Benicia Unified School District would like to invite you to a wedding— “Virgil’s Wedding,” that is.

This week, audiences will be treated to a performance of Eddie McPherson’s Southern comedy at Benicia Middle School for a dinner theater fundraiser. However, the union depicted in “Virgil’s Wedding” is not the only marriage that attendees will stand witness to, as the production itself is a marriage of the drama programs at BUSD’s elementary, middle and high schools.

“Virgil’s Wedding” is the first show to be performed by the Benicia Unified Players, a theater collective consisting of student actors at all three levels in Benicia schools. Under the direction of elementary school drama teacher Nikki Tillotson, Benicia Middle School drama teacher Cathy Wright and Benicia High School drama teacher Nathan Day, the group pulls students together from all of the schools to perform and help raise money for art programs at the schools currently in need.

“We saw the need for a united dramatic arts program connecting K-12 grade students,” Tillotson and Wright said in a joint statement. “Each school has a drama program, but each school needs resources. We decided that if students joined together to entertain an audience, they could use the ticket revenue to ‘play it forward’ to whatever school had needs.”

Last year, Robert Semple Elementary School hosted a dinner theater fundraiser titled “Death By Dessert,” which utilized the talents of three of Benicia’s elementary schools as well as the middle school. The proceeds benefited Semple’s Art Day this year.

This year, the Benicia Unified Performers will act in “Virgil’s Wedding,” the farcical tale of a wedding planner named Ms. Delanie who is hired to coordinate a wedding for Virgil Sludge and Margaret Hooper, two of the most famous lovebirds in Lickskillit, Miss. If the wedding is successful, Ms. Delanie will receive a promotion, but her confidence is tested by the many colorful characters who attend the wedding.

Wright and Tillotson said the play was chosen to accommodate a large cast but mainly because the show itself is funny. Really funny.

How funny? The teachers describe it as having “a New York City wedding coordinator trying to impress her boss with her classy ideas, a lost lizard, a couple in love and a host of characters straight out of ‘Doc Hollywood.’”

Even amid the wild comedy, Wright and Tillotson believe audiences will also take to the endearing, relatable nature of the supporting characters.

“The audience will find a family member or friend in every character on stage,” they said.

The setup of the show is not unlike “Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding,” in that the characters will be in the audience to make the audience feel like they are a part of the play. Students from the secondary schools— namely Benicia Middle’s advanced drama class and Benicia High’s Improv team— will portray the main cast and greet and seat audience members in character. Likewise, members of the Improv team will portray the bluegrass jug band A Drop in the Bucket and perform music in the corner. Finally, members of the after-school drama programs at the elementary schools will wait on tables and serve food from the four-course dinner menu, which features such Southern favorites as pulled pork sliders, Smokey Mountain macaroni and cheese, corn bread with honey butter, grilled squash, black-eyed peas, coleslaw, peach cobbler with cream, and coffee or sweet tea. After the show, a barn dance will be held, so audience members are encouraged to kick up their boots and grab a partner as A Drop in the Bucket serenade the crowd.

The funds from the program will raise money for a new sound system at Benicia Middle School, which Wright said is currently lacking at the school.

“There is no permanent sound system,” she said. “We have a portable mixer with a few mics. The MP Room has horrible acoustics, so our actors struggle to be heard. We need to wire the room for sound, and put in a sound booth like the high school theater has.”

“A system is thousands of dollars, and has always been just beyond our budget,” Wright added.

In addition to just being a fun time for all involved, Wright and Tillotson hope the combination of actors at different grade levels can create a mutual learning experience for everyone.

“Older students are gaining just as much as the younger ones,” they said. “They have to adjust and use different tactics to accommodate younger, less experienced actors. And the younger students are having to take direction and guidance from older actors. It’s beautiful to see.”

“Virgil’s Wedding” will be performed at 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6; and 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 7 at Benicia Middle School, located at 1100 Southampton Road. The Friday and Saturday shows will feature the dinner, dane and games in addition to the play, while Sunday show will just consist of the play. Audience members are encouraged to dress “country casual.” Tickets are $45 for the Friday and Saturday shows— including the dinner— and $10 for the Sunday show and can be purchased at bms.beniciaunified.org through the school’s Web Store. For more information, call 747-8340.