If you\u2019re Italian, or love gay humor, or are from New York, this might be the show for you.<\/p>\n
Despite My Big Gay Italian Wedding<\/em> being much more like, if not a high school production then a community college one at best, the opening night audience was very appreciative of it.<\/p>\n The opening night, right after the curtain call. It’s nice that they wanted to include the audience in the pic!<\/p><\/div>\n And that was the best part of the experience to me–seeing how far people have come in their acceptance of homosexuality. All the Italian men in the audience, (both from that actual country and Italian-Americans,) were actually guffawing<\/em> in places! Let me tell you, the ones in Brooklyn I<\/em> grew-up with would have walked-out in the first five minutes!!! And made their wives leave with them!<\/p>\n But here they were, enjoying it all. I, on the other hand, mostly did not. And that\u2019s because almost every member of the big cast overacted so much that it was annoying. They all seemed like it was his or her first time acting, so I was shocked to read in the program that many of them have multiple credits! Some even had already done this very show elsewhere before! Go figure.<\/p>\n Gianfranco Terrin and Linda Nile. Photo by Ian Fisher.<\/p><\/div>\n The problem might lie in the fact that several of them are actually Italian from Italy. Perhaps that over-the-top acting is the way they like it in that country, where even people on the street are dramatic. As a matter of fact, the main dude, Gianfranco Terrin, (who also directed this show, which explains a lot,) reminded me a bit of Roberto Benigni, when he exuberantly climbed over audience members to accept his Oscar in 1999.<\/p>\n Linda Nile, who plays the mother of one of the grooms, is the only one who seems like a real<\/em> actor. She tries her best, while those around her over-act to the max. The worst offenders of that practice are the aforementioned Gianfranco, Serena Limonta as his sister, Salvador Avena as his best bud, and Kevin Clough as the wedding planner. If they took their dramatics down by half<\/em>, it would still be too much. (The program says that several of them studied at the local Lee Strasberg Institute, so if you\u2019re a serious young actor, you might want to avoid that place!)<\/p>\n Gianfranco Terrin and David-Simon Dayan, who did not wear that awful outfit in the show! Photo by Ian Fisher.<\/p><\/div>\n There are two saving graces in the cast, who are both really attractive and good enough in the acting department. My fellow Brooklynite, Tomaso Diblasi, as a \u201cJoey\u201d type of friend, is adorable, and does not overdo\u2014he\u2019s just appropriately cute. And very Brooklyn-y, which most of the characters should<\/em> be.<\/p>\n And I could possibly sit through this entire mess again just to look at David-Simon Dayan, who plays the Polish groom. OMG, is he good-looking! And his looks grew on me even more<\/em> as the night wore on. Interestingly, at intermission, the actors have to wait in the same lines for the rest rooms as the audience<\/em>, which is pretty poor planning for that theatre. So when I arrived in that area, the girl in front of me was grilling David about his previous work. And his heritage<\/em>! And he was absolutely charming to her, answering everything. He\u2019s the one to root for in this whole crazy tale.<\/p>\n The set. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n Outside of those two males, there are few positives to My Big Gay Italian Wedding<\/em>, but at least there are some. The easy little set is one. They quickly turn the same configuration into different locations by simply covering the furniture with different accessories, and that works really well. And the mini-disco ball at the wedding party made even me<\/em> smile!<\/p>\n Also, the many long Italian names that are uttered throughout the show are a riot. And so true to life.<\/p>\n The second act, which is solely the wedding and reception, is soooo much better than Act I, and much shorter, so don\u2019t leave at intermission. And the audience participation in it is a lot of fun. I don\u2019t know if we were supposed to sing along with a classic Italian song in that act, but we all did. And it felt great!<\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/opening-night-copy-2.jpg\")
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