The Winters Theatre Company will be performing “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” as their spring dinner production this year and will be running the full weekend May 5 through May 7.

“This is an audience participation play in which members of the cast will interact with the audience who are guests at the wedding,” the event’s press release explained. “As the festivities get underway, guests will meet the wedding party, their families and their friends.”

There will be three performances with doors opening at 6:15 p.m. and the show beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. and the show begins at 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 7.

The release explained that Tina, the bride, works two jobs.

“She is a barista during the day and a bartender by night,” the release stated. “She and Tony grew up in the same neighborhood in New York’s Lower East Side, Little Italy. But they didn’t meet till they were older. She spilled espresso on him. He came back for more.”

Tony, the groom, is a “jack of all trades” who grew up in his father’s business The Animal Kingdom — a strip joint.

“He now manages the club,” the release explained. “Tina is not happy about this. Tony has other talents as a skilled mechanic, he could work anywhere. But his father’s plan would be for Tony to take over the Animal Kingdom.”

The theater company said all friends and family are welcome to join them for a “genuine Italian wedding at the Palms Playhouse.

“The Italian food will impress,” the release emphasized. “The ziti pasta with spicy marinara sauce, grilled vegetables, salad, Italian bread and grilled tri-tip will all be to die for.”

Tickets for the show are $45 for the dinner and wedding and a no-host bar will also be available.

For tickets, visit eventbrite.com/e/tony-n-tinas-wedding-tickets or winterstheatre.org for more information.

Winters Theatre Company

The Winters Theatre Company was founded in 1980 by Linda Glick and several colleagues.

The theater was based in the town’s community center that at the time had “dirt floors in the kitchen” and had “no bathroom stalls in the bathroom so it was just sort of becoming a building,” Glick recalled in an April 2022 interview.

She argued that having to shut down the theater due to the COVID-19 pandemic came as a huge shock to the theater community, particularly because the opening for “The Miracle Worker” was meant to be the day stay-at-home orders were issued by the state.

“The cast, the producer and the tech people would rehearse almost weekly throughout the pandemic for ‘The Miracle Worker’ and they were all set to go,” she explained. “It was just a real deflation when we finally came to terms and said ‘no, we’re really not going to be able to do this now.’”

In order to keep the theater company busy, Glick said they did some online events and shows that incorporated Zoom and socially distanced filming outdoors to create fun entertainment for the Winters community during lockdown.

“It was funky but it worked,” she said. “We did a lot of mistakes along the way… but we have stellar singers and really talented people so everybody pulled it off.”

The theater company held its first in-person show — Spring Fling Popup — since the start of the pandemic last April at the Winters Opera House.

Glick said that it was very exciting to put people back on stage because it let the community know that they were still there and they were going to continue on.

She also noted that live shows are a great opportunity to recruit new members, especially because some crew members chose to leave the theater company due to the pandemic.

“I know that there’s interest out there and I know that there are people who are excited about being involved and engaged in the group,” she stressed.

When speaking about the future of the theater company, Glick emphasized the importance of being committed to the community and bringing in members that represent the people who live in Winters.

“There’s a whole Hispanic community out there that we just haven’t really been able to engage in a way that we’re really satisfied with,” she highlighted.

She also stressed the importance of being able to offer the opportunity to be a part of the company without needing to pay a lot of money.

“We want to be able to provide theater, drama, dance and all performing arts to kids in our community,” she said. “Those are very important to us to try to be able to provide for them. We don’t have paid staff so we can’t afford to do that but it would all be through volunteer effort.”

If interested in donating to the Winters Theatre Company, visit winterstheatre.org/donate-to-the-winters-theatre-company.