The point of making an elaborate dinner theater performance which looks and feels like an actual wedding is to get everyone in the same room, having a shared experience. But unlike a real wedding, where attendees all share a connection to the couple, our audience is there because of a shared connection to this place. The bride and groom—Hardwick and Greensboro incarnate—demonstrate how difficult it can be to come together across differences, even when we literally live next door to each other. But the reason they are trying to build a union, in spite of disapproval and discouragement, is because of love—the unplanned, inconvenient, unasked for romantic connection!

And so, our sprawling, chaotic, and sparklingly epic evening of theater invites participants to do all the things we can do when we get together in person—perform ceremonies, commit to each other, eat cake, dance, sing, embarrass ourselves, drink, fight, kiss, and make speeches. We are asking our audience to reconsider what is meant by romance, and how it might belong in our daily community interactions, not just our special occasions. 

The dictionary definition of romance is “a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life.” It’s the feeling that the Civic Standard tries to bring into all our events and programs. Unnecessary delight, unexpected generosity, beauty, fun, and thoughtful small gestures. Let us woo and court each other for no good reason at all. Let’s party together in spite of our disagreements. Let’s raise a glass, whatever is in it, to romance! To love! To Taylor and Aspen and the place that made them!