A quiet moment At The Wedding (Photos by Matthew Tippins)
By Britin Haller
Anyone who has been invited to, and maybe even attended, the wedding of an ex-love knows how emotional and triggering the event might be. On the one hand, if you remained friends, you will want to be there in person to wish your former partner the best that life can offer, on the other hand, seeing them happy could bring up insecurities as to why you weren’t good enough, or why your relationships always seem to fail, or why everyone gets to be happy but you.
Or as in the case of Carlo, a woman whose ex-girlfriend Eva is getting married to a man in At the Wedding now playing at the Island City Stage, it’s all of the above, and then some. Carlo is hoping Eva will say “I don’t” instead of “I do.” To say Carlo is having a hard time with these nuptials is an understatement. Suffering a personal crisis is more like it.
And therein is where the comedy lies.
Carlo didn’t RVSP as she decided at the last minute to show up, but she is definitely no wallflower. Her interactions with the other wedding guests, a server, and the bride, are the crux of the show and are both humorous at times and heartbreaking at others. The role of the multi-layered Carlo is an actor’s dream to play.
As Carlo, Hannah Benitez portrays a walking disaster. She’s the wedding guest from hell who drinks too much, cries too much, and tries to break up Eva’s marriage before the honeymoon even gets started. “I feel like I’ve been invited to your lobotomy. Why did you want me here if not to save you?” Carlo asks Eva at one point.
We don’t know how much time has gone by since their break-up, but it clearly feels fresh and raw to Carlo. Benitez does a fine job portraying the angst of teetering on the uncertainty wire, and her monologue about the birth and death of relationships (that’s directed to the kids at the children’s table where she was assigned to sit when showing up unexpected) is a hoot.
As the blushing bride, Eva, Sheena O. Murray exudes compassion for her former lover. And what a beautiful bride she is, simply glowing from head to toe. Murray’s impassioned speech to Carlo on the seductiveness of living a boring life rings true.
Eva’s mother, Maria, is played for laughs by the always steady, award-winning Elizabeth Price. Maria is not too happy for a number of reasons, including her ex-husband is in attendance with the new woman in his life, and her boyfriend has E. coli and therefore she’s flying solo. Any actor will tell you (even Foster Brooks) that playing a believable drunk is not easy, but as Maria gets more and more inebriated, Price proves once again why she’s one of the best South Florida has to offer, maintaining complete control of her body while pretending to be losing it.
Best Actor Carbonell Award-winner Timothy Mark Davis appears as Eli, a guest who is about to do the world’s dumbest thing, hijack this wedding with a proposal of his own to his partner, who unbeknownst to him will likely turn him down. Will Carlo be able to talk him out of it is the question. “It’s a dark night of the soul for you, and you don’t even know it,” Carlo tells him. Eli is a high school English teacher who spouts literary references, and who is much more thoughtful of a person than he initially lets on. As a man who desperately wants to be loved, Davis delivers a solid performance.
Sandi Stock appears as Leigh, a guest who takes a liking to Carlo. Their fantasy sequence imagining what the two of them would do if they snuck out of the reception together is a highlight, as is their conversation at the gift table.
Steven Guez is making his Island City Stage debut. Guez is a former finalist in the National Shakespeare Competition, and in a role The Bard himself could have created, Guez steals the show as Victor the flamboyant server and comic relief. Guez’s physical slapstick is spot-on, especially his hysterical bit with a wedding cake.
But it’s Hannah Hayley as Carly the bridesmaid (yes, there’s a Carlo and a Carly) who stole our heart. Hayley, also appearing on the Island City boards for the first time, has a day job as a character princess, and it’s easy to see why. Bridesmaid Carly casts a lovely image, with gorgeous hair and make-up, and is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside, particularly when she comforts an undeserving Carlo who has been nothing but snide to her, not just during this reception, but probably since they were first introduced years ago.
Thanks to Ardean Landhuis, the set has a barn-like vibe with wood siding, hay bales in a loft, and sliding partition doors that are used cleverly, especially when mimicking a bathroom stall. Sashes with white lights, and stunning floral displays, add to the ambiance. The lighting is subtle, but noticeable, as it goes from normal to muted and subdued (they are not the same), and obvious as when the disco ball comes out during Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” because it has to. After all, what’s a wedding without a disco ball?
Most of the costumes by W. Emil White are not what you would expect at a wedding, but then again, it is being held in a barn. Eva’s headdress is lovely, as is Carly’s peach bridesmaid’s gown with a matching neck sash. This combo is actually so pretty it could be worn for an evening on the town. Eli’s loud floral shirt is quite a vibe. Traditional songs you might hear at a wedding (“Celebration” anyone?) are played at just the right volume thanks to sound guy David Hart. And who wrapped all those presents for the happy couple because they’re stunning.
It must be tricky as a director to take a show whose subject is so painful and play it as a comedy, but Andy Rogow is up to the task. By interspersing the drama with silly scene-breaks, (choreographed perfectly by Greg Schuh), Rogow hits the right note. And even though this reviewer didn’t laugh as much, or as loud, as many others in the audience did, we all process differently, and that doesn’t make our enjoyment any less.
But it’s only when Eli tells Carlo the story of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s classic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, that we realize the theme here is way deeper than we were giving it credit for. Major props to playwright Bryna Turner, who turns what has been an atypical rom-com up until this moment into a brilliant lesson on the importance of letting go of that which no longer serves us; that proverbial albatross around our necks.
For English instructor Eli, it’s a clear case of novelist Richard Bach’s famous quote, “We teach best what we most need to learn.”
So while At the Wedding is full of classic bridal tropes, and it didn’t wrap exactly up the way we wanted it to, we definitely say “I do” to breaking out your ‘70s pink tuxedo shirt, or that hideous bridesmaid’s dress you swore to never wear again, and do the bunny hop down to the Island City Stage before the last handful of rice is thrown.
At the Wedding premiered off-Broadway in 2022, and after accolades such as being chosen as a New York Times Critic’s Pick, it has since played to theaters around the country. This is its South Florida premiere.
At the Wedding runs through September 14 at Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors (south of Oakland Park Blvd.); Thurs at 7 p.m.; Fri-Sat at 8 p.m.; Matinees Sat at 2 p.m and Sun at 5 p.m.; A Mimosa Sunday Brunch August 31 and a Women’s Night at the Theatre September 7. Running time approx. 75 minutes with no intermission. Tickets start at $43. Call 954-928-9800 or visit islandcitystage.org.
Britin Haller is a journalist, editor-for-hire, and an author who serves on the board of directors for the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. As a celebrity wrangler, Brit regularly rubbed elbows with movie stars, sports stars, and rock stars, and as a media escort, she toured with New York Times bestselling authors.
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