Romance on the high seas of Central Florida
River Cruise Romance
Felicia Thornsbury, Dominic Vitiello, Kari Ringer, Michael Funaro
by Carl F. Gauze
Created by John Didonna
“Dinner Theater” was a big deal for my parents a lifetime ago, and it’s making a slow comeback. Tonight, I sailed the “Rivership Romance” (actually the Barbara-Lee) out of Sanford, Florida. It’s a floating dinner theater featuring an old-school Italian family struggling to get their new-generation kids to match up and reproduce. The bride, Maria DiGeorgio (Felicia Thornsbury) worries and crosses herself, while her groom (Dominic Vitiello) sits on the dock as we pull out. Mom (Kari Ringer) frets over the caterer the while all the confusion is driven by inept wedding planner Feldman. Sam Wetherbee (the father of the bride) frets the cost of this shindig, worrying if it will properly impress his friends. This isn’t just a sexual hookup here, it’s a corporate merger done at NATO peace treaty level.
It takes the captain three passes to get him on board. The groom Sean Derbyshire Chase Williams is late to the dock and almost missed the ship. He sat forlornly on a jetty as The inept captain (Michael Funaro) went around three times to get him onboard. I later learned this groom was cast as late to his own wedding, but actual high winds made his pickup treacherous. That’s realism. Once we are settled in, and underway drinks are served, orders take, and backstory illuminated. It’s all the stress wrought of an over dramatized merger that one would hope for at an old school wedding. But the big surprise is the ending: it all works out.
After the first half of the drama, dinner is served and the cast mingles with the guests. They add color and personal details, and they search out those of us who can safely make a toast without starting a mob war. I was tapped to make that toast; director Didonna and I go back a few shows so he can trust me. Sort of.
Once the food arrives, we dig in, as the swampy waters of Florida pass us by. Birds, jet skis, and gators lurk outside the window, and you can mount an observation deck to get a better view on top of the boat. I had a beautifully clear sky; your meteorology may vary. As we return to the dock, they clean up dessert, the story resolves and the guests are sated. I had a great time, not just because of the script, but the acting crew made everything twice as big as life and just as a good as any wedding should be.
