MY BIG GAY ITALIAN CHRISTMAS Comes to Atlantic City in December

It's a big gay weekend in Atlantic City onFriday, Dec, 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. in Sounds Waves Theater at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.  That’s when "My Big Gay Italian Christmas" takes the stage as the third Anthony J. Wilkinson theatrical production since his Hard Rock Atlantic City residency began in early 2024.  The show made its original debut in December of 2017 and has played numerous locations across the country during several holiday seasons.  

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased at HardRockHotelAtlanticCity.com,Ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.  All shows are subject to change.

The follow up to the Big Gay Italian Trilogy, (My Big Gay Italian Wedding, My Big Gay Italian Funeral, My Big Gay Italian Midlife Crisis) Wilkinson has created a Christmas show designed specifically to play for the holiday season. The Big Gay Italian Christmas is a theatrical lasagna made up of a bisexual love triangle, political conversations gone spoiled, a variety of over the top characters and the snow storm of the century.

Fan favorite characters Anthony Pinnunziato (Wilkinson), Angela Pinnunziato (Mariann Felice) and Aunt Toniann (Debra Toscano) are present for the holiday gathering, as is Anthony's crazy sister Maria (Alexa Harris). There will be some new characters like Cousin Josephine (Meagan Robar), Victorio Buccatini (Taso Mikroulis) and Olivia Buccatini (Kim Pirrella).  Former cast members Marta Lefsky (Sister Fonzina) and Geri Rosetti (Sister Fabiana) will be making their return while Hard Rock Atlantic City’s Executive Director of Player Development James McMackin (Sergeant Joe Watson),Vice President of Player Development Shannon Rivard, (Doctor Gloria Sampson), Director of Player Development Diane Brown, (Sister Fedora), and Player Development Executive Helena Penza, (Sister Francesca), will make their encore returns.   The show will be directed and general managed by Robert Levinstein of 22Q Entertainment.

“My Big Gay Italian Christmas” Based on Two Decades of Series Success

In 2003, Wilkinson’s original production of “My Big Gay Italian Wedding” opened off-Broadway at the Actor’s Playhouse and later moved to Theatre Four in the spring of 2004. The restaged production debuted in 2009 at the St. George Theatre to rave reviews prompting an explosive revival on Restaurant Row with a fully out Equity cast in 2010. The run was expected to last six weeks but wound up extending 14 times in the same location.

Born and raised in New York, Wilkinson began his career as an Intern Writer at ABC Daytime’s “One Life To Live,” working his way up to the position of Associate Director for which he earned 11 nominations and three Daytime Emmy Awards and was a two-time recipient of the Directors Guild of America Award. In 2017, Wilkinson was cast in the Soap Opera “Tainted Dreams,” which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Wilkinson is currently employed by Woodbridge Township, where he has served as the Executive and Artistic Director of the Avenel Performing Arts Center for the last seven years.

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