By Arlene McKanic
No, it’s not “Rachel Getting Married.”
The sister who comes home for her sister’s wedding in Norm Foster’s sweet comedy, “Maggie’s Getting Married,” is a more biddable character than Anne Hathaway’s Kym. The boisterous, stiletto−heeled Wanda (Susan Slotoroff) is the oldest child of the Duncan family, a nice upper middle class bunch led by Tom (Frank Tangredi) and the shrewd and devout Cass (Joan Edward). Maggie (Danielle Miller) is the youngest sister, plainer and more conservative — at least in her love life — than Wanda. When we meet them in the family’s huge kitchen at the Broadhollow Theater in Elmont, she’s less than a day from marrying Russell. Wanda, on the other hand, has brought her latest conquest, Axel, to join the pre−wedding party that’s cheerfully going on somewhere else in the house.
The relationship between these sisters is good now, although Maggie can’t forget how Wanda used to steal her boyfriends in high school. The girls both think this is behind them until Russell waltzes into the kitchen and Wanda, to her immense shock, recognizes him. Didn’t she meet this chap in Las Vegas a few months ago? And then didn’t she sleep with him in a drunken one night stand? Worst of all, he had been engaged to her sister at the time. Wanda, wild as she is, doesn’t want to hurt her sister, but does Maggie not have the right to be told the truth about the creep she’s about to marry?
Don’t worry. “Maggie’s Getting Married” is a comedy, remember, and all’s well that end’s well but, of course, the reviewer won’t tell you just how. The actors take to their roles with brio with Slotoroff standing out as the loud and almost reckless Wanda. Edward is warm and funny as Cass while Miller, in sensible shoes and swotty glasses, is adorable as Maggie. The men are also good, with Tangredi as the girls’ patient, bearish father, Mike Goodwin as the schlubby Axel and Ara Muradyan as the somewhat shy but adoring Russell.
Glen J. Beck directs with an easygoing energy, helped by Joshua Scherr’s set design, Meghan Santelli’s warm lighting and, of course, Foster’s gentle, slightly naughty dialogue. One caveat: the entr’acte music is terrible! There’s Whitney Houston singing “I Will Always Love You,” and Olivia Newton−John’s “I Honestly Love You,” and some others who have thankfully slipped the reviewer’s memory. But all in all, “Maggie’s Getting Married” is a lovely way to spend an evening.
It will be at the BroadHollow Theater at 700 Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont till Jan. 25. Go see it just to see how it turns out!
