Stage Door Theatre: A Taffeta Wedding (reviews)

The Stage Door Theater opened its production of A Taffeta Wedding on December 3, 2010.

It’s 1964 & wedding bells are ringing for our favorite singing sisters, The Taffetas — and YOU're invited as they & their crooning beaus, The Cardigans, swoon and sway to favorite '50s and '60s pop tunes like Who’s Sorry Now, Sincerely and many more  in this nostalgically fun premiere musical about gals and the guys they love, written by Rick Lewis, creator of The Taffetas and A Taffeta Christmas.

Arthur Whitehead directed  a cast that included John Debkowski, Meredith Bartmon, Matt Falber, Rebecca Cesario, Garrett Bruce, Emily Senn, Andrew Oberstein, Chloe Golden Cheyenn Lentz.  Musical direction by Sergio J. Puig, and Musical Staging (choreography?) by Michael Leeds.

Mary Damiano reviewed for The South Florida Theatre Review:

If you’re in the mood for a stroll down a musical memory lane... A Taffeta Wedding, is right up your alley.

It’s hardly worth noting the characters’ names or the performers’ names, because the creators didn’t bother to give them much individuality. The Taffetas, in their pastel color dresses, look like four Jordan almonds in bad wigs. Each Cardigan wears a shirt and shoes that match their Taffeta’s dress...

There are two ingredients that make this corn palatable. The first is that the performers harmonize beautifully. Voices blend into lilting melodies that do justice to the songs, especially The Taffetas... The second is that the show’s creator, Rick Lewis, has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. He’s not afraid of poking pun at the naïveté and gender stereotypes associated with the 1950s.

The most delightful moment... comes courtesy of Cheyenne Lentz... a sweet-voiced tap-dancing dynamo, who exhibits more personality in her rendition of Botch-a-Me than all the Taffetas and Cardigans combined, and practically stopped the show at the Saturday matinee performance.

Roger Martin Reviewed for MiamiArtZine.com:

You can sashay out there and catch A Taffeta Wedding and bam, you're back in the fifties and sixties...  And even if you weren't around then it behooves you to catch A Taffeta Wedding for a little musical education.  It won't hurt.  Promise.

This is a small show, very professionally mounted and, ultimately, simply charming.

A Taffeta Wedding plays at The Stage Door Theatre through January 16, 2011.