LAKEVIEW — Actor Rory Zacher has been getting married every weekend for the past five months as the groom in "Tony n' Tina's Wedding," an interactive musical comedy where audience members are guests at a big, disastrous Italian wedding.
But last weekend was a little bit different.
That's because on Sunday, Zacher got married in real life, and just in time for the one-year anniversary of "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" relaunching in Chicago.
"My one rule when I was planning the wedding with my fiancee Kelly was, anything that happens in the show, we were not going to do in our actual wedding," Zacher said with a laugh.
The story of Zacher and his fiancee, Kelly La Banco, doesn't start off a love story. The two are both from Northbrook, both graduated from Glenbrook North High School in the same class and both knew of one another back then, but they didn't connect romantically until after college when they ran into each other at a party in Chicago.
At the party, Zacher told La Banco he lived in Los Angeles, and she told him she was thinking of moving there. About six months later, Zacher got a call from her saying she had arrived, and the two formed a friendship.
"She is and was so much fun to hang out with, and she had a knack for getting us into great parties and concerts," Zacher said. "She was more hip to the scene in two weeks than I was after six years in L.A."
The two started dating and eventually moved in together. Zacher pursued acting, and La Banco worked as a makeup artist. When they started to burn out from L.A., they moved back to Chicago.
For the past year, Zacher has acted in "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding," first as a sleazy groomsman named Dominic Fabrizzi, and later as the groom himself, Tony. La Banco handles social media for the show and still works as a makeup artist for weddings and other special events, as well as for high-profile national events like the Grammy Awards.
Zacher thought for a long time that their love story didn't start until they reconnected at that party after college, but as it turns out, it began for La Banco way back in high school.
"Kelly later admitted to having a slight crush on me [in high school], and on our graduation night we had a school lock-in where we stayed in the school overnight with food, games and activities, and one of the things we did was a time capsule that would be opened on our 10-year reunion," Zacher said. "One of the questions was, 'Who did you always want to ask out but never did?' After we started dating, Kelly told me that she put my name on there."
Zacher didn't believe her until he attended the 10-year reunion with La Banco and saw the note in the time capsule himself.
"I still joke to her that all her dreams have now come true, and she politely laughs," Zacher said. "While I have been in a wedding every weekend for almost a year, I am still very excited to get married to Kelly. It's funny that she's Italian, too, so I am marrying my very own Tina, in a way."
"Tony n' Tina's Wedding" opened in Manhattan in 1985 and moved to off-Broadway shortly thereafter. The interactive musical comedy improv show ran for more than 20 years, and it has been presented in more than 150 cities worldwide.
The show came to Chicago in the 1990s and ran for 16 years here, and last September it was re-launched with the ceremony taking place at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 3309 N. Seminary Ave., and the reception at Chicago Theater Works, 1113 W. Belmont Ave.
"Tony n' Tina's Wedding" runs every weekend, but a special performance is coming up: On Saturday, Sept. 30, guests can experience the "Tony n' Tina's One-Year Anniversary performance" celebrating the anniversary of the show's re-launch in Chicago. Guests can take advantage of buy one, get one half off tickets using the code BOGO50, plus a complimentary slice of Eli's Cheesecake and a flower from Dilly Lily.
