One Woman Show: ‘The Wedding Warrior’ in Islamorada

One Woman Show: ‘The Wedding Warrior’ in Islamorada - A girl is sitting in the grass - Girl

By Theresa Java

Casey Dressler, a.k.a. the Wedding Warrior, will preview her play, “The Wedding Warrior,” this weekend in Islamorada. The local woman wrote the play and will also star.

Casey is a Keys kid, she was born and raised in Islamorada and graduated Coral Shores High School in 2001. She’s held a few jobs down here, namely the Pink Junktique but she attributes her love of acting to the time when she was working at Anthony’s Italian Restaurant, where Denny’s is now in Key Largo. She worked there from the time she was 14 well into her 20’s. Her ability to do different dialects and accents comes from meeting people all over the world who dined there and especially her former boss, Anthony Colarusso, who recently passed.

“Anthony was from the Bronx. He was so funny, bigger than life. We had a lot of fun together,” said Dressler.

Now, Casey works full-time in performing arts in South Florida. Of course, the entire show is based on her experiences wedding coordinator in her hometown of Islamorada.

“The Wedding Warrior” is based on playwright and performer, Casey Dressler’s time working as a wedding planner. Better off wed? That is just one of the questions Casey poses as she passes the torch to an incoming wedding coordinator in this uplifting, comedic peek into the chaos that ensues before vows are taken.

The preview of the play is a pretty big deal. “The Wedding Warrior” and Casey have already been booked for the New York Fringe Festival in August and the Chicago Fringe Festival in early September. The selection process is rigorous — judges choose from thousands of submissions, whittling the field to 200.

Currently, Dressler is working on a new, full-length play — “Fat Cat Carwash.”

“It’s going to be a comedy set in the Keys. I’m inspired by the Keys, it’s such a unique place and there is so much beauty,” Dressler said. “I put my whole heart into everything I do.”

See ‘The Wedding Warrior’ Friday to Sunday, July 29-31 @ 7 p.m. at The Florida Keys History & Discovery Center at The Islander Resort at MM 82. Tickets are $25 at www.theweddingwarriorplay.com or by phone 305-879-7282.

 “Casey Dressler’s solo show … as a single, love-shy wedding coordinator in the Keys, is a gem. Dressler’s play has heart, soul and lots and lots of laughs.” — Mary Damiano, theater critic   

FUN FACT: Casey Dressler recently made her SAG debut in an Italian commercial with Bruce Willis.