The Wedding Singer

This 1980’s musical comedy is the perfect vehicle to showcase the many talents of this group. With high energy and enthusiasm from the opening number right through to the end, what was not to like.

The story revolves around Robbie Hart (New Jersey’s favourite Wedding Singer) until his fiancée Linda leaves him jilted at the altar changing him into the worst Wedding Singer ever. Heartbroken he is forced to re-examine the meaning of love and marriage with the help of Julia, a waitress from one of his wedding singing venues. There is just one problem, Julia is engaged to Glen Guglia, a rich and shallow Wall Street broker. Despite Robbie and Julia’s growing feelings for each other, a series of miscommunications leads them in different directions. When Julia and Glen go to Las Vegas to get married, Robbie decides to play the gig of his life in order to win her hand in marriage, all assisted by a series of impersonators.

Matty Romasiuk in the title role of Robbie played the part well, his singing was lovely to listen to and he handled both the comedy and pathos easily in this role. Tegan  Dixon as love interest Julia, has a lovely voice and played the young woman torn between the upcoming financier Glen and Robbie beautifully. Joe Phillips as Glen Guglia was excellently well cast in the role as the self-centred wheeler-dealer although he must have grown considerably since being measured for his costumes.  Costumes in this production were of appropriate style for the era however maintenance and care of costumes during show week should be a consideration for all cast members appearing in future shows.

It was a nice touch to have the real band on stage fronted by Robbie, George (played by Matt Spencer) and Sammy (played by Brandon Garner) all under the watchful gaze of Musical Director Steve Roberts. The band played a huge part in this production and didn’t overpower the performers with sound balanced by Aimee Sellars. It was noticeable that a number of performers had relied on their individual microphones and a little more projection of voice may have assisted in some of the larger musical numbers, especially in the large auditorium being used for this production.

Grace Murray as Holly Sullivan (Julia’s best friend) gave great energy to the Act One finale of ‘Saturday Night in the City’ and overall a fabulous performance throughout, its lovely to see how she is developing as an actress across the many roles that she has now played.

The supporting role of Linda (Robbies’ ex-fiancé) played by Daisy Page was also well executed.

There were a number of other roles worthy of mention, Granma Rose played by Barbara Devy, whose rap song ‘Move that thang’ dressed in a ‘shiny shell suit’ complete with gymnastic stunt double was just hilarious, Hannah Swarzher as Angie Sullivan in a role that reminded me of ‘Kath’ from Kath & Kim, Rich Kee as the dubious man in the night club and fake Imelda Marcos played by Natalie Wright.

Overall, I was pleased with the directional choices and vision by Director/Choreographer Benjamin Connor but I did find that the two large book wings at the front of the stage did negatively impact on some of the larger party scenes, especially when it came to spacing.

I loved the way in which the whole ensemble got into the feel of this production and its choreography; this was a fun show that deserved a much bigger audience to appreciate it.

I look forward to Curtain Calls next production.

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