Wedding Blues: NJ singer whose fiancé canceled her wedding turns it into a musical
Noelle Salvati’s heartbreak becomes Swipe Right: A New Musical, premiering Oct. 1 at the Triad Theater in New York
A New Jersey singer is turning a deeply personal heartbreak into a stage project, staging a one-night musical that doubles as a postscript to a canceled wedding. The show, Swipe Right: A New Musical, premieres Oct. 1 at the Triad Theater on the Upper West Side and draws on Noelle Salvati’s experiences with heartbreak, online dating and the modern dating landscape.
Salvati’s fiancé canceled the wedding about a month before the ceremony, delivering the news by email. She was at her final dress fitting when she learned the wedding would not happen; his phone number soon went out of service and contact ended without explanation. The moment left Salvati without closure, but it spurred her to turn the break into a creative project.
After the breakup in 2011, Salvati began using dating apps for the first time and started collecting stories and songs about online dating. Hoboken resident Michael Attanasio, a writer who collaborated on the show, helped shape the musical’s structure. The score includes songs with titles such as Ghosted, Coward and Cross Him Off the List, which recount Salvati’s dating experiences and the people she met online.
Between songs, the show also presents anecdotes from other people’s worst first-date experiences. One sequence includes a man who casually revealed that his ex-wife still lived with him as a roommate, prompting an awkward reveal before the date continues. The show also inserts darker humor, including a moment in which a character asks about ethically sourcing human meat, a line Attanasio says underscores the blunt honesty of online dating culture.
Swipe Right: A New Musical is billed as a one-night-only event on Oct. 1 at the Triad Theater on the Upper West Side. Salvati continues to perform and develop new material while the piece remains focused on exploring heartbreak through song, storytelling and humor about modern dating.
Attanasio, whose Hoboken roots anchor the show's writing, describes the project as a personal and communal healing exercise. Salvati, whose wedding date becomes the show’s anniversary, says the experience has reframed her heartbreak into a creative journey and offers a cathartic perspective for others who have navigated dating in the digital era.
The production reflects a broader trend in Culture & Entertainment programming that translates real-life heartbreak into accessible, live storytelling. Salvati’s determination to keep moving forward with her artistic career illustrates how personal setbacks can evolve into new opportunities, particularly in a city where theater and music collaborations frequently emerge from intimate experiences.
As Salvati continues to seek Mr. Right, Swipe Right offers audiences a blend of original music, candid dating anecdotes and humor about the modern pursuit of connection. The one-night premiere aims to resonate with anyone who has navigated love, loss and the sometimes chaotic world of online dating, while turning a private heartbreak into a public, shared experience.