But considering the track record of many celebrity couples, that's something to be proud of. The acting-and-writing team will celebrate their 42nd anniversary as husband and wife later this year. Westmoreland Cultural Trust couldn't have picked a better couple to kick off its "Marriage and Music Series" at the Palace Theatre than Taylor and Bologna, who focus on their four decades together in their comedy stage show, "If You Ever Leave Me, I'm Going with You!
" The show had a two-month run on Broadway in 2001. Since then, the couple have been touring with the production in between other projects. "This is our baby now.
It's so personal to us," Bologna says. "If You Ever Leave Me" is a compilation of anecdotes, film clips, and presentations of segments from some of the plays and movies the two have co-written, which include "Lovers and Other Strangers," "It Had to Be You," "Acts of Love and Other Comedies" and "Bermuda Avenue Triangle." The stage show also includes a video segment from the couple's wedding reception, which was televised on the set of the Merv Griffin Show, where Taylor appeared as a regular performer.
"If You Ever Leave Me" is funny, Bologna says, because "it's basically about two opposites: I'm Italian-American, and she's Jewish." As much as the couple makes light of their marriage, they truly are committed to their relationship, he says. "Not every married couple can work together," he says.
"We not only work together, but our greatest joy is working together." They renew their wedding vows every 10 years, he says, each time in a different religion. Their 30-year ceremony was a Buddhist observance.
Their 40th was a New Age ceremony. Bologna says the purpose of celebrating in different faiths is to reaffirm their own beliefs. "We see ourselves as spiritual, but we don't really see one organized religion," he says.
Doing "If You Ever Leave Me" in front of a live audience only serves to strengthen their personal relationship, according to Bologna. "We can be having a fight backstage, but as soon as the curtain goes up, we're in love again," he says. In addition to their work together, Taylor is known for her role as Fran Drescher's mother, Sylvia Fine, on the CBS sitcom "The Nanny.
" Her film credits include "The Errand Boy" with Jerry Lewis, "The Detective" with Frank Sinatra, "A New Leaf" with Walter Matthau and "Lovesick" with Dudley Moore. Bologna's film work includes "My Favorite Year," "Blame it on Rio," "Chapter Two" and, most recently, "Big Daddy," in which he portrayed Adam Sandler's father. He starred in several made-for-TV movies and appeared in the Showtime original feature comedy "Family Therapy" with Robert Loggia and Angie Dickinson.
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