Theater Virgin Plans a Big Wedding
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When the production opens on May 13, Tomaska hopes to attract as many as 225 people per performance, at a hefty $45 to $55 a ticket, to witness the staged nuptials and join in the subsequent dancing and dinner of lasagna, salad, and wedding cake. He is mounting the show with the help of 20 investors, mostly from New York and Chicago, who could get back their investment in as few as ten weeks if the show plays to capacity early in its open-ended run. Investors in the original production, which has been running in New York for more than five years, have made a 900 percent profit on their ante. A Los Angeles production ran for two and a half years, and a Philadelphia production lasted three.
Tomaska has seen Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding scores of times in other cities, he says, because he relates to events in the show and finds them funny. But of course his own love for the show won’t necessarily bring huge crowds to see it in Chicago. Unlike most productions that enjoy profitable runs here, Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding has neither a well-publicized Broadway pedigree nor well-known Hollywood stars to attract the occasional theatergoer. Tomaska is counting on “the experience” of the show to hook local audiences. “Sixty percent of the people who see the show are repeat customers,” he explains, “and many like to come in groups.” Tomaska’s marketing department initially intends to target conventioneers and weekend visitors to the city. As an example of a show whose success he would like to match, Tomaska points to Shear Madness, which has been running in Chicago for more than a decade. But its producers, Bruce Jordan and Marilyn Abrams, readily admit their production’s huge success here was due in large measure to a subtle combination of luck, unrelenting marketing, good word of mouth, and reasonable ticket prices. Abrams and Jordan also benefited from having produced the show in Boston first.
Last week the Lakeside Group, which annually presents the troubled Chicago International Art Exposition, underwent another major administrative shake-up. Judith Racht, director of the upcoming Art Expo, abruptly left the organization. Mark Lyman also relinquished his position as executive director of Lakeside, though he will continue to oversee its annual New Art Forms Exposition. Lyman said he made his move because of disagreements with Lakeside founder John Wilson about several issues, including control of Art Expo. He had assumed the executive director position just last September, when Thomas Blackman left Lakeside to start his own competing art fair. Wilson’s daughter Laurie has been appointed Art Expo’s new director.
