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I can’t remember when I’ve had a more enjoyable evening. I found myself amongst a great group of people from all over the country to enjoy the show with. The show… my god was it funny.

The moment I walked into the “reception hall” I knew it was going to be a riot. Vinnie Black, Jr.—a greasy, guido of a guy with gaudy rings on every finger, wearing a gold lame jacket–greeted us as we entered. He shook hands and I commented on his jewelry… he replied that he “liked to wear the bling, like all the kids are saying.”

Basically, it’s immersive dinner theater. You’re a character in the show, a guest at the wedding of Anthony Nunzio, Jr., and Valentina Lynn Vitale, two very, very Italian kids with one hell of a lot of baggage. Tony’s Grandmother came by to thank us for coming to the wedding almost as soon as we sat down. She is a cute old lady full of smiles and obviously proud of her Tony. Tony, Sr., joined his mother and thanked as all as well. He, too, was a wonderfully funny stereotype of the proud Italian “faddah.” No chance of him getting married, he told us… “What, do I got stupid written on my forehead?”

The prelude is a lot of improv with the actors circulating among the audience and striking up conversations and introducing themselves. You meet everyone from Tony, the groom, to Tony, Sr’.’s hot stripper girlfriend, Madeline. Once the show actually begins in earnest there’s a whole lot of audience participation, from dancing, and limbo, to conga lines, and the Chicken Dance.

The best part is watching all your friends come out of their shells. The show was great and I can see going back again and again. Yeah, the basics are the same, but there’s so much room for the actors’ to play around that every show has to be a unique experience unto itself.

My only regret was paying attention to the warning not to bring a camera. There were many cameras in the audience, and they made no attempt to hide things. Nor did the cast make any issue out of being photographed, and in fact would stop to pose, guido-style, when they saw you sizing up a shot. I did take a bunch of snaps on my cell phone, but I don’t have a way of transferring them to my computer, and I honestly don’t think any of them are worth keeping anyway… my cellphone takes really crappy pictures.

If you like to laugh, and have a chance to catch the show in any of the eleven cities it plays in, or the national tour, do it. It’s more fun than you can imagine.