‘Pulaski Wedding’ One of a kind
‘Pulaski Wedding’ One of a kind
Written by: Warren Gerds
A pregnant bride in a white gown singing and dancing with her three maids of honor in pretty salmon gowns sets off a sequence of Let Me Be Frank Productions at its vocal best in “My Big Fat Pulaski Wedding.”
Amy Riemer, as the bride, opens the six-song section with the beautifully flowing “You Belong to Me.”
One strong, supple voice after another follows — Joy Rockstroh, Lisa Andre and Kelly Haddad (twice) — and the four end with “Going to the Chapel” with rich harmonies.
This section follows a comic stunt by the band — Pat Hibbard, bass; Dennis Panneck, guitar; Heath Hermans, drums; and Tony Pilz. Imagine songs of the Rolling Stones, such as “Satisfaction,” sung with the real words but played as a zippy polka.
You never know what will happen at a Pulaski wedding that’s set in the ’60s.
On stage, groom (Frank Hermans) has a dream with bizarre couples, the groom’s brother (Austin Rockstroh) hits on one of the bridesmaids, the preacher (Tom Verbrick) is from Texas in part to sing of four women in his life in “All My Ex’s Live in Texas,” and the bride’s mother (Karen Coppersmith) sings “Could I Have This Dance” to the married couple.
In real life, Hermans and Riemer are married and are expecting a son, Harrison, in early June. Coppersmith is Hermans’ mother.
When the show is not being downright silly or earthy, it can touching. It is loaded with love songs, or songs of heartbreak.
Riemer lifts stunning high notes in “I Want to be Where You Are.” Hermans applies an Elvis, gospel style to “You Saw Me Crying in the Chapel.” Hibbard deadpans a lot of off-the-wall humor, and then shows vocal flashes as in “All My Loving.” Austin Rockstroh sometimes shows he’s a troupe newbie but teams nicely with Andre in “Never My Love.”
The four women score big in a “guy song,” The Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
The show name-drops Pulaski names — Zielinski, Ripley, Styczynski and more — for doses of local flavor. Seems there’s an interest. The Friday crowd was twice the size of a normal opening night.
