{"id":48910,"date":"2026-05-08T01:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=48910"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:35:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T21:35:49","slug":"multiple-tony-n-tina-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/multiple-tony-n-tina-roles\/","title":{"rendered":"Multiple Tony n\u2019 Tina roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marc Gelmon as the priest in Tony n\u2019 Tina\u2019s Wedding. Gelmon has played several roles in the production, which will be at Legion #179, on Commercial Drive, May 22-23. (photo from Marc Gelmon)<\/em><\/p>\n

The priest is drunk and sleeping it off at our table. The bride is slow dancing with her former boyfriend and the caterer is highly recommending that I eat my bun by dipping it in the chicken sauce. The nun keeps chatting me up and, by now, I\u2019m thinking she has a crush on me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to Tony n\u2019 Tina\u2019s Wedding (TNT)<\/i>, an interactive, comical dinner theatre production starring, among others, Jewish community member Marc Gelmon. The night I attended in April, he was playing the caterer and emcee.<\/p>\n

In one scene, he ran around the large, decorated hall wrapped in an Italian flag. In another, he joked about the 10 things you will never hear from an Italian husband. The almost 100 audience members laughed or groaned in appreciation.<\/p>\n

Gelmon has played several different characters in TNT<\/i>, first with Hoarse Raven Theatre Etc. from about 1995 to 2005 and, in the last year, with Hammer Up Productions. You never know, but he might be playing the priest when you arrive on May 22 or 23 at 6:30 p.m., upstairs at Legion #179 on Commercial Drive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the show\u2019s purpose and for my fun of pretend, I take each role seriously and immerse myself as much as I can into that world and character,\u201d Gelmon told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cIn doing so, I have had many audience members ask if I\u2019m really a priest!\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In real life, Gelmon works in the health sector, including having been a mental health worker. He says that TNT<\/i> does wonders for both his and his audience\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a great way to escape for a few hours amongst the mishigas<\/i> [craziness] that goes on,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s always somewhere to look and someone saying or doing something ridiculous. The cast and production team are all really great people who want nothing more\u00a0<\/span>than to ensure the audience has a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Marc Gelmon as the emcee in Tony n\u2019 Tina\u2019s Wedding. (photo from Marc Gelmon)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gelmon has had many adventures with TNT<\/i>, including one time where the Vancouver Police showed up to break up a pretend altercation between Tina\u2019s ex-boyfriend and the groom and groomsmen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can recall when we\u2019d have the\u00a0<\/span>final fight scene and, at that time, we ran outside the restaurant, and around to where there were these big windows, so audience members could see us outside against the windows in this fight. I\u2019m aware of at least two times when the VPD happened to be in the vicinity and ran after us to stop the \u2018fight.\u2019 We also had an audience member decide to strip during the end of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incidents like this are rare, though, Gelmon insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experiences with both shows have been really wonderful. Michael Fera and Tanja Dixon-Warren were the first ones to bring Tony n\u2019 Tina\u2019s<\/i> to Vancouver and they gave me the room to grow and develop as a performer, as well as becoming lifelong friends. I hold them in the highest\u00a0<\/span>esteem, as they have been a source of love and support for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cDirector and producer Jeff Laurin has taken this production and infused it with his love, care and devotion,\u201d Gelmon continued. \u201cPlus, our stage manager, Chell\u00e9 Tanner, and the loving and funny cast have really made this second time around so good for my soul!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gelmon said he has been influenced by watching actors on SNL<\/i> and SCTV<\/i>. His favourite comics\u00a0<\/span>today include Gary Gulman, Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman and Gianmarco Soresi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are my favourite comics because they\u2019re all really smart, make me laugh, especially Gary Gulman, and they all talk about their Jewish experiences, and I love that,\u201d said Gelmon, whose big break was performing in the children\u2019s play Puss in Boots<\/i> at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in 1994, where he played a lord and the king\u2019s assistant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was absolutely terrified, as this was my first actual play and I had two parts in it,\u201d he said. \u201cAll I can tell you is that I loved it. I loved the costumes, makeup, being on stage, and camaraderie. That gave me a bit of confidence that I was really lacking, when I saw an advert in the Georgia Straight<\/i> for Tony n\u2019 Tina\u2019s Wedding.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

Gelmon also loves the stories of Yiddish theatre and how many people in the early days of music, theatre and TV were often Jewish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always feel that I have a Jewish sensibility to life and that always adds to my performance, even when playing a Catholic priest!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Gelmon has been part of a few different community events.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m most proud of participating in the Hanukkah convoy, which I first heard about over Facebook a few years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cI am not someone who people know I\u2019m Jewish unless I tell them, so this was a great feeling of pride to drive, alongside many other cars, with these big electric menorahs\u00a0on the tops of our cars, driving through downtown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I did this, the folks at Chabad let me keep the menorah on my car for the remainder of the holiday. At that time, I was working at an elementary school and the teachers loved it, and a couple asked me to come and talk about Hanukkah to their classes. Also, someone left a note on my car. At first, I was worried, but then I read it and smiled. Whoever wrote the note described being thankful for seeing other people\u2019s traditions and it made them feel good to see the menorah on the roof of my car.\u201d<\/p>\n

TNT<\/i> runs for close to four hours, so you might want to bring a cushion if you have a sensitive tush like mine. If you have mobility issues, you can sit on the legion\u2019s stairlift all the way to the festivities. Dress up and put on your dancing shoes because you are going to a wedding!<\/p>\n

For tickets, go to linktr.ee\/Tntweddingshowvancouver<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cassandra Freeman<\/b> is a Vancouver storyteller and improviser.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marc Gelmon as the priest in Tony n\u2019 Tina\u2019s Wedding. Gelmon has played several roles in the production, which will be at Legion #179, on Commercial Drive, May 22-23. (photo from Marc Gelmon) The priest is drunk and sleeping it off at our table. The bride is slow dancing with her former boyfriend and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[24843,22421,6208,24842,3251],"class_list":["post-48910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-dinner-theatre","tag-marc-gelmon","tag-theatre","tag-tony-n-tinas-wedding","tag-weddings"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}