Dinner theatre wows audiences, improv moments highlight show

#Dinnertheatre #wowsaudiences #improv
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“When a fight broke out, people would say, 'Oh, it's really like a Sault wedding,'” says director Marc Beaudette, who is very pleased with how this week's production of ART's Tony and Tina Wedding is going. The cast of Tony n' Tina's Wedding wowed audiences at the Machine Shop this week. 1 1 The cast of Tony n' Tina's Wedding wowed audiences at the Machine Shop this week. Sault's biggest and perhaps most chaotic "wedding" of the year came to a dynamic end on Saturday evening, but it seems that demand for dinner theater has only just begun. Algoma Repertory Theater's production, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, filled the Machine Shop Wednesday through Saturday this week, with hundreds of guests at Sault Ste. Maria circa 1985. Even though the show had a script, the production proudly stood out for its unscripted moments and countless side talks. Members of wedding party made an effort to interact with guests throughout the entire evening, and some even invited attendees to join them on dance floor. ART co-director Marc Beaudette, who is bringing back food theater for first time since pre-pandemic, was impressed with way show was going and says performances are only getting better as days go by. “It went really well - we were very happy,” he says. “Wednesday was our first night with an audience and the actors were really great. But as the next nights passed, they magnified it and began to talk to people more comfortably.” "The beauty of show was these little moments that the actors created together with bosses and kept everything moving forward." Expected to find a balance between sticking to the script and improvising when appropriate, the actors stayed in character for more than four hours, four days in a row. For Beaudette, it would be an understatement to call it a challenge. "A few have played mysteries before, but they're nowhere near the scale of this series," he says. "Asking them is a very daunting task." “But each one was brave enough to embrace the process and risk themselves to do something new. Each one stepped out of the park. The director states that show wouldn't have been as successful without all live music, thanks to members of Wyld Stallyns, who acted as 'Fusion' band throughout night and provided countless hits from '80s. “The Wild Stallyns were very dynamic and they added a lot more than just the music,” Beaudette says. ” Beaudette says feedback from community each night is truly touching, and guests particularly enjoyed eavesdropping on conversations between actors throughout evening. “Everyone really enjoyed it,” he says. "When a fight broke out, people would say, 'oh, it's really like a Sault wedding.' Almost everyone said they didn't know what to expect." “A woman reached out to us who said they had seen the show in Toronto and thought the cast here was 10x better.” The director also set the stage for the venue to do its part. “The machine shop was great,” he says. “The food was like dynamite and the serving staff fit the show without missing a beat. The view from that room was magnificent.” Beaudette sees an opportunity to increase momentum of the show and says she and her assistant director Kara Colynuck will consider more food theater productions in future. “I definitely think we're going to re-establish that,” he says. "It's a pretty complex show and it's difficult, but now that we've done it, it gets easier." "What I'd like see we can do is find a place where we can maybe do it every Friday and Saturday night during tour train season or the boating season, and get tourists to come see it."