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Arts & Entertainment

Tony and Tina's Wedding Comes to Brookwood

Brookwood High School's advanced theater students present "Tony and Tina's Wedding"! This interactive dinner theater will satisfy your need for comedy and Italian food in one fun-filled evening.

Brookwood High School’s weekend performance of “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” brings a whole new meaning to Dinner Theater.  With complete audience participation, a live band, and a full course Italian dinner, you will leave this one-of-a-kind play with your belly full and your mind amused.  

“Tony and Tina’s Wedding” centers on the bride and groom, Tony and Tina, and involves the audience to the extent that some even unwittingly play family and friends of the wedding party.  During the reception, the actors move around the room as if they are really part of a wedding.  There is a live band spearheaded by student Grant Cowan, who plays Donny Dulce.  Cowan is himself a pianist and was originally set to be the only musician. Cowan took it upon himself to enlist some of his friends in his band; the end result is a unique mix of pre-recorded music and live entertainment.  

“He initiated this himself,” says Ken Lindahl, obviously pleased with his student’s pro-activity.  “We have a bass, drums, trombone, and guitar.”

The show is Brookwood’s advanced theater students’ first presentation of the play for the year, but the third time the school has performed it in the 27 years Patty and Ken Lindahl have headed the drama department.  The play is loosely structured and allows the students to use their skills in improvisation, as long as they follow certain parameters.  

“There is a lot of improvisation,” says Patty Lindahl, “which lets the students be creative in their acting.”  She watches the final rehearsal with a calm smile, having full faith in their creative talent.  

Twenty-seven students are involved in the production and have been practicing for only four weeks, though that fact goes largely unnoticed.  A group of Georgia teens playing a large Italian wedding party is a significant accomplishment, one they achieved with flying colors.  Tony is played by John Parson III, while Tina is played by Erica Andrews, an actress who seems to channel Jersey Shore’s “Snooki” in her performance.
 
The show certainly feels like you’ve accidentally stepped foot into a wedding rather than a play. Everything is in a swirl of activity.  Ushers, like Vinnie Black, (played by Hamilton Askew), escort you to your seat in a professional and helpful manner, while the wedding coordinator (Eleanor Bonner) makes it seem as if she really is directing the wedding.  Father Mark (Mack Mothorp) makes a very convincing Catholic priest, officiating with wit and sentiment.  All actors stay in character throughout the presentation, including the realistic DJ, intensely focused videographer, and purple-clad bridesmaids.  

 The Brookwood drama department is very active and will perform eight plays this school year, including “James and the Giant Peach”, “Godspell” (a state competition piece), and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”.  Ken and Patty’s dedication and pride in their students is very evident in their conversation and interaction with the students, and it is clear the students respect them, too.  

There is another showing of “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” Saturday, March 5, at 7:00 pm.  

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The school's next performance will be "You Can't Take It With You", scheduled for March 24 - 26, followed by "Curtains", scheduled for April 28 - 30.  

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