The first thing you notice when arriving at Reston Community Players’ production of Four Weddings and an Elvis is that they went all out making Reston Community Center feel like Vegas.
The classic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” hangs over the stage. A cheesy-looking altar (decorated with two neon hearts) holds center stage, and three stained glass windows are mounted up stage. Oh, and two amazing faux-stained-glass images of Elvis Presley frame the sides. The set shows off RCP’s high production values and Director Kimberly Leone’s exceptional talent for stage design. Leone, along with directing, is credited with the set and prop design of a Vegas shotgun wedding venue. This multi-role approach to directing does well for her at RCP. With sound design by Elizabeth Shaher, the pervasive background noise of a far-off casino plays on repeat throughout the play, suggesting that in Vegas, the outside chaos is about to flow onstage.
This chaos that follows for the next two hours is structured in four vignettes, introducing different sets of characters, each with their own absurd reason to want to get married. The hapless owner of the wedding venue, Sandy (played by Lori Brooks, an RCP regular), anchors the scenes as a four-times-married, thrice-divorced woman who doesn’t really seem to be able to keep the soon-to-be-married people in control, or on schedule, when they’re in her business. It’s a weird choice for a career. This is a play where the least “weird” choice is deciding to get married in Vegas — hard quotations because I don’t find anything weird about a Vegas wedding, despite the play’s conceit and the director’s own experience (Leone also married in Vegas, per program notes).
Playwright Nancy Frick is a Pennsylvania-based theatermaker whose Four Weddings… was first produced in New York in 2010. The script could benefit from additional editing, to sharpen and modernize the dialogue and keep some of the vignettes shorter. The jokes, as they’re written, are generally tedious and fall flat past the introduction of the characters. The punch lines for most of the jokes are comments on a character trait (“They’re a convict!” “They’re rich and clueless!” “It’s a little person!”) with the joke repeated ad nauseam. They are TV sitcom jokes, probably imagined with a laugh track during creation.
However, this cast does exceptional work with this material. They have and add fun to the characters, giving them a bit more depth beyond caricature. In their respective vignettes, Kathy Ohlhaber as Fiona gives an energetic performance as an ex-convict falling for charmingly sweet Marvin (Tyler Cook). Fist (Anthony Pohl) serves as a hilarious foil to this couple (then throuple in my headcanon). The soap opera stars, played by Michelle Kritzler and Moses Kutz, provide amusing and exaggerated melodrama to their comedic timing. Emily Dawes as Bev is a sympathetic baseline character for the audience against the only pseudo-villain of the play, Stan (Dan Dymond). And Lou (Scott Strasbaugh of The Little Kingz) and John (Sean Je) really should have been hired to help Sandy out more with the wedding venue as soon as they arrived.
While the play is undeniably a comedy, it also touches on themes of love, forgiveness, and second, third, fourth (oh, come on, fifth??) chances. The variety of characters and situations ensures that there’s something relatable to Reston audiences. This may not be groundbreaking theater, but it doesn’t aim to be. Instead, it’s a fun, feel-good production that allows the audience to laugh and escape for a couple of hours.
Running Time: Two hours and 15 minutes, including one intermission.
Four Weddings and an Elvis plays through February 2, 2025, presented by Reston Community Players performing at Reston Community Center’s CenterStage, 2310 Colts Neck Road in Reston, VA. For tickets ($25–$30), contact the box office at 703-476-4500 x38 or purchase online. CenterStage is accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired.
Four Weddings and an Elvis
By Nancy Frick
Directed by Kimberly Leone
Produced by Weston Weber
CAST
Sandy played by Lori Brooks
Bev played by Emily Dawes
Stan/Producer played by Dan Dymond
John played by Sean Je
Lou played by Scott J. Strasbaugh
Vanessa played by Michelle Kritzler
Bryce played by Moses Kutz
Marvin played by Tyler Cook
Fiona played by Kathy Ohlhaber
Fist played by Anthony Pohl
CREW
Stage Managed by Mai Le
Assistant Stage Managed by Patrick Hammes
Running Crew Chief: Weston Weber
Running Crew: Patrick Hammes, Mai Le, Elizabeth Shaher
Technical Direction by Sara Birkhead
Set Design by Kimberly Leone
Master Carpentry by Dan Widerski
Set Construction Crew: Benjamin Archie, Sara Birkhead, Lina Dajani, Nikko Elliott, Sean Jefferson, Francis Koscieszo, Anna Mintz, Thomas Pulisic, Tim Skjerseth
Scenic Paint Design by Kimberly Leone
Scenic Painting by Jacquelyn Duval & Patrick Hammes
Set Decoration Design by Kimberly Leone
Properties Design by Kimberly Leone
Properties Crew: Sohaila Hamidzada
Lighting Design by Franklin Coleman
Master Electrician: Benjamin Archie
Light Board Operation by Cecilia Hilliard
Master Electrician: Franklin Coleman
Light Board Operation by Benjamin Archie
Sound Design by Elizabeth Shaher
Sound Board Operation by Brian Altmiller
Costume Design by Lisa Leary
Hair & Makeup Design by Kyle Chua
Photography by Heather Regan
Playbill by Liz Colandene & Michael Barret Jones
House Management by Lina Dajani