Wedding, reception – “Joey and Maria’s Wedding” to benefit Winthrop Community Access Television

For years, the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with the staff and volunteers at Winthrop Community Access Television (WCAT) to help ensure that the Chamber’s civic programs and events are brought to the larger population of the community.

Now, the Chamber is turning its attention toward helping WCAT.

On Friday, February 26, the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce will present a one night only performance of the popular dinner theater comedy, “Joey and Maria’s Wedding.”

“We’re very excited to have it coming here and we’re getting a great response from people who have already purchased tickets,” explained Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eric Gaynor. “It’s great to be having it here in town, because it will kind of be like going to a wedding where your friends and neighbors will also be in attendance.”

The well-known and often performed dinner theatre production, has scripted performers inter-mingling with the audience, who are all seated at dinner tables as if they are actually at a large family wedding. Tickets to attend the show also include the cost of dinner, which is served during the performance.

“WCAT has been very supportive of the Chamber of Commerce over the years, so we decided that this would be a good way to repay them for all they’ve done for our organization,” said Gaynor.

According to Gaynor, the Chamber is paying for the entire cost of the production, managing ticket sales, promoting the event, etc. All proceeds raised from the performance will go directly to help WCAT purchase new equipment.

“We’re thinking that if we sell out, we’ll be able to help them buy a couple of new cameras, which they could really use, so that would be good,” added Gaynor.

Tickets for the show, which will be presented at the Winthrop Yacht Club, cost just $45 per person, which is about $10 off the normal ticket price charged by the production company. However, this charitable endeavor has not been without some negative backlash. The production has in recent years come under fire by Italian/American organizations, which have criticized the comedy for promoting negative stereotypes about Italian/Americans. Gaynor noted that the Winthrop Sons of Italy Chapter has expressed similar sentiments about the upcoming production. However, he noted that the production is a comedy, which purposely exaggerates those stereotypes for comic value.