I received tickets to this show in exchange for my honest review.
Hi there!Many of you reading this don't know this about me, but I used to sing. A lot. Wanted to find me on the weekend? Head over to a local theatre and find me in rehearsal! It was a super fun time in my life and I often miss those days. But, thanks to Facebook, I've been able to keep in touch with many of my old theatre friends, many of whom are currently professional actors and singers!
I met Jane D'Arienzo when I was only 17 years old and was cast in my first community theatre production of Little Shop of Horrors. She was the voice of Audrey II. I can't tell you how amazing Jane's voice was to me back then! She was so powerful and soulful!!! And she is currently portraying the role of Rosa Dimini in We Gotta Bingo!
We Gotta Bingo is exactly what its website describes - A "Hilarious, Interactive Theatre Experience"!!!
The premise - Two catholic churches (the Irish St. Patrick's and the Italian St. Dominic's) are merging due to the unfortunate, accidental tearing down of St. Patrick's (by an Italian-owned demolition company. Oops!) They are holding a Bingo event inside a local German Brauhaus (The Brew-Ha-Ha) to raise money for the merging parishes.
The cast of characters is great! I'm going by memory here because there was no actual list in the program.
- There is Rosa, the Italian mother who takes care of everyone at St. Dominic's. She runs the show. (She also "cooked" all the food we enjoyed that night lol!)
- Franny, the daughter of the Brew-Ha-Ha's owner, in her short skirt that Rosa finds disrespectful;
- Tyler, a Bingo expert who just completed his 2nd week at his new job - a Southwest Airlines attendant;
- Jeremy, Rosa's son who is the dyslexic leader of the youth choir;
- Bucky, the celebrity bingo number caller;
- Darla, the newbie number-picker;
and lots of others!
This is how Jeremy wrote out my name tag. Don't forget, he's dyslexic. And yes, everyone wears a name tag!
The show is built around the audience playing bingo. You get real bingo cards and Bucky calls out the numbers. When a member of the audience wins, they get to come up on the stage, are given a (phony and very silly) prize and the winner gets to sit on a throne until a new winner is announced.
In between the games is when the audience interaction really takes place. There are polka breaks where the cast dances with the audience (my mom was chosen twice!), a conga line, a choir composed of audience members sings on stage (my mom and I got participate in this!). A person from each table even serves the food to their table-mates!
My mom and I singing in the choir. I messed up my solo LOL!
Did I say that this is DINNER theatre??? They serve you a meal while you watch! "Rosa" told us she SLAVED in the kitchen to create the meal we were served, which was bruschetta, salad, lasagna and bread.
And, she didn't forget dessert!
I will say, I don't really eat cheese, so I was still hungry when I left, which is no big deal to me because it happens a lot! But my mom seemed to enjoy her food (and this is no small feat).
NOTE - Drinks are NOT included in your meal, but they do have full bar service. It is a cash bar, so make sure you bring money. They don't take Discover - I learned this first-hand. And NBD.
By the end of the show "Bucky" was wasted and the whole cast had basically lost their minds and a lot of seriously funny things were happening in the stage area.
I snapped throughout the entire performance (with permission of course!!!) So if you follow me on SnapChat, then you've seen all of this. If not, you should FOLLOW ME - chellee62001. And now, check out a few snaps I pasted together below.
I LOVED getting to see this show and hopefully I'll be able to make it back with my husband and friends. It's just a really lighthearted, clean kind of fun and I think it's definitely worth the $75 ticket price. DEFINITELY!
So, check out We Gotta Bingo! Buy tickets!!! Tell all your friends!!!
And tell Rosa I sent you.
Until next time,
xoxo
This sounds like such a fun time :) What a great time!!
ReplyDeletexo, Jessica || The Petite Diaries
Sounds like a fun evening! And it's always nice to get dinner with!
ReplyDeleteThis is SUCH a cute thing to do! Will definitely have to keep this in mind.
ReplyDelete