‘A Catered Affair’ a musical feast on every level at Porchlight Theatre

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"A Catered Affair" at Porchlight Theatre. Rebecca Finnegan (left) and Kelly Davis Wilson star. | BRANDON DAHLQUIST PHOTO

Updated: March 24, 2012 8:35AM

Although more and more people are now living the single life, weddings remain the biggest theatrical event produced and performed by ordinary people. And often, the couple tying the knot are overly manipulated actors, while their parents (in league with pushy party planners) assume the roles of tyrannical directors, designers, marketers, menu planners and producers.

Aggie Hurley (in a fearless, altogether unforgettable portrayal by Rebecca Finnegan) is the fierce principal character in “A Catered Affair,” the 2008 Broadway musical by Harvey Fierstein (book) and John Buccino (music and lyrics) now in a heartwrenching Chicago debut by Porchlight Music Theatre. She is the mother of the bride who observes that the most important thing with a marriage is to “make a good start of it.” Her own wedding ceremony with Tom (Craig Spidle) was a rushed, unglamorous affair, and while the marriage has endured, it is largely joyless. So now she misguidedly hopes to compensate for this (and the favoritism she long showed to her son) by splurging on a big, unaffordable wedding for her daughter, Janey (a wonderfully natural, low-key turn by Kelly Davis Wilson), who wants nothing but a bare-bones City Hall ceremony.

Set in Brooklyn in 1953, “A Catered Affair” is an old-fashioned story (its source is a Paddy Chayevsky teleplay and a subsequent film from the era) about a money-strapped, working class Irish-Catholic family in the Bronx. It is easy to see why the show floundered on Broadway (it lacks any hint of spectacle). But this is precisely what makes it such a triumphant work for Porchlight, where, under Nick Bowling’s skilled direction (and music direction by Doug Peck), it more than compensates for flashy production numbers with intimacy, heart and deeply drawn human relationships.

Aggie and Tom have just returned from a memorial service for their son, who was killed in the Korean War, when Janey announces she is hurriedly marrying Ralph (Jim Deselm), a tenure-track teacher from a wealthier family, so they can honeymoon in California by delivering a friend’s car. Tom, who had hoped to buy out a partner in the taxicab he shares, watches as his life savings are promised to an ever larger, more lavish, conformity-driven, status-seeking wedding party. Meanwhile, Uncle Winston (Jerry O’Boyle), Aggie’s “bachelor” (i.e. “gay”) brother feels both ostracized and empowered by events.

Fierstein’s insistence on creating a subplot around Winston, clearly idevised as a cry for gay marriage, is misguided. It feels jarringly anachronistic in this quintessentially period piece, and at moments threatens to topple it. But Bucchino’s beguiling, emotion-filled score could not be more on point. And Finnegan — who leaves an indelible imprint on this role at every second — delivers a scorching version of “Our Only Daughter,” while Spidle belts out the fearsome anthem “I Stayed,” Wilson enchants with “One White Dress,” and O’Boyle nails “Immediate Family,” a song that says everything just as it would have been said in the 1950s.

The rest of the cast does well, with a superb (only partly visible) onstage orchestra conducted by Elizabeth Doran, an inspired beige-on-beige street scene and interior set design (complete with Romeo and Juliet-like balcony) by Brian Sidney Bembridge, and vintage Eisenhower-era costumes by Bill Morey.

This is a home-cooked rather than catered affair, and a most memorable meal.