from themselves. 

I went to SXSW this spring and got my dose of chaos, art, immersive entertainment and most of all, Rocky Horror. The most impactful part of the experience revolved around seeing the film premier of Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror. The movie is about the iconic cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, created by Richard O'Brien (Riff-Raff in the movie). His son, Linus, directed a documentary about the influence this show has had on many generations and specifically on the queer community. He interview Trixie Mattel, Jack Black, former cast members from the play and the film, members of the original shadow cast, and audience members at some of the first shows. I count myself among the millions of people who were moved by RSHP and discovered something about themself by seeing the movie. So after the premier, the house lights came up and Linus stepped into the audience at the Paramount Theatre in Austin Texas and I introduced myself. He invited me to the after party at Oilcan Harrys (my favorite gay bar in ATX) and I schmoozed with the crew while the O'Brien Orchestra (Austin's RHPS shadow cast) sang the song from the opening credits, "Science Fiction, Double Feature...doctor X (sex sex sex) will build a creature...see androids fighting (and biting and sucking on) Brad and Janet..." I'm sure the know the rest...
This is all to say, Rocky Horror made me fall in love with interactive immersive art. Rocky Horror was my first introduction to a show that is more than just the experience of watching. The first live midnight show I ever attended was the best night of my life and every show that I've been to since then has been memorable. I try to bring new people every time because I want everyone who needs this show to experience it. In ways, The Wedding Show is modeled after Rocky Horror. I want people to feel like they can be themselves, unguarded, fabulous, weird, wild and vulnerable. I want TWS to be a space where people don't have to hide themselves and in fact they can flaunt whatever they dare to flaunt. The first two years of the show we tried to create opportunities for people to get on stage, stand up in front of a crowd and do something silly, or at minimum dress up, feel beautiful and have a grand old time. But I want the show to be more and do more for people. I want this to really feel like a safe and brave space for the queer community. And I want it to be a show that sets an example of the world we want to cultivate. 

This summer, rather than just doing The Wedding Show with the subtle changes that come from a different audience and performers, we're going to create something that we can't repeat. I'm going to use my 20 years of teambuilding work to design an experience that brings people together and only happens one time. That's what makes it special. We'll never have this moment together again, it's sacred and perfect and fleeting. We're taking the wedding show cannon that's evolved over the last two years and adding on to it with a story that will hopefully just keep growing. 

So this year, we start off with an afterparty. The wedding happened. It's done. They done got hitched. And then you show up! You're crashing the wedding after party because you got a tip from a friend that this was the place to be...where will it be? I'm happy to asked that... It's April 2025, the show should start in June and I haven't finalized venues. Because I want the cast to pick their favorite venues and we'll travel around with the show this summer, inviting more people to be a part of it. Right now I'm looking at K-House in Ithaca NY, Aspire Brewery in Middletown NY, House of Yes in Brooklyn NY, Fairport Brewing Company in Rochester NY and maybe a night at our favorite little event space in Ithaca, The Cherry Arts.  
We're open to suggestions! All we're looking for a is a place that has a bar and a sound system. Email us your favorite feasible venues! theweddingshowith@gmail.com

One nightly character which was not of the audience options (initially) was The Photographer. This character was played by Ben Mumford-Zisk in the 2023 season. For 2024 Ben Mumford-Zisk rehearsed with the cast in this role, but there was a night during the first week that he wasn't available to attend the show and Alina offered to fill in. After that, it became a rotating role! With Ben as the photographer he played a famed videographer for the teletubbies who has done too many drugs in his wild youth and toured with some big bands. I jumped in to play a version of the photographer one night who was a NYU drop out, smacking gum, getting in everyone's face and fumbling outdated video equipment, but taking it all too seriously. When Alina played the photographer she put on a thick Jersey accent and twirled around, snaked across the dance floor and spoke loudly at inappropriate times. And then it just became this great gimmick that the cast never knew who would be the photographer on a given night. One night the real life partner of one of the cast members stepped in as a brash artist who was perturbed by the lack of professionalism from everyone around them and insisted on posing people to get the impossibly perfect shot, and complaining about everything from the lighting to the decorations that weren't up to snuff. ​

The character of Fay is flirtatious, and holds an abundance of love for the people in her life. She falls in love fast and without a second thought, confidently says YES to the people that capture her attention. Her story about marrying Louis and then leaving him when they drifted apart slips out during the 2nd Act. 
We hadn't quite figured out how to get the audience to unlock the story that first year, so the cast created big moments that looked like distractions, only to route audience members through the action. My original vision was that the audience would organically move around the venue spaces and encounter important moments, spread rumors and feel so intrigued by what they were surely missing on the other side of a way, that they'd just have to come back and experience it all again. 
The big moment where Jamie and Fay leave the party to fight about what the marriage to Louis and Fay's failure to share this fact means for their future happened just outside the glass doors to the venue. Every night there would be a few mingling audience members, outside for some respite that suddenly were witness to the fight. In the best situations they would end their conversation to step in and console a cast member or offer advice from their personal life. There was no expectation of this from the audience, but the space that we created made it easy for people to be natural in their interactions and show support. 
Every night after current call someone would exclaim to a random stranger who had inserted themself into the drama, "I was sure that YOU were a cast member!"
​

The second year of the show, there were some returning cast members, but a majority of new people, bringing new ideas and realities into the project. We started with some cannon from the first year and then built a new story for the new players.
The difference was that the cast we attracted were specifically here to represent their love stories which aren't often seen in movies or tv or other mainstream media. They auditioned because they wanted to tell queer love stories. Casting people who wanted to build characters that extended from themselves allowed us the have conversations behind the scenes that informed how the cast could support each other in the show. How should we talk about identity, sex and sexuality in the show? What conversations might come up in improvised moments with audience members? What would it look like to normalize queer love in a show? What doesn't need to be said?
Looking ahead to year three, The Wedding Show will be a queer show from here on out. It needs to be. But the question now is, do we take the word "queer" out of the marketing? Is there value in inviting people to experience queer love as just love and letting them step into a world where identify and sexuality aren't a topic of conversation? Can we create a space to just accept one another as we are, perfect and unique and weird and wonderful?

There are some highlights from the rehearsal dinner that I need to share because they make it all worth it:

• Two people met at the show for the first time and decided to come back to a future show with characters that they plan to play and gags that they want to pull.
• A trio of folks said the show was a place that they felt like they were safe to really be themselves. We made a place where queerness is accepted, normal, welcome and embraced. 
• Our amazing MC led an unexpected dance battle for a group of guests
• After the third act and after the curtain call, 15 people stuck around for an impromptu after party with the cast. 
• The Maid of Honor led an astoundingly well choreographed dance with a group of audience members who played the role of bride's maids. 

I've been going through photos from the night and preparing to do some posts and you just really need to be there to see it all and be a part of it. Photos can't do justice to the fun and excitement of belting to 'I Will Survive' with the Wedding Singer, while people prance around the room playing recorders and tambourines and pulling consenting strangers onto the dance floor...

 Is anyone else feeling anxious about the wedding approaching so quickly?

It's a Friday night and I'm making a rain stick for the sound bathing that this year's MC plans to perform during Act I, The Ceremony. I've got a wedding veil that I need to finish sewing so that it can accompany the 25 foot long wedding train that is nearly complete. The missing components of the wedding train are a sign saying "to be wed" and some clean cat food cans which will rattle behind the train as if it's a "just married" car. And there are some half finished papier maché flowers that need to be painted for table decorations.  

I'm making props for the show and they're all larger than life.  Directing and producing have slipped into crafting and curating and I'm not mad about it one bit...

Some of these props were designed for promotion but they are evolving into parts of the real show.
The interesting thing about a devised show is that we start with this bare bones foundation and every time we rehearse, we add new things. The ideas that pop up in conversations and the props that I'm creating seems to seep their way into the show and overtime the show starts to create itself. There is a strange synchronicity that seems to happen after all the cast members have developed their characters. It's like we all know each other's characters just well enough to anticipate what they'll do or how they'll respond. And the better we know each other the more fun we can have. Spending an evening crafting oversized wedding attire, table decorations and musical instruments is a way that I can connect with the characters, get to know them a little better and feed their personalities.  

Figure A

As the director of the show, I had to step away for a 15 minute trip to buy more Seltzer and green skittles, because that's part of my role. When I slipped back into the party, the cast was mid way through their performances where they sing and lipsync to the guests. Meanwhile guests are digging into the dessert bar, grabbing a drink, finishing off hunk of baguette, or boogying down. The temptation to get out on the floor and dance was strong! And the need to bus tables was stronger. 
​Well we have 6 more shows to go, so I'm going to brush up on my break dancing repertoire. 

For the 2024 season we're going to make some changes to tidy up the show. As much as I'd like to blur the lines between the wedding and the real world, I think people need more clarity right now. The audience (guests) can step into the Wedding world once they arrive at the venue. 
Calling them the audience first and "guests" in parentheses is a shift from last year. 

This year we'll have a intermission (reception) which I'm looking forward to. Although it won't in any way be a break from the action, it'll be a very intentional shift to another space, more free form interactions for the audience, and we'll centralize the activities. In most shows, the intermission takes you away from the action, but it's the chaotic bustling, queuing, uncomfortable mingling. I think some people find it to be a way to be anonymous and lost in the crowd, but I find intermissions always feel a little too long if you're not there to drink and stand in line. So we'll mitigate that with a photo booth and lawn games. A few random toasts to the couple where the audience can clink their glasses, have a laugh and even make a toast of their own. There will be refreshments and drinks for those who want to whet their whistle and mingle. And then the show will migrate back to the venue for dancing and dessert and speeches. 

As a producer, my biggest worry is how do we cover the costs of the show. This is what keeps me up and night, stops me from dreaming, and results in stress infused nightmares. The most important thing about the show, other than it being a unique, amazing and memorable experience, is paying people what they deserve for their time and talent. And with so many outside expenses, and the inability to get funding for people, it's not wonder that community theatre is often unpaid work. But does that limit the people that take part? Probably! Drawing a diverse cast isn't easy to do when the stipulation is that you have to dedicate hours of your life for free to the work. And while The Wedding Show can go on a resume, it's not getting our cast an acting credit on IMDB. I don't want this to be a labor of love for everyone involved. I want people who are a part of the show to feel respected and appreciated for their time and energy. 
I'm stretching some creative muscles by completing the Artist's Way and it's week 6. We're talking about abundance, so this is my week to push hard for sponsors, donations, funding and support so that when it comes to paying the cast and crew, we're golden.